Franklin Delano Roosevelt (/ˈroʊzəvɛlt/ roh-zə-velt or /ˈroʊzəvəlt/ roh-zə-vəlt) (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), commonly known by his initials FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States (1933–1945). He served for 12 years and four terms, and was the only president ever to serve more than eight years. He was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic depression and total war. A dominant leader of the Democratic Party, he built a New Deal Coalition that realigned American politics after 1932, as his New Deal domestic policies defined American liberalism for the middle third of the 20th century.
With the bouncy popular song "Happy Days Are Here Again" as his campaign theme, FDR defeated incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover in November 1932, at the depth of the Great Depression. Energized by his personal victory over polio, FDR's persistent optimism and activism contributed to a renewal of the national spirit.[1] Assisted by key aide Harry Hopkins, he worked closely with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in leading the Allies against Nazi Germany and Japan in World War II. The war ended the depression and restored prosperity.
In his first hundred days in office, which began March 4, 1933, Roosevelt spearheaded major legislation and issued a profusion of executive orders that instituted the New Deal—a variety of programs designed to produce relief (government jobs for the unemployed), recovery (economic growth), and reform (through regulation of Wall Street, banks and transportation). The economy improved rapidly from 1933 to 1937, but then relapsed into a deep recession. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court or passing any considerable legislation; it abolished many of the relief programs when unemployment practically vanished during the war. Most of the regulations on business were ended about 1975–1985, except for the regulation of Wall Street by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which still exists. Along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include theFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which was created in 1933, and Social Security, which Congress passed in 1935.
As World War II loomed after 1938, with the Japanese invasion of China and the aggression of Nazi Germany, FDR gave strong diplomatic and financial support to China and Great Britain, while remaining officially neutral. His goal was to make America the "Arsenal of Democracy" which would supply munitions to the Allies. In March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to the countries fighting against Nazi Germany with England, Scotland, and Wales. With very strong national support, he made war on Japan and Germany after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, calling it a "date which will live in infamy". He supervised the mobilization of the U.S. economy to support the Allied war effort. As an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented an overall war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and the development of the world's first atom bomb. In 1942 Roosevelt ordered the internment of 100,000 Japanese American civilians.
Unemployment dropped to 2%, relief programs largely ended, and the industrial economy grew rapidly to new heights as millions of people moved to new jobs in war centers, and 16 million men and 300,000 women were drafted or volunteered for military service. All economic sectors grew during the war. Farm output went from an index (by volume) of 106 in 1939 to 128 in 1943. Coal output went from 446 million tons in 1939 to 651 in 1943; oil from 1.3 billion barrels to 1.5 billion. Manufacturing output doubled, from an index of 109 in 1939 to 239 in 1943. Railroads strained to move it all to market, from an output of 13.6 billion loaded car miles in 1939 to 23.3 in 1943.[2]
Roosevelt dominated the American political scene not only during the twelve years of his presidency, but also for decades afterward. He orchestrated the realignment of voters that created theFifth Party System. FDR's New Deal Coalition united labor unions, big city machines, white ethnics, African Americans, and rural white Southerners. He also influenced the later creation of the United Nations and Bretton Woods. Roosevelt is consistently rated by scholars as one of the top three U.S. Presidents, along with Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.
Contents
[show]Personal life
See also: Roosevelt family and Delano family
Early life and education
One of the oldest families in New York State, the Roosevelts[n 1] distinguished themselves in areas other than politics. One ancestor, Isaac Roosevelt, had served with the New York militia during the American Revolution.[4] Roosevelt attended events of the New York society Sons of the American Revolution, and joined the organization while he was president. While his paternal family had become prosperous early on in New York real estate and trade, much of his immediate family's wealth had been built by FDR's maternal grandfather, Warren Delano, Jr., in the China trade, including opium and tea.[5]
Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park, New York to businessman James Roosevelt I (1828–1900) and Sara Ann Delano (1854–1941). His parents were sixth cousins[4] and both were from wealthy old New York families. They were of mostly English descent; Roosevelt's patrilineal great-grandfather, Jacobus Roosevelt III, was of Dutch ancestry, and his mother's maiden name, Delano, originated with a French Huguenot immigrant of the 17th century.[6][7] Their only child[8] was to have been named Warren, but Sara's infant nephew of that name had recently died.[9]:158–159 He was named for Sara's uncle Franklin Hughes Delano [10]
Roosevelt grew up in an atmosphere of privilege. (Reportedly, when James Roosevelt took his young son to visit President Grover Cleveland in the White House, the busy president told Franklin "I have one wish for you, little man, that you will never be President of the United States."[9]:168) Sara was a possessive mother; James, 54 when Franklin was born, was considered by some as a remote father, though biographer James MacGregor Burns indicates James interacted with his son more than was typical at the time.[11] Sara was the dominant influence in Franklin's early years;[12] she once declared "My son Franklin is a Delano, not a Roosevelt at all."[4] Frequent trips to Europe—he made his first at the age of two, and went with his parents every year from the ages of seven to 15[9]:169—made Roosevelt conversant in German and French;[13] being arrested with his tutor by police four times in one day in the Black Forest for minor offenses may have affected the future president's view of German character.[9]:170 He learned to ride, shoot, row, and play polo and lawn tennis. Roosevelt also took up golf in his teen years, becoming a skilled long hitter.[14] He learned to sail, and his father gave him a sailboat at the age of 16 which he named "New Moon"[15]
Roosevelt attended Groton School, an Episcopal boarding school in Massachusetts; 90% of the students were from families on the social register. He was heavily influenced by its headmaster, Endicott Peabody, who preached the duty of Christians to help the less fortunate and urged his students to enter public service. Forty years later Roosevelt said of Peabody, "It was a blessing in my life to have the privilege of [his] guiding hand",[16] and the headmaster remained a strong influence throughout his life, officiating at his wedding and visiting Roosevelt as president.[9]:174 Peabody recalled Roosevelt as "a quiet, satisfactory boy of more than ordinary intelligence, taking a good position in his form but not brilliant",[17] while a classmate described Roosevelt as "nice, but completely colorless"; an average student, he only stood out in being the only Democratic student, continuing the political tradition of his side of the Roosevelt family.[9]:172–173,202 Roosevelt remained consistent in his politics; immediately after his fourth election to the presidency he defined his domestic policy as "a little left of center".[9]:351[18]
Like all but two of his 21 classmates Roosevelt went to Harvard College,[9]:172 where he lived in a suite which is now part of Adams House, in the "Gold Coast" area populated by wealthy students. Again an average student academically,[19] Roosevelt later declared, "I took economics courses in college for four years, and everything I was taught was wrong."[20] He was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity[21] and the Fly Club.[9]:176 While undistinguished as a student or athlete, he became editor-in-chief of The Harvard Crimson daily newspaper,[22] a position which required great ambition, energy, and ability to manage others.[9]:175 While at Harvard his fifth cousin Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt, Jr. (1858–1919) became President of the United States; his vigorous leadership style and reforming zeal made him Franklin's role model and hero[23] although he remained a Democrat, campaigning for Theodore's opponent William Jennings Bryan.[9]:177 In mid-1902, Franklin was formally introduced to his future wife Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), Theodore's niece, on a train to Tivoli, New York, although they had met briefly as children.[24] Eleanor and Franklin were fifth cousins, once removed.[25] She was the daughter of Elliott Bulloch Roosevelt (1860–1894) and Anna Rebecca Hall (1863–1892) of theLivingston family. At the time of their engagement, Roosevelt was twenty-two and Eleanor nineteen.[26] Roosevelt graduated from Harvard in 1903 with an A.B. in history. He later received an honorary LL.D from Harvard in 1929.[27]
Roosevelt entered Columbia Law School in 1904, but dropped out in 1907 after he passed the New York State Bar exam.[28] He however later received a posthumous J.D. from Columbia Law School.[29] In 1908, he took a job with the prestigious Wall Street firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn,[28] dealing mainly with corporate law. He was first initiated in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was initiated into Freemasonry on October 11, 1911, at Holland Lodge No. 8 in New York City.[30][31]
Marriage and affairs
On March 17, 1905, Roosevelt married Eleanor despite the fierce resistance of his mother.[26] While she did not dislike Eleanor, Sara Roosevelt was very possessive of her son; believing he was too young, she several times attempted to break the engagement.[9]:181–183 Eleanor's uncle, the president, stood in at the wedding for Eleanor's deceased father Elliott.[32] (Eleanor had lost both parents by age ten.[33]) The young couple moved into Springwood, his family's estate, where FDR's mother became a frequent house guest, much to Eleanor's chagrin. The home was owned by Roosevelt's mother until her death in 1941 and was very much her home as well. Biographer James MacGregor Burns says young FDR was at self-assured and at ease in the upper class.[34] In contrast, Eleanor at the time was shy and disliked social life, and at first stayed at home to raise their children. Although Eleanor had an aversion to sexual intercourse, and considered it "an ordeal to be endured",[35] they had six children, the first four in rapid succession:
- Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (May 3, 1906 – December 1, 1975)
- James Roosevelt II (December 23, 1907 – August 13, 1991)
- Franklin Roosevelt (March 18, 1909 – November 7, 1909)
- Elliott Roosevelt (September 23, 1910 – October 1990)
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr. (August 17, 1914 – August 17, 1988)
- John Aspinwall Roosevelt II (March 13, 1916 – April 27, 1981)
Roosevelt's dog, Fala, also became well known as Roosevelt's companion during his time in the White House, and was called the "most photographed dog in the world."[36]
Roosevelt had affairs outside his marriage, including one with Eleanor's social secretary Lucy Mercer which began soon after she was hired in early 1914.[37] In September 1918, Eleanor found letters revealing the affair in Roosevelt's luggage, when he returned from World War I. Franklin had contemplated divorcing Eleanor, but Lucy could not bring herself to marry a divorced man with five children.[38] However, the two remained married, and FDR promised never to see Lucy again, though their marriage from that point on was more of a political partnership. His mother Sara also told Franklin that if he divorced his wife, it would bring scandal upon the family, and she "would not give him another dollar."[38] However, Franklin broke his promise. He and Lucy maintained a formal correspondence, and began seeing each other again in 1941, perhaps earlier.[39][40] Lucy was even given the code name "Mrs. Johnson" by the Secret Service.[41] Indeed, Lucy was with FDR on the day he died. Despite this, FDR's affair was not widely known until the 1960s.[42] Roosevelt's son Elliott stated that Franklin also had a 20-year affair with his private secretary Marguerite "Missy" LeHand.[43] Another son, James, stated that "there is a real possibility that a romantic relationship existed" between his father and Princess Märtha of Sweden, who resided in the White House during part of World War II; aides began to refer to her as "the president's girlfriend",[44] and gossip linking the two romantically appeared in the newspapers.[45]
The effect of these flirtations or affairs upon Eleanor Roosevelt is difficult to estimate. "I have the memory of an elephant. I can forgive, but I cannot forget," she wrote to a close friend.[46] After the Lucy Mercer affair, any remaining intimacy left their relationship. Eleanor soon thereafter established a separate house in Hyde Park at Valkill, and increasingly devoted herself to various social and political causes. For the rest of their lives, the Roosevelts' marriage was more of a political partnership than an intimate relationship.[47] The emotional break in their marriage was so severe that when Roosevelt asked Eleanor in 1942—in light of his failing health—to come back home and live with him again, she refused.[42] He was not always aware of when she visited the White House and for some time she could not easily reach him on the telephone without his secretary's help; he, in turn, did not visit her New York City apartment until late 1944.[9]:195
Early political career
State senator and Tammany antagonist
In the state election of 1910, Roosevelt ran for the New York State Senate from the district around Hyde Park in Dutchess County, which had elected one Democrat since 1856. The local party chose him as a paper candidate because his Republican cousin Theodore was still one of the country's most prominent politicians, and a Democratic Roosevelt was good publicity; the candidate could also pay for his own campaign. Surprising almost everyone, an aggressive and effective campaign,[9]:202–203 the Roosevelt name's influence in the Hudson Valley, and the Democratic landslide that year, won him the election.[48]
Taking his seat on January 1, 1911, Roosevelt immediately became the leader of a group of "Insurgents" who opposed the bossism of the Tammany machine dominating the state Democratic Party. The U.S. Senate election which began with the Democratic caucus on January 16, 1911, was deadlocked by the struggle of the two factions for 74 days, as the new legislator endured what a biographer later described as "the full might of Tammany" behind its choice,William F. Sheehan. On March 31 compromise candidate James A. O'Gorman was elected, giving Roosevelt national exposure and some experience in political tactics and intrigue; one Tammany leader warned that Roosevelt should be eliminated immediately, before he disrupted Democrats as much as his cousin disrupted the Republicans.[49][9]:203–205 Roosevelt soon became a popular figure among New York Democrats, though he had not as yet become an eloquent speaker,[48] and news articles and cartoons began depicting "the second coming of a Roosevelt" that sent "cold shivers down the spine of Tammany".[9]:205–206
Despite a bout of typhoid, and thanks to the help of Louis McHenry Howe who ran his campaign, he was re-elected for a second term in the state election of 1912, and served as chairman of the Agriculture Committee. His success with farm and labor bills was a bit of a precursor to his New Deal policies twenty years later.[50] By this time he had become more consistently progressive, in support of labor and social welfare programs for women and children; cousin Theodore was of some influence on these issues.[51] Roosevelt, again in opposition to Tammany Hall, supported Woodrow Wilson's successful bid in the 1912 presidential election, and thereby earned an informal designation as an original Wilson man.[52]
Roosevelt's support of Wilson led to his appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy[53] under Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels. Roosevelt had a lifelong affection for the Navy—he had already collected almost 10,000 naval books and claimed to have read all but one—and was more ardent than his boss Daniels in supporting a large and efficient naval force.[54][9]:209 As assistant secretary, Roosevelt worked to expand the Navy and founded the United States Navy Reserve. Roosevelt negotiated with Congressional leaders and other government departments to get budgets approved. He opposed the Taylor "stop-watch" system which was hailed by shipbuilding managers but opposed by the unions. Not a single union strike occurred during his seven-plus years in the office,[55] during which Roosevelt gained experience in labor issues, government management during wartime, naval issues, and logistics, all valuable areas for future office.[9]:212
Roosevelt was still relatively obscure, but his friends were already speaking of him as a future president; he himself reportedly began talking about being elected to the presidency as early as 1907.[9]:206,213,262 In 1914, Roosevelt made an ill-conceived decision to run for the U.S. Senate seat for New York. The decision was doomed for lack of Wilson administration backing. He was determined to take on Tammany again at a time when Wilson needed them to help marshal his legislation and secure his future re-election.[56] He was soundly defeated in the Democratic primary election for the United States Senate by Tammany Hall-backed James W. Gerard by a margin of 3-to-1.[57] Roosevelt learned a valuable lesson, that federal patronage alone, without White House support, could not defeat a strong local organization.[58]
In March 1917, after Germany initiated its submarine warfare campaign, Roosevelt asked Wilson for permission, which was denied, to fit the naval fleet out for war.[59] He became an enthusiastic advocate of the submarine and of means to combat the German submarine menace to Allied shipping: he proposed building a mine barrier across the North Sea from Norway to Scotland.[60] In 1918, he visited Scotland, England, Wales, and France to inspect American naval facilities.[61] Roosevelt wanted to provide arms to the merchant marine; knowing that a sale of arms was prohibited, he asked Wilson for approval to lease the arms to the mariners. Wilson ultimately approved this by executive order, and a precedent was set for this action in 1940.
During these war years, Roosevelt acted to make peace with the Tammany Hall forces, and in 1918 the group actually supported others in an unsuccessful attempt to convince him to run for governor of New York. He very much wished to get into a military uniform, but the armistice took shape before this could materialize;[62] Wilson himself reportedly ordered Roosevelt to not resign.[9]:214–215 With the end of World War I in November 1918, Roosevelt was in charge of demobilization, although he opposed plans to completely dismantle the Navy.
In 1918, Roosevelt was sickened during the 1918 flu pandemic, and survived.[63] In 1919, newspapers in Newport, Rhode Island criticized Roosevelt over his handling of what came to be known as the Newport sex scandal.[64] Much more threatening was the fact that FDR and Eleanor, then living in Washington, D.C. across the street from Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer, narrowly missed becoming casualties of an anarchist's bomb that exploded at Palmer's house, which they had walked past just minutes before. Their own residence was close enough that one of the bomber's body parts landed on their doorstep.[65]
Campaign for Vice President
The 1920 Democratic National Convention chose Roosevelt by acclamation as the vice-presidential candidate[66] with its presidential candidate, Governor James M. Cox of Ohio. Although his nomination surprised most people, Roosevelt was considered as bringing balance to the ticket as a moderate, a Wilsonian, and a prohibitionist with a famous name.[67][9]:215–216 Roosevelt had just turned thirty-eight, four years younger than Theodore had been when he received the same nomination from his party. The Cox-Roosevelt ticket was defeated by Republican Warren G. Harding in the presidential election by a wide margin.[68] Roosevelt returned to New York to practice law and joined the newly organized New York Civitan Club.[69]
Polio
Main article: Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness
In August 1921, while the Roosevelts were vacationing at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada, Roosevelt contracted polio, which resulted in permanent paralysis from the waist down. For the rest of his life, Roosevelt refused to accept that he was permanently paralyzed.[70] He tried a wide range of therapies, including hydrotherapy, and, in 1926, he purchased a resort atWarm Springs, Georgia, where he founded a hydrotherapy center for the treatment of polio patients, one which still operates as the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation.[71] After he became President, he helped to found the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (now known as the March of Dimes).[72]
At the time, Roosevelt was able to convince many people that he was getting better, which he believed was essential if he wanted to run for public office again.[73] Fitting his hips and legs with iron braces, he laboriously taught himself to walk a short distance by swiveling his torso while supporting himself with a cane.[74] In private, he used a wheelchair, but he was careful never to be seen in it in public. Great care was also taken to prevent his being portrayed by the press in a way which would highlight his disability. Only two photographs taken of FDR while he was in his wheelchair are known to exist; only four seconds of film exist of the "walk" he achieved after his illness.[75] He usually appeared in public standing upright, supported on one side by an aide or one of his sons. FDR used a car with specially designed hand controls, providing him further mobility.[76]
Governor of New York, 1929–1932
Main article: Franklin D. Roosevelt's terms as Governor of New York
Roosevelt maintained contacts and mended fences with the Democratic Party during the 1920s, especially in New York. Although he initially had made his name as an opponent of New York City'sTammany Hall machine, Roosevelt moderated his stance against that group as well.[77] He helped Alfred E. Smith win the election for governor of New York in 1922, and in 1924 was even a strong supporter of Smith against his cousin, Republican Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.[78] Roosevelt gave nominating speeches for Smith at the 1924 and 1928 Democratic conventions.[79]
As the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1928 election, Smith in turn asked Roosevelt to run for governor in the state election. Roosevelt was nominated by the Democrats by acclamation.[80] While Smith lost the Presidency in a landslide, and was even defeated in his home state, Roosevelt was narrowly elected governor, by a one-percent margin.[81] As a reform governor, he established a number of new social programs, and was advised by Frances Perkins and Harry Hopkins.[82]
In April 1929 a bomb was found addressed to him at the Albany, New York post office. A porter kicked the package causing the fuse to sputter. The device was dropped in a pail of water where it failed to go off.[83]
In May 1930, as he began his run for a second term, Roosevelt reiterated his doctrine from the campaign two years before: "that progressive government by its very terms, must be a living and growing thing, that the battle for it is never ending and that if we let up for one single moment or one single year, not merely do we stand still but we fall back in the march of civilization."[84] In this campaign for re-election, Roosevelt needed the good will of the Tammany Hall machine in New York City to succeed; however, his Republican opponent, Charles H. Tuttle, used Roosevelt's connection with Tammany Hall's corruption as an election issue. As the election approached, Roosevelt began preemptive efforts by initiating investigations of the sale of judicial offices. He was directly involved, as he had made a routine short-term court appointment of a Tammany Hall man who was alleged to have paid Tammany $30,000 for the position.[84] His Republican opponent, however, could not overcome the public's criticism of his party for current economic distress, and Roosevelt was elected to a second term by a margin of fourteen percent.[85]
1932 presidential election
Main article: United States presidential election, 1932
Roosevelt's strong base in the most populous state made him an obvious candidate for the Democratic nomination, which was hotly contested in light of incumbent Herbert Hoover's vulnerability. Al Smith was supported by some city bosses, but had lost control of the New York Democratic party to Roosevelt. Roosevelt built his own national coalition with personal allies such as newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, Irish leader Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., and California leader William Gibbs McAdoo. When Texas leader John Nance Garner announced his support of FDR, he was given the vice-presidential nomination.[86]
In his acceptance speech, Roosevelt declared, "I pledge you, I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people... This is more than a political campaign. It is a call to arms."[87] The election campaign was conducted under the shadow of the Great Depression in the United States, and the new alliances which it created. Roosevelt and the Democratic Party mobilized the expanded ranks of the poor as well as organized labor, ethnic minorities, urbanites, and Southern whites, crafting the New Deal coalition.
Economist Marriner Eccles observed that "given later developments, the campaign speeches often read like a giant misprint, in which Roosevelt and Hoover speak each other's lines."[88] Roosevelt denounced Hoover's failures to restore prosperity or even halt the downward slide, and he ridiculed Hoover's huge deficits. Roosevelt campaigned on the Democratic platform advocating "immediate and drastic reductions of all public expenditures," "abolishing useless commissions and offices, consolidating departments and bureaus, and eliminating extravagances" and for a "sound currency to be maintained at all hazards." On September 23, Roosevelt made the gloomy evaluation that, "Our industrial plant is built; the problem just now is whether under existing conditions it is not overbuilt. Our last frontier has long since been reached."[89] Hoover damned that pessimism as a denial of "the promise of American life ... the counsel of despair."[90] The prohibition issue solidified the wet vote for Roosevelt, who noted that repeal would bring in new tax revenues.
Roosevelt won 57% of the vote and carried all but six states. Historians and political scientists consider the 1932-36 elections a realigning election that created a new majority coalition for the Democrats, made up of organized labor, blacks, and ethnic Americans such as Italian-Americans, Polish-Americans and Jews. This transformed American politics and starting what is called the "New Deal Party System" or (by political scientists) the Fifth Party System.[91]
After the election, Roosevelt refused Hoover's requests for a meeting to develop a joint program to stop the downward spiral and calm investors, claiming publicly it would tie his hands, and that Hoover had all the power to act if necessary. Unofficially, he told reporters that "it is not my baby".[92] The economy spiraled downward until the banking system began a complete nationwide shutdown as Hoover's term ended.[93] In February 1933, Roosevelt again escaped an assassination attempt. Giuseppe Zangara who expressed a "hate for all rulers" attempted to shoot Roosevelt. He did kill Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak who was sitting alongside Roosevelt, but his attempt to murder Roosevelt failed when an alert spectator, Lillian Cross, who hit his arm with her purse deflected the bullet [94][n 2][83] Roosevelt leaned heavily on his "Brain Trust" of academic advisers, especially Raymond Moley, when designing his policies; he offered cabinet positions to numerous candidates, but some declined. The cabinet member with the strongest independent base was Cordell Hull at State. William Hartman Woodin – at Treasury – was soon replaced by the much more powerful Henry Morgenthau, Jr.[95]
Presidency, 1933–1945
First term, 1933–1937
See also: New Deal
When Roosevelt was inaugurated March 4, 1933, the U.S. was at the nadir of the worst depression in its history. A quarter of the workforce was unemployed. Farmers were in deep trouble as prices fell by 60%. Industrial production had fallen by more than half since 1929. Two million were homeless. By the evening of March 4, 32 of the 48 states – as well as the District of Columbia – had closed their banks.[96] The New York Federal Reserve Bank was unable to open on the 5th, as huge sums had been withdrawn by panicky customers in previous days.[97] Beginning with his inauguration address, Roosevelt began blaming the economic crisis on bankers and financiers, the quest for profit, and the self-interest basis of capitalism:
Primarily this is because rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and have abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men. True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence..... The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.[98]
Historians categorized Roosevelt's program as "relief, recovery and reform." Relief was urgently needed by tens of millions of unemployed. Recovery meant boosting the economy back to normal. Reform meant long-term fixes of what was wrong, especially with the financial and banking systems. Roosevelt's series of radio talks, known as fireside chats, presented his proposals directly to the American public.[99] In 1934 FDR paid a visit to retired Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who mused about the President: "A second class intellect. But a first class temperament."[100]
First New Deal, 1933–1934
Roosevelt's "First 100 Days" concentrated on the first part of his strategy: immediate relief. From March 9 to June 16, 1933, he sent Congress a record number of bills, all of which passed easily. To propose programs, Roosevelt relied on leading Senators such as George Norris, Robert F. Wagner, and Hugo Black, as well as his Brain Trust of academic advisers. Like Hoover, he saw the Depression caused in part by people no longer spending or investing because they were afraid.
His inauguration on March 4, 1933, occurred in the middle of a bank panic, hence the backdrop for his famous words: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."[98] The very next day he declared a "bank holiday" and called for a special session of Congress to start March 9, at which Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act.[101] This was his first proposed step to recovery. To give Americans confidence in the banks, Roosevelt signed the Glass–Steagall Act that created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
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Relief measures included the continuation of Hoover's major relief program for the unemployed under its new name: Federal Emergency Relief Administration. The most popular of all New Deal agencies – and Roosevelt's favorite – was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which hired 250,000 unemployed young men to work on rural local projects.[102]
Congress also gave the Federal Trade Commission broad new regulatory powers and provided mortgage relief to millions of farmers and homeowners.[103] Roosevelt expanded a Hoover agency, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, making it a major source of financing for railroads and industry. Roosevelt made agricultural relief a high priority and set up the first Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). The AAA tried to force higher prices for commodities by paying farmers to take land out of crops and to cut herds.[104]
Reform of the economy was the goal of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933. It tried to end cutthroat competition by forcing industries to come up with codes that established the rules of operation for all firms within specific industries, such as minimum prices, agreements not to compete, and production restrictions. Industry leaders negotiated the codes which were then approved by NIRA officials. Industry needed to raise wages as a condition for approval. Provisions encouraged unions and suspended anti-trust laws. The NIRA was found to be unconstitutional by unanimous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on May 27, 1935. Roosevelt opposed the decision, saying "The fundamental purposes and principles of the NIRA are sound. To abandon them is unthinkable. It would spell the return to industrial and labor chaos."[105] In 1933, major new banking regulations were passed. In 1934, the Securities and Exchange Commission was created to regulate Wall Street, with 1932 campaign fundraiser Joseph P. Kennedy in charge.[106]
Recovery was pursued through "pump-priming" (that is, federal spending).[107] The NIRA included $3.3 billion of spending through the Public Works Administration to stimulate the economy, which was to be handled by Interior SecretaryHarold Ickes. Roosevelt worked with Republican Senator George Norris to create the largest government-owned industrial enterprise in American history – the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) – which built dams and power stations, controlled floods, and modernized agriculture and home conditions in the poverty-stricken Tennessee Valley. The repeal of prohibition also brought in new tax revenues and helped Roosevelt keep a major campaign promise.
Executive Order 6102 declared that all privately held gold of American citizens was to be sold to the U.S. Treasury and the price raised from $20 to $35 per ounce.[108] Exceptions were made for jewelers, coin collectors and a few others. The goal was to counter the deflation which was paralyzing the economy.[109]
Roosevelt tried to keep his campaign promise by cutting the federal budget – including a reduction in military spending from $752 million in 1932 to $531 million in 1934 and a 40% cut in spending on veterans' benefits – by removing 500,000 veterans and widows from the pension rolls and reducing benefits for the remainder, as well as cutting the salaries of federal employees and reducing spending on research and education.[110] However, this was soon seen to be a mistake and most benefits were restored or increased by 1934.[111] The benefit cuts also did not last. In June 1933 Roosevelt restored $50 million in pension payments, and Congress added another $46 million more.[112] Veterans groups like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars won their campaign to transform their benefits from payments due in 1945 to immediate cash when Congress overrode the President's veto and passed the Bonus Act in January 1936.[113]
Roosevelt also kept his promise to push for repeal of Prohibition. On March 23, 1933, he signed the Cullen–Harrison Act redefining 3.2% alcohol as the maximum allowed. That act was preceded by Congressional action in the drafting and passage of the 21st Amendment, which was ratified later that year.[114]
Second New Deal, 1935–1936
After the 1934 Congressional elections, which gave Roosevelt large majorities in both houses, there was a fresh surge of New Deal legislation. These measures included the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which set up a national relief agency that employed two million family heads. At the height of WPA employment in 1938, unemployment was down from 20.6% in 1933 to only 12.5% according to figures from Michael Darby.[115] The Social Security Act established Social Security and promised economic security for the elderly, the poor and the sick. SenatorRobert Wagner wrote the Wagner Act, which officially became the National Labor Relations Act. The act established the federal rights of workers to organize unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes.
While the First New Deal of 1933 had broad support from most sectors, the Second New Deal challenged the business community. Conservative Democrats, led by Al Smith, fought back with the American Liberty League, savagely attacking Roosevelt and equating him with Karl Marx andVladimir Lenin.[116] But Smith overplayed his hand, and his boisterous rhetoric let Roosevelt isolate his opponents and identify them with the wealthy vested interests that opposed the New Deal, setting Roosevelt up for the 1936 landslide.[116] By contrast, the labor unions, energized by the Wagner Act, signed up millions of new members and became a major backer of Roosevelt's reelections in 1936, 1940 and 1944.[117]
Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen disagree with the prevailing belief that there were two New Deals in the Roosevelt administration.[118] They argue that there is no evidence of any such blueprint for Roosevelt's programs, and that abundant evidence shows FDR's policies were formulated and executed haphazardly, fluctuating in the hands of a revolving cast of presidential advisors.[119] Biographer James M. Burns suggests that Roosevelt's policy decisions were guided more by pragmatism than ideology, and that he "was like the general of a guerrilla army whose columns, fighting blindly in the mountains through dense ravines and thickets, suddenly converge, half by plan and half by coincidence, and debouch into the plain below."[120] Roosevelt himself argued that such apparently haphazard methodology was necessary. "The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation," he wrote. "It is common sense to take a method and try it; if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."[121]
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