How did the political environment change 1933-45? Flashcards
What did Roosevelt ask Congress to grant him to deal with the economic situation?
What did Roosevelt promise he would do which he put aside once in power to help save the country at any cost?
Special powers- similar to what he would have received had there been a war
Balance the federal budget
What did New Deal thinking insist, which was different from Rugged individualism?
What were the two weaknesses of the government agencies?
That the government was responsible for the welfare of the people
The relief they provided was absolute minimum and tests you had to pass to qualify for relief were so demanding that many chose not to take them
To achieve rapid, national action, what did the government-controversially- have to do?
Why was this accepted by congress?
Name one example of a project that wouldn’t have happened without a federal agency coordinating the activities
What was the overarching name for the agencies that were set up?
In what way did the states still had partial control over the agencies
The federal government had to take over some policy-making which was, under the constitution, the role of individual states
His ‘war’ rhetoric suggested that the federal powers were only temporary
The development of the Tennessee Valley (covered 7 states)
“The alphabet agencies”
Help was provided on a state-by-state basis
What does NRA stand for?
What was the role of the NRA, give two examples of what it did?
What was a weakness of the NRA?
What was the public encouraged to do by the NRA?
National Recovery Administration
To set up and enforce codes of practice for businesses, set working hours and a minimum wage
Businesses could opt-out of the NRA
Support businesses that displayed the NRA blue eagle symbol in their windows
What does AAA stand for?
What was the role of the AAA?
Give two ways it achieved this
The Agricultural Adjustment Agency
To regulate the major crops such as wheat, cotton and milk
It bought up surplus crops and subsidised farmers to grow less of crops that were being overproduced
Name four personality traits which made Roosevelt successful
What was the date of his inaugural speech?
Aside from laying down his policies for the first few months, what did he assure people?
What else did he explain to people?
What was Roosevelt’s relationship with congress like?
What did this allow him to do more easily than he expected?
Confident, Charming, Persuasive, Pragmatic
4th March 1933
“the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
that although the depression was crippling, he had been given special powers by congress to fix it
He understood how to manipulate them
Push through laws on banking, taxation, economic help for farmers and homeowners in difficulty and unemployment
What did Roosevelt increase to make increased federal intervention work?
What did he set up to help with this, what was their job?
Comparatively how many did Hoover have?
When Congress wasn’t helpful, what did Roosevelt do in order to push orders through?
What did Roosevelt not understand very well (being more concerned with general policy than detail)?
Why did this work itself out?
White House staff
Executive Office of the president, had several departments to deal with the administration
Three assistants and some secretaries
He used emergency executive orders
Economic theory
Some of his measures created inflation, while others had a deflationary effect- they cancelled each other out
What were Roosevelt’s radio broadcasts called?
What did he talk about in them?
What was he the first president to receive from people?
As well as using radio broadcasts and speeches, what else did he do to keep the media on his side?
What would he tell the media?
Despite not always being able to quote him directly on his policy, what did this all mean for the press?
“Fireside chats”
He explained policies to people
Sackfulls of letters from ordinary people, either asking or thanking him for help
He held “off the record” press meetings twice a week with selected reporters at the White House
What was going on and sometimes gave them an “off the record” piece of information
They had the same understanding of what was going on and felt involved/on his side
Presidents traditionally served two terms. How many did Roosevelt serve?
Name the two main groups of people who opposed Roosevelt, and why?
During the 1940 presidential election, what did some opponents compare him to?
From what year did the Supreme Court begin to rule against many of his “temporary” federal agencies and laws, why?
In what year was both the NRA and AAA ruled unconstitutional?
What did Roosevelt propose in 1937 in an attempt to overrule the supreme court?
How did people react to this, why, and what did Roosevelt do?
Four
Wealthy business people-disliked his policies, Republicans (and some Democrats)- disliked his enlarging of presidential power
Dictators such as Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin
1936, they were seen as unconstitutional for infringing state rights
1937
To add a new judge for every existing judge over 70 (6/9)- this would allow him to pack the court with his supporters
It shocked even his strongest supporters, it was an extreme violation of the “separation of powers theory”, He abandoned his proposal
In what year did Roosevelt die?
When Harry Truman inherited the presidency, what was he expected to be involved in?
What did the White House now have many more of, and on top of running the country as a traditional executive, what were they now involved with?
What was the White House now expected to do?
The government and president were now seen as responsible for welfare throughout the country, name two examples of following presidents and their welfare packages that they offered (which deliberately referred back to the New Deal)
What did many people have a tendency to do when the president didn’t solve their problems?
1945
The forming of policy and legislation
Federal boards and committees, Discussing policy and drafting laws
Tell the media and the public about policy
Welfare throughout the country
Truman’s Fair Deal, Kennedy’s New Frontier
Blame his advisors rather than the president himself
What theory still held despite Roosevelt’s legacy?
Although the president now took part in policy and law-making, what did he still need in order to pass the law (with the exception of executive orders)?
What two things still largely affected how much the president could do?
The theory of separation of powers
The agreement of Congress
The president’s personality, the media’s presentation of him and his ideas
What, alongside the New Deal, took America out of the Depression?
Due to American reactions to WW1, what did Roosevelt announce in a fireside chat- regarding WW2?
What did he mention (despite US neutrality acts stating that a citizen could lose citizenship if they went to fight abroad) about fighting abroad?
WW2
America’s neutrality
That he could not ask every American to remain neutral
On what basis did America supply war supplies to the allies, what did this mean for the British, why did this happen?
What did war production boost, what did this lead to a rise in?
“Cash and carry”, Britain did not get credit to buy the supplies, Providing war supplies on credit was forbidden by the US Neutrality Acts
Industry and farming- employment
By what month of which year was Britain practically fighting alone, depending on the USA for its war supplies?
What month of which year did Churchill tell Roosevelt that Britain could no longer pay for its goods?
Instead of trying to persuade Congress to overrule the neutrality act, what did Roosevelt propose- to allow Britain to use the goods?
What month of which year was this act passed?
By the end of the war, what was the value of what Britain “owed” to America?
What was another one of Roosevelt’s schemes which helped Britain?
June 1940
December 1940
The ‘lend-lease scheme’- American theoretically lent Britain the goods to be returned after the war
March 1941 (Lend-Lease Act)
$51 billion
the ‘destroyers for bases deal’, which allowed Roosevelt to give Britain 50 naval destroyers in exchange for the use of bases in British held countries
In what year did the USA enter the war, why?
How did this affect unemployment, why?
Within a year of the outbreak of war, what was the value of USA war goods produced?
Industry profits rose from ___ in ____ to ___ in ____
What two things changed for working life?
The war was good for the economy, but the human cost was high. How many went to fight?
How many died and how many were wounded or captured?
8th December 1941, the Japanese bombed the US fleet at Pearl Harbour in the Hawaiian islands
It dropped steeply, the men went to fight and the women took their places in farming and industry
$47 billion
$17 million in 1940 to $28 million in 1943
The working week extended and wages rose
Over 16 million
over 400,000, nearly 600,000
