AMERICA
: THE LAST BEST HOPE
CHAPTER 5
FDR and the New Deal
(1933-1939)
Presidential Terms
Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1933-1945)
TEACHER
No president since Lincoln had entered office in the midst of a greater crisis
than did Franklin D. Roosevelt. With a quarter of the nation’s workforce
unemployed, with bank runs across the nation, and with many Americans
questioning our capitalist system, FDR knew dramatic action was needed.
Soon after his inaugural, the new president closed the nation’s banks in
a “Bank Holiday” so they could all be inspected and citizens could be
reassured of the solvency of their economic institutions. What followed was
the most consequential period of Congressional legislation in our history
– the famed “Hundred Days” when Congress passed and FDR signed and
put into effect many of the alphabet soup agencies that became the New
Deal. In providing this dramatic response, FDR began to build a powerful
coalition of supporters – labor, minorities, Catholics, farmers, teachers,
Southerners, and big city political machines. This would come to be known
as the “Roosevelt Coalition.” Teachers can help students categorize these
new governmental bodies into Roosevelt’s “Three Rs:” relief, recovery, and
reform. This will help students better understand the purpose and long term
impact of each measure.
FDR also changed the direction of foreign policy by officially recognizing
the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks (Russian communists) had taken power
in Russia in 1917. By 1933 when FDR established diplomatic ties with the
U.S.S.R., Josef Stalin was firmly in control of a murderous, totalitarian
regime. Some Americans, disenchanted with the American economic system
looked to communist Russia as a potential model, but to do so they had to
look beyond the truth of Stalin’s terror. FDR was seeking any international
ties that might lead to trade relations that in turn would aid the ailing U.S.
economy. In reality, significant trade with the Soviets failed to materialize.
This chapter provides an excellent opportunity for teachers to remind
students of terms often used to denote the political spectrum. Terms
such as radical, liberal, conservative, and reactionary are typically used by
commentators to indicate policies or approaches ranging from the far “Left”
to the far “Right.” Reactions to the New Deal provide a chance for classes
to consider the meaning of each of these terms. Also, what policies do
people of the “Left” or people of the “Right” support today?
Some New Deal measures, such as the CCC, the PWA, and the WPA
put unemployed men to work on the government payroll. Certainly these
AMERICA
: THE LAST BEST HOPE
Photo 1: A farmer during the Great
Depression. (National Archives)
Photo 2: Benito Mussolini and Adolph
Hitler. (National Archives)
TEACHER
agencies completed meaningful projects, but they also drew charges of
“boondoggling.” However, the important point is that these jobs gave
distraught people hope and helped citizens keep faith in the American
system. Thus while critics charged FDR with implementing socialism, he
believed he was saving capitalism. The truth is that even with these massive
government programs, unemployment remained at high levels. On top
of that, years of drought and the “Dust Bowl” hit the middle part of the
country, devastating the farm belt and leaving families no choice but to
abandon their farms, load decrepit trucks and drive to California hoping
to find agricultural jobs (the “Okies”). And even in spite of unprecedented
government intervention in the economy, a downturn still occurred in 1937:
a “recession” in the midst of the Depression. Classes can certainly have this
debate – what is the proper role of the federal government in our economy?
Should it protect people from the ups and downs of a free market? Another
activity teachers might consider is having students find buildings in their city
or county constructed by the WPA or the PWA during the New Deal. They
dot the landscape of America.
The desperate times brought on by the Depression led the public to listen to
demagogues who criticized the New Deal or promised even more dramatic
relief. Senator Huey Long of Louisiana called for a drastic redistribution
of wealth in his “Share Our Wealth” plan. Father Charles Coughlin, a
Catholic priest from Michigan got the attention of Americans with his
denunciations of Wall Street, his anti-Semitic rants, and his praise for the
fascist policies of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Both men used the
medium of radio to promulgate their messages. FDR himself also used radio
to reach the American people and counteract these extreme voices in his
famous “fireside chats.” Classes can discuss voices of extremism today that
capture segments of the American electorate and compare their messages to
those of Long and Coughlin.
As Americans focused on the economic crisis at home, they also read about
ominous events around the globe. Japan, in search of resources, invaded
Manchuria in 1931 and China in 1937. Hitler and his Nazi party came
to power in Germany in 1933 and immediately began dismantling the
Versailles treaty. As Britain and France attempted to avert war by appeasing
Hitler, the United States Congress seemed determined to avoid involvement
in another European conflict by passing the Neutrality Acts. When war
came to Europe, those very acts would become a major impediment as
concerned Americans sought to aid Great Britain.
Americans are a nation consumed by sports and sometimes sports are a
window to larger cultural issues. The stories of Jesse Owens in the 1936
AMERICA
: THE LAST BEST HOPE
TEACHER
Berlin Olympics and two epic heavyweight fights between Joe Louis
and Germany’s Max Schmeling illustrate this point. These two AfricanAmericans became national heroes and gave great hope to American blacks.
Their feats also exposed the fallacy of Hitler’s theories of Aryan racial
superiority. And yet despite national celebrations of the victories of Owens
and Louis, they still faced daily reminders that even America was a land
of deep racial prejudices, as shown in the case of the “Scottsboro Boys.”
Students can discuss other figures from the world of athletics, both in the
past and today, who have transcended their sport and have symbolized larger
issues.
Photo 3: Social Security Poster.
(National Archives)
Once FDR defeated Republican Alf Landon in the 1936 election, he
overreached in his attempt to further his New Deal. After the Supreme
Court invalidated two key New Deal measures (the National Industrial
Recovery Act and the Agricultural Adjustment Act), FDR attempted to
make the court more compliant with his “court-packing scheme.” This was
too much. Even many members of his own party refused to tip the balance
between the branches so strongly toward the executive. FDR gave up the
plan, but it is evident that the high court was shaken, for the president did
not face similar court challenges to his legislative efforts. This episode will
give teachers a good chance to remind students of the checks and balances
ingrained in our constitutional system.
As the decade went on, Hitler became bolder. He remilitarized the
Rhineland, he forced Anschluss on Austria, and he insisted that Germany
be awarded the section of Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland.
Unfortunately, the British and French, still hoping to avoid war at nearly any
cost, continued their policy of appeasement and granted the German leader
his wish. Despite British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s assurance
that this deal with Hitler meant “peace in our time,” in truth, giving in
to the Führer only emboldened him. Two prominent American voices
supporting appeasement were American aviation hero Charles Lindbergh
and America’s ambassador to England, Joseph P. Kennedy. A strong, and
sometimes lone, voice against giving in to Hitler was British “backbencher”
Winston Churchill. A further warning of dark days to come occurred on
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht. Nazi followers on that night attacked and
burned Jewish businesses and synagogues all over Germany.
Despite the depths of the Great Depression, American ingenuity during the
period still managed to create structures that continue to awe us. Bennett
mentions Mount Rushmore, the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate
Bridge, the Grand Coulee Dam, and the TVA. Even more significant than
these structures of brick and mortar were many of the agencies of the New
AMERICA
: THE LAST BEST HOPE
TEACHER
Deal that impact Americans to this day. Teachers can challenge students to
explore which agencies dating from this era still touch Americans and affect
their lives. What is their role and are they still important measures of relief,
recovery, or reform?
Teachers will notice that throughout the book, people are mentioned who
will become major figures later. Teachers might see if students recognize
such names and even see if they can connect how experiences during this
period helped shape their character. Included in this chapter are: Ronald
Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Edward Kennedy.