fcs- usa T2 Flashcards
The election of 1932
The new Democrat candidate, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (younger distant cousin of former President Theodore Roosevelt), former governor of New York, offered the American voters something new. The Democrats portrayed Hoover as a do-nothing President who had retreated from public life. Roosevelt, however, was charismatic and promised a New Deal for America to get them out of the Depression. The 1932 election saw the majority of African Americans vote Democrat for the first time. The rest of the nation voted the same way. With a margin of 57% to 39%, Roosevelt defeated Hoover. Hoover was only able to hold 6 states to Roosevelt’s 42. The Democrat party gained majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Roosevelt’s New Deal
During the election campaign of 1932, the Democrats promised a “New Deal” for America, to restore faith in the US economy and combat the Depression. The name stuck and was the overarching aim for Roosevelt’s legislative agenda (law and policy making during his Presidency). The New Deal was more than a catchy name, Roosevelt promised industrial recovery, agricultural recovery, and short term relief for the unemployed. There was no plan or blueprint for the “New Deal”. The First New Deal refers to the legislation passed during his first term of Presidency. The Second New Deal marked a shift in Roosevelt’s legislative focus once the economy showed signs of recovery. The Second New Deal legislation focused slightly more on reforming the American system (economic and political).
The First Hundred Days
For the first 100 days of Roosevelt’s presidency, Congress were called into special session. This session saw more legislation passed than any previous time in US history. This legislation became known as the First New Deal Programme. Much of the legislation was emergency legislation to tackle the Depression. The legislation of the first hundred days transformed the role of the US Government and people’s expectations of it in terms of how active it became.
Fiscal conservative
Roosevelt was a fiscal conservative, committed to a balanced budget: Where government expenditure should not exceed its income.
Alphabet Agencies
Much of the legislation passed during the first Hundred days set up alphabet agencies. These federal government agencies were governmental organisations responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions. Sixteen were set up to deal with specific issues relating to recovery from the Depression and relief for those affected by it. Their full names were abbreviated, for example, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration was known as AAA. The AAA dealt with problems for farmers such as overproduction.
Relief
Financial or practical help given to those in special need or difficulty.
Recovery
A return to a normal state of economic strength
Reform
Governmental and economic restructuring and change
Fireside chats
Roosevelt’s radio addresses to the US people. Such was his warmth and charisma that it felt like he was talking with people in their living rooms; hence the name ‘fireside chats’. He restored confidence in the economy, and the government. “The only thing we have to fear,” he once said “is fear itself”, by which he meant that Americans could overcome the Depression by boldness and resolution, with his government leading the way.
