FDR's New Deal: Relief, Recovery, Reform

1. “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American People.” – FDR 1932

2. Essential Questions • How did FDR’s New Deal attempt to use government power to provide relief to the poor, stimulate recovery, and reform the American economy? • What were liberal and conservative criticisms of the New Deal and how did FDR’s administration respond? • What was the New Deal coalition and how did FDR alter the American political party alignment? • What was the long-term political, social, and economic legacy of the New Deal? How did it permanently alter the role of the federal government?

3. 1932 Election • President Hoover vs. NY Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt • Roosevelt wins 472 to 59 in the electoral college • Democrats also win big majority in House & Senate

4. Brain Trust – professors/economic experts (Rexford Tugwell, Raymond Moley, Adolph Berle Jr.) • Most diverse administration in US history: including blacks, Jews, Catholics, and women. • Frances Perkins became 1st female Cabinet member as Secretary of Labor

5. II. plans for economic Recovery I.Relief for the unemployed The New Deal had three major goals: III. Reforms to prevent another depression

6. First Hundred Days 1933 • Banks: “Bank Holiday” & EBRA, Glass-Steagall Act FDIC – also led to 20th Amendment “Lame Duck” move to Jan 20th • Regulate Stock Market: SEC – no margin buying • Abandon Gold Standard • Beer-Wine Revenue Act & 21st Amendment & • Farmers: Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) • Industrial Recovery: NIRA Sec. 7(a) union rights, creates NRA(Hugh Johnson), & PWA (Harold Ickes) • Regional Planning: TVA dams & hydro-electrification • Jobs & Relief: CWA, CCC & FERA (Harry Hopkins)

7. Fireside Chats • FDR gave 30 radio speeches to the nation, which became known as fireside chats. FDR’s first fireside chat on the bank crisis. (March 12, 1933) New Deal Clips

8. Critics from the Left • Father Charles Coughlin: wants guaranteed annual income & nationalization of banks • Dr. Francis Townsend from Long Beach, CA called for a pension plan for the elderly the “Townsend Plan” • Huey Long of Louisiana “The Kingfish” “Share-Our-Wealth Societies” “Every man a king” assassinated in 1935 • Organized Labor frustrated by NRA & Tenant farmers • Radicals: not far enough, esp. socialists, communists Father Coughlin Dr. Francis Townsend Huey Long

9. 2nd New Deal - 1935 • New progressive/graduated income tax rates • WPA – Harry Hopkins $11 billion to create jobs – NYA & Federal Arts projects. • Wagner Act (creates NLRB) – protects unions • Social Security: pension, unemployment, disability, mothers w/dependent children “insurance” Sen. Robert Wagner

10. With over 60% of popular vote seen as a thumbs up to the New Deal – FDR defeats Republican Alf Landon in a Landslide New Democratic “New Deal” coalition: 1. Southern Whites 2. Progressives (including Republicans) 3. White ethnic groups in the cities 4. Midwestern farmers 5. Labor unions 6. African-Americans - why significant? 1936 -New Deal Referendum? Alf Landon on election day

11. Electoral College: 523 to 8 largest in history, Popular vote % margin (61% to 36%) largest margin in history, FDR wins popular vote by 11+ million

12. Conservatives say his Big Government has gone too far - American Liberty League (led by the Du Pont family) The conservative Supreme Court already struck down the NRA (Schechter v. U.S. “sick chicken case”) and AAA (U.S. v Butler) & NY minimum wage law. “Court-Packing Plan” would have expanded Supreme Court to 13 members – rejected “Conservative Manifesto” Republicans & Southern Democrats in revolt “Roosevelt recession” after attempt to balance budget in 1937-1938 – what did this seem to provide evidence for? 2nd Term Problems

13. African Americans & Native Americans • Eleanor Roosevelt, the “conscience of the New Deal,” pushed FDR to do more for poor, women, & blacks • “Black Cabinet”: Robert Weaver, William Hastie, Mary McLeod Bethune • Marian Anderson Lincoln Memorial performance 1939 • Increased opportunities BUT faced discrimination in some New Deal programs (CCC, TVA) • Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 – repealed Dawes Act, John Collier return of tribal land, culture & rights

14. Organized Labor in 1930s • National Labor Relations Board 1935 (Wagner Act) • Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) John Lewis (head of United Mine Workers)- became official in 1938 • Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) • 40 hours work week – official ban of child labor • Minimum wage – 25 cents (40 cents by 1945) • United Auto Workers – “Sit Down Strike” 1936-1937 at General Motors– GM gives in & recognizes union, but tactic ruled illegal in 1939 • Union membership rose from 3 to 10 million from ’32-’41

15. Expanded role of the federal government in the lives of Americans (Social Security) Support - rise of power of unions & government subsidies for farmers Minor advances for minorities: blacks & Native Americans Support for Keynesian Economics – “pump priming” & “Broker State” Political realignment of the Democratic and Republican Parties Significantly lowers unemployment but WWII production brings Depression to an final end New Deal Impact & Legacy 12.6% rural farms had electricity in 1932, by 1949 90% John Maynard Keynes