’ President Franklin D. Rooseveltas First
Inaugural Address (1
Source: Candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt, speech, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (October 19, 1932)
UFor over two years our federal goveroment has experienced unprecedented deficits, in spite of
increased taxes ....
"... you can never expect any important economy from this [Hoover] administration. It is co, .n~tted to the idea that we ought to center control of everything in Washington as rapidly as posswte-federal control. That was the idea that increased the cost of government.by a biBhin dollars in four
years .....
"... I shall approach the problem of car134ng out the plain precept of our party, which is to reduce
the cost of curr~t federal goverranent opera~ons by 25 percent ....
"In accordance with this f~ndamental policy it is necessary to eliminate from federal
budget-making during this emergency all new items except such as relate to oirect relief
of unemployment ....
’q have sought to make two things clear: first that we can make savings by reorga~~6zation ?f
existing depariments, by eliminating functions, by abo~shing many of those ~numerable boards
and those commissions.., to total many hundreds and thousands of dollars a year.
"Second, I hope that it will not be necessary to increase the present scale of taxes ....
"The above two categorical statements are aimed at a definite balancing of the budget. At the same
time, let me repeat from now to election day so that every man, woman, and child in the Urfited
States will know what I mean: if starvation and dire need on the part of any of our citizens make
necessary the appropriation of additional hinds which would keep the budget out of balance, I
shall not hesitate to tell the American people the full truth and ask them to authorize the expendiI~e of that additional amount ....
Between 1929 and 1932, the United States was in the
depths of the Great Depression. More than 12 million people were unemployed. Some 11,000 banks failed and thousands of other businesses declared bankruptcy. The prlce of
crops dropped drastically. Herbert Hoover took limited
measures to aid state and local governments, railroads, businesses, and farmers. Hoover, however, refused to authorize a
federal relief program for the unemployed. The Depression
continued.
As the presidential election of 1932 neared, Hoover faced
a nation that had largely lost faith in his way of dealing with
the Depression. In a landslide victory--472 electoral votes to
59--Franklin D. Roosevelt won the election. When Roosevelt
took the oath of office on March 4, 1933, the nation was
eagerty awaiting his words-and actions. He lost no time in
getting to work. Within two days, he had ordered a "bank holiday" to stabilize the banking industry. A steady stream of new
legislation and new programs followed. The first 100 days of"
Roosevelt’s first term in office were notable for two things:
(1) He sent a vast amount of proposed legislation to
Congress. (2) He brought great energy to the presidency and
the nation.
The following is taken from Roosevelt’s speech on what
was to become the first of his four presidential inaugurations.
¯ . . I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my
induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and
a decision which the present sitoation of our Nation impels [calls
for]. This is preeminently the time [the best time] to speak the
truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from
honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation
will endt!re as it has endured, will revive and will prospen So, first of
all, let me assert [state] my firm belief that the only thing we have to
fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which
paralyzes needed efforts to convert [change] retreat into advance.
In every clark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and
vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people
themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will
again give that snpport to leadership in these critical days ....
Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no
unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be
accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself,
treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the
same time, througll this employment, accomplishing greatly needed
prqiects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.
Haml in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a
national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of
the land for those best fitted for the land. The task can be helped by
definite efforts to raise the values of agricuhural products and with
this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped
by preventiug realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through
foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by
insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be
helped hy the ratifying of relief activities which today are scattered,
nneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning
for and snpervisiou of all [brms of transportation and of communi- (~)
cations and other utilities which have a definitely public character¯
There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be
helped merely hy talking ahout it. We must act and act quickly.
Finally, in our progress toward a resmnption of work we reqnire
two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there
must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investmerits; there must be an end to speculatiou with other people’s
mouey, and there must he provision for an adequate but sound
currency....
If I read the temper [mood] of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each
other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if
we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army
willing to sacrifice for the good of the common discipline, because
without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes
effective ....
For the trust reposed [placed] in me I will return the courage
and devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.
¯.. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need
they have registered a mandate [authorization to act] that they Want
direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction
under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of
their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it ....
Review Queslions
1. What did Franklin D. Roosevelt mean when he told the American
people "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"?
2. How did Roosevelt plan to use the federal government to put people back to work?
3. How did Roosevelt propose to prevent a return to the kind of
stock speculation that he believed had helped cause the Great’
Depression?
4. How were Roosevelt’s views on the role of the government similar to or di~
ferent from those of Herber~ Hoov~ ?
5. Whichsetofeconomicpolicies(Hoover’sorRoosevelt’s) doyouthinkwould
work best if the United Stat~s were to have a recession or depression today?
~xplain your answer.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Time~ ~o 1970,
Bicentennial Edition, Part 2 (~975)
UN1TED STATES GOVERNMENT FIJqANCES, 1929-1941
(in billions of dollars)
Fiscal Year
1929
1930
1931
1932
I933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
t940
194!
Expenditures
$3.127
3.320
3.577
4.659
4.598
6.645
6.497
8.422
7.733
6,765
8.841
9.589
13.980
Surplus or
Deficit ( - )
$0.734
0.738
-0.462
- 2.735
-2.602
-3.630
-2.791
-4.425
-2.777
- 1.177
- 3.862
--2.710
- 4.778
Total Pub/dc
Debt
$16.9
16.2
16.8
19.5
22.5
27.1
28.7
33.8
36.4
37.2
40.4
43.0
~n
A Monumental Man
FDR’ s chiseled features defined an American epoch
By Gerald Parshall
young man with the finely chiseled face of a Roman patrician"
who "could make a fortune on the stage and set the matinee
commemoration. The first Roosevelt memorial, now all but forgirl’s heart throbbing with subtle and happy emotion." Tamgotten, was installed outside the National Archives building in
many Hall Democrats, however, weren’t swooning. They noted
1965. A marble slab about the size of Roosevelt’s desk, it was
the freshman’s habit of tossing his head back and peering down
scaled to its subject’s wishes. The new Roosevelt memorial now
his nose (on which he wore pince-nez like Theodore Roosevelt,
being completed in Washington is scaled to its subject’s signifa fifth cousin) and read in it a squire’s disdain for grubby city
icance: Some 4,500 tons of granite went into it. Designer
boys. The quirk persisted but acquired a new meaning decades
Lawrence Halprin laid out a wall that meanders over 7.5 acres,
later, when FDR wrestled with unprecedented domestic and forforming four outdoor rooms, each devoted to one of FDR’ S terms
eign crises. His upturned chin and eyes, along with his cigarette
in the White House and each open on one side to a stunning visholder, itself tilted toward the heavens, became symbols of inta of the Tidal Basin. Waterfalls, reflecting pools, and sculpdomitable determination to triumph over adversity--his own
tures are set along what is likely to become one of the most
and the country’s.
popular walks in the nation’s capital The entry building conIt was, indeed, the face of a great actor, a living sculpture
tains a photograph of FDR in his wheelchair and a replica of the
continuously reshaped by the artist. The knowing twinkle. The
chair itself The memorial’s time line includes these words:
"1921, STRICKEN WITH POLIOMYELITIS--HE NEVER AGAINarched eyebrow. The eloquent grimace. Roosevelt was a master
of misdirection. He could lie without blinking, disatan enemies
WALKED UNAIDED." But because no statue depicts him in his
with infectious bonhomie, and make a bore feel like the most
wheelchair, the dedication ceremony on May 2 faces a threatfascinating fellow on Earth. Officials with rival agendas often
ened protest by the disabled. Controversy often surrounded
came away from the Oval Office equally sure that they alone
Roosevelt in life; his spirit should feel right at home.
had the president’s ear. "Never let your left hand know what
your right is doing," FDR once confided to a cabinet member.
Idealism and duplicity fused behind his smile, buttressing one
THE POWER OF HIS SMILE
another like the two sides of a Roosevelt dime.
Today, we carry the face of Franklin Roosevelt in our pockets
and purses--it is stamped on more than 18 billion dimes. From
1933 to 1945, Americans carried it in their hearts. It was
THE WARMTH OF HIS WORDS
stamped on their consciousness, looking out from every newspaper and newsreel, FDR’S smile as bright as the headlight on a He was one of the greatest orators of his time but suffered from
steam locomotive. Roosevelt’s portrait hung in bus stations, in stage fright. While he waited on the dais, Franklin Roosevelt
barber shops, in kitchens, in parlors, in Dust Bowl shacks--and fidgeted, shuffled the pages of his speech, chain-smoked, and
in Winston Churchill’s bedchamber in wartime London. It was doused the butterflies in his stomach with gulps of water. At
the face of hope and freedom for the masses. Even among the
last, they let him start--"My friends...." In a New York minute,
"economic royalists," the haters of "that man in the White his nervousness was gone and the audience under his spell. His
House," the portxait could stir emotion--as a darthoard.
voice--languid one moment, theatrical the next~pped with
In 1911, when the 28-year-old Roosevelt was newly elected
Groton, Harvard, and centuries of blue blood. Yet no president
to the New York Senate, the New York Times found him "a
has ever communicated better with ordinary people.
Franklin Roosevelt made no small plans--except for his own
98
Article 20. A Monumental Man
THE SPLENDOR OF HIS STRIDE
At the 1936 Democratic National Convention, Franklin
Roosevelt fell down as he moved across the podium to address
the delegates. He was quicldy pulled up again, his withered legs
braised but unbroken. No newspaper stories or radio reports
mentioned this incident--and for good reason. It hadn’t happened. America was in denial. Prejudice against "cripples" was
widespread. The nation wanted no reminders that it was following a man who could not walk.
From the earliest days of the polio that ravaged his legs in
1921, denial had been Roosevelt’s way of coping. He spoke of
his infirmity with no one, not even with members of his family.
For seven years, almost every day, he took his crutches, tried-and failed--to reach the end of his Hyde Park driveway. He
could not walk. But how he ran. Campaigning animatedly from
open cars and the rear platform of trains, he was elected governor of New York twice and president of the United States four
times. No crutches were seen and no wheelchair. His steel leg
braces were painted black to blend with his socks; he wore extra
long trousers. The Secret Service built ramps all over Washington, D.C., to give his limousine close access to his destinations. FOR jerkily "walked" the final distance by holding on to
one of his sons with his left arm and supporting his right side
with a cane. Newsreel cameras stopped; press photographers
took a breather. If an amateur was spotted attempting to get a
picture, the Secret Service swiftly closed in and exposed the
ATLANTA CHANCE--FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT LIBRARY
film.
Revisionist. FDR rewrote his speeches until they sang.
"FD~:’s splendid deception," historian Hugh Gallagher
A Roosevelt speech sounded spontaneous, straight from the
dubbed the little conspiracy in his book of that title. It worked
heart, effortless---effects that took much effort to achieve.
so well that most Americans never knew of Roosevelt’s disSome speeches went through a dozen drafts, with speech writers
ability, or they repressed what they did know. Such was the nalaboring at the big table in the Cabinet Room until 3 a.m. tional amnesia, cartoonists even drew him jumping. FOR
Roosevelt then revised mercilessly--shortening sentences, subdropped the ruse for only one group. Military amputee wards
stituting words with fewer syllables, polishing similes--until were filled with men brooding about what fate had done to their
his own muscular style emerged. Sometimes, he wrote a speech
futures. A high official sometimes came calling. The severely
entirely by himself. He used a yellow legal pad to draft his first wounded Gls recognized the visitor immediately--no face was
inaugural address, which rang with one of the most effective
more famous--and his arrival brought an exhilarating revelabuck-up lines in history: "The only thing we have to fear is fear tion. Down the aisles came the nemesis of Hitler and Hirohito,
itself." He dictated to his secretary most of the Pearl Harbor
his wheelchair in full view and looking like a royal chariot.
message he delivered to Congress. He edited himself, changing
"a date which will live in world history" to "a date which will
live in infamy."
THE MAINSPRING OF HIS MIND
Roosevelt held two press conferences a week right in the
When the British monarch visited America in 1939, Franklin
Oval Office. Relaxed and jocular, he gently decreed what could
Roosevelt greeted him with unaccustomed familiarity. He
and could not be printed. He talked to reporters, John Dos
served him hot dogs at a Hyde Park picnic and addressed him
Passos remembered, in a fatherly voice "like the voice of a principal in a first-rate boy’s school." Likewise, Roosevelt’s "fire- not as "your majesty" but as "George." "Why don’t my ministers talk to me as the president did tonight?" an enchanted
side chats" on the radio reverberated with paternal intimacy. He
George VI remarked to a member of his entourage. "I felt exhad a flair for homely analogies, such as equating Lend-Lease
aid to Britian with loaning your neighbor a garden hose to put actly as though a father were giving me his most careful and
out a house fire. Who wouldn’t do that? Speaking into the mi- wise advice." It was Roosevelt’s genius to treat kings like
commoners and commoners like kings. And both loved him
crophone, he gestured and smiled as if the audience would
Somehow sense what it could not see. Millions shushed the chil- for it.
dren and turned up the radio. They ached for leadership and
His monumental self-assurance was bred in the bone. His
mother, Sara, had reared him, her only child, to believe he had
"Doctor New Deal"--soon to become "Doctor Win the War"~
a fixed place in the center of the cosmos like other Roosevelts.
was making a house call.
99
ANNUAL EDITIONS
She--and the example set by cousin Theodore--imparted another formative lesson: Privileged people have a duty to do
good. Noblesse oblige, Christianity, and the golden rule made
up the moral core of the aristocrat who became both the Democrat of the century and the democrat of the century.
Critics called him a socialist and a "traitor to his class." History would call him the savior of capitalism, the pragmatist who
saved free enterprise from very possibly disappearing into the
abyss and taldng democracy with it. It seemed evident to him
that only government could curb or cushion the worst excesses
of industrialism. But, at bottom, he was less a thinker than a
doer. Lucidly, like gardeners and governesses, intellectuals
could be hired. Roosevelt hired a brain trust and pumped it for
ideas to which he applied this test: Will it work? If one program
belly-flopped, he cheerfully tried another. "A second-class intellect," Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes pegged him. "But a
first-class temperament."
For all his amiability, FDR knew with Machiave/li that selfseekers abound this side of paradise. Navigating perilous domestic and foreign waters by dead reckoning, he often felt corapelled to be a shameless schemer. He hid his intentions,
manipulated people, set aides to contrary tasks all to keep
control of the game in trustworthy hands (his own). Charm and
high purposes palliated the pure ether of his arrogance. Franklin
Roosevelt was hip-deep in the muck of politics and power, but
his eyes were always on the stars.
A
From U.S. News & World Report, April 28, 1997, pp. 59-61, 64. © 1997 by U.S. News & World Reporl, L.P. Reprinted by permission.
stri
W~
wh
the
to=
pa~
re1
an!
the
100