New Deal, New Regime

Question 1

Why is FDR considered the father of modern democracy?

Answer 1

• he transformed the government or regime from congressional to presidential. (Before him, the government had been characterised by the primacy of Congress, after him by the primacy of the presidency.)
• In addition, he imposed the conception of national government as an agency for human welfare. A shift had been initiated by Wilson but Roosevelt institutionalised it.

Question 2

What are the four revolutionary legacy left by the New Deal?

Answer 2

• Constitutional: Imposed principal of coercive power of government on individuals
• Governmental : the welfare state made the government responsible for citizens well-being
• Institutional : It was the end of a Congress centred government with delegation of powers to the presidency
• Political : It changed the President/Congress relation. It favoured the growth of interest group liberalism at the expense of parties, it also created a direct relationship between the President and the people.

Question 3

The 5 mains changes that gave birth to the modern presidency

Answer 3

• The president turned chief legislator
• Administrative Reform
• The Preisdency & the SC relationship
• The relationship with the people
• Foreign policy and war powers

Question 4

What did FDR do that gave him a legislative role?

Answer 4

→ He attacked the laissez-faire ideology (a Republican ideology) as almost criminal in the 1930s context.
→ He called for a new interpretation of the constitution, a redefinition of founding concepts of individualism, rights and liberty.
→ He argued that the original values had been perverted by Capitalist leaders and that the government had to intervene to protect people from abuses to restore and preserve these original values.

> It entailed a new role for the president within the national government, a moral responsibility to protect the citizens rights and a practical responsibility to deliver the means to do so: to draft policy, to propose legislative programs instead of just implementing policy, decided by Congress. (1994 State of Union Address on the 2nd Bill of Rights, which justified modern government as an activist government led by the president)

Question 4

What did FDR do that gave him a legislative role?

Answer 4

→ He attacked the laissez-faire ideology (a Republican ideology) as almost criminal in the 1930s context.
→ He called for a new interpretation of the constitution, a redefinition of founding concepts of individualism, rights and liberty.
→ He argued that the original values had been perverted by Capitalist leaders and that the government had to intervene to protect people from abuses to restore and preserve these original values.

> It entailed a new role for the president within the national government, a moral responsibility to protect the citizens rights and a practical responsibility to deliver the means to do so: to draft policy, to propose legislative programs instead of just implementing policy, decided by Congress.

Question 5

The New Deal other name

Answer 5

the 100 days

Question 6

What did FDR ask on his inauguration day?

Answer 6

• He asked Congress to work with him cope with the crisis. He equated the situation of war, giving it a sense of emergency. He asked for broad executive powers. He called for an emergency congressional session, to pass comprehensive legislation in record times.
• After the first 100 days, Roosevelt went on asking Congress to pass white house sponsored bills.

Question 7

What powers were delegated to FDR after his demands?

Answer 7

Congress delegated broad powers to the President. A series of Act was passed:
* to regulate the economy, for instance the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA).
* to provide relief or to solve the financial crises : the Emergency Banking Act.

Question 8

NIRA

Answer 8

established the National Recovery Administration which supervised fair trade codes and guaranteed labourers a right to collective bargaining (négociation). Antitrust laws were suspended, and companies were required to write industry wide codes of fair competition, that effectively fixed crisis and wages, established production quotas, and imposed restriction on entry of other companies into the alliances.

Question 9

the Emergency Banking Act

Answer 9

Immediately after his inauguration in March 1933, President Roosevelt set out to rebuild confidence in the nation’s banking system. At the time, the Great Depression was crippling the US economy. Many people were withdrawing their money from banks, and keeping it at home.
- In response, the President called a special session of Congress, the day after the inauguration, and declared a full-day holiday that shut down the banking system, including the Federal Reserve.
- This action was followed a few days later by the passing of the Emergency Banking Act, which was intended to restore American confidence in banks when they reopened.
- The Act also gave more powers to the President during a banking crisis.

Question 10

Second New Deal

Answer 10

In 1935, it established the welfare state:
* The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, concerning unemployment
* The Wagner Act, aka the National Labour Relation Act, which guarantees the right of private sector employees to organise into trade unions to engage in collective bargaining and to take collective actions such as strikes.
* The Social Security Act, which created the Social Security Program, old age insurance and insurance against unemployment

Question 11

What were the reaction to Roosevelt legislative action?

Answer 11

Roosevelt legislative action was well accepted by Congress and the people, however there was a crisis in 1935 when the Supreme Court declared NIRA unconstitutional and argued that Congress had unconstitutionally delegated its powers to the president and interfered with intrastate commerce. > The Schechter Poultry Corporation vs. US.

Other decisions challenged the President’s constitutional power to participate in the legislative process. For example : US vs. Butler decisions 1936. Roosevelt counter attacked in 1937 with the Court-Packing Bill but the Court changed its stance. → The president’s legislative powers have not been challenged again by the Supreme Court.

Question 12

What is the legacy left by FDR?

Answer 12

After Roosevelt, all presidents were expected to be active participants in the legislative process. They not only had the power, but the duty to do so. In this respect, Truman and Jonhson are direct heirs of Roosevelt.

Question 13

Why was there the need for an administrative reform?

Answer 13

• The expansion of the president’s powers and responsibilities required expanded means to draft and implement policy.
• “The president needs help” = the executive bureaucratie is inadequate for modern politics.

Question 14

Why were many more agencies created under Roosevelt?

Answer 14

There was a lack of communication of the personnel, especially at the White House, as well as a need for experts to manage the Executive branch. So the commission recommended expending personnel and putting it under the exclusive responsibility of the President. Congress was reluctant to pass the bill proposed by Roosevelt, proposed in 1937.

Question 15

The Executive Reorganisation Act, 1939

Answer 15

It was a historic measure which institutionalised the modern presidency. It paved the way for the institutional or administrative presidency. It marked the creation of the Executive Office of the President, which is made of several offices meant to advise and help the President in their executive work.

The main branches are:
The White House office, including White House staff
The Bureau of the Budget, aka BOB.

The Executive Office of the President paralleled the Cabinet in the executive branch. The creation of the White House office and BOB, not only expanded the power of the executive branch in the government, but also expanded the powers of the President within the executive branch, at the expense of other executive bodies like the Cabinet.

The White House Office and BOB grew all through the 20th century, favouring the development of the imperial presidency.

Question 16

What did Nixon do to BOB?

Answer 16

In 1970, Nixon turned BOB into the office of management and budget, and expanded its powers. It became not only charged with preparing the budget, but also with drafting legislation and regulations and with deciding on Presidential vetoes. It became one of the most influential bodies in Government.

Question 17

What was the opinion of the SC on presidential power before the 20th century?

Answer 17

it had usually been hostile to presidential power, or governmental intervention in economic and social matters. For example, in 1866 the Ex Parte Milligan > the decision condemned Lincoln creation of military courts to trial civilians in northern territory during the civil war and rejected his suspension of the Habeas Corpus. Lincoln was already dead but it was a warning for future presidents against expanding their strictly limited powers.

Question 18

Why did Roosevelt change the relationship between president and SC?

Answer 18

when Roosevelt came to power, the Supreme Court was dominated by Conservative appointed by Republican presidents. They were hostile to Roosevelt and the New Deal. Roosevelt Presidency was marked by fights between the Court and the President. This constitutional crisis challenged the Checks & Balances and was ultimately won by the President. After Roosevelt, the SC tended to approve the presidential powers, or at least did not oftenly challenge it.

Question 19

What did Roosevelt want to do to the SC but that did not happen?

Answer 19

As FDR worried about the court opposition to change, he tried to alter the institutional balance by imposing his views to the SC through new appointments. In Feb 1937 he proposed a Court Packing Bill in Congress. He wanted to raise the number of Justices by adding 6 to the 9 traditionally appointed. He justified his proposal by arguing that the current court was overworked due to the old age of 6 of its members. (70+) In fact, everybody saw that Roosevelt’s goal was to nominate 6 liberal justices to win a majority in the court so that it would not check the other branches of government anymore. It triggered outraged reactions on all sides. Many recognised the threat to checks & balances, even among political liberals and Roosevelt’s supporters. Even those who did not fear Roosevelt’s abuse feared the possible consequences of such a change in the future. Future presidents might abuse their power and destroy democracy. The court was the historical guardian of the democratic liberties. Another argument against Roosevelt’s plan was that as a constitutional arbiter, the court should not be politicised. If so, it could be used to support dictatorship. Finally the bill was killed in the Senate.

Question 20

What were some decisions that were expected to condemn New Deal legislation, yet did not do so?

Answer 20

in April 1937, the National Labour Relation’s Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp also known as the Wagner Act.
In May 1937, Helvering v. Davis on the Social Security Act.
Through these decisions, the court showed that it accepted the new order. The reasons were not clear, indeed the first decision was in fact made before the Court Packing Plan but it was kept until April. The Court probably felt that Roosevelt’s actions were justified as the public and politicians approved. (?)

Question 21

Curtiss-wright decisions, 1936

Answer 21

a historical decision that played a key role in the establishment of the modern presidency. In Dec 1936, in a case concerning the constitutional extent of presidential power (United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp) it formally distinguished domestic policy from foreign policy and it declared that the president had inherent powers to act in foreign policy independently of Congress.
The case was about the President’s right to impose an arms embargo on Bolivia and Paraguay. It said that his decision resulted from the “very delicate and exclusive power of the president as the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations - a power which doesn’t required as a basis for its exercise and act of congress.”

Question 22

the Belmont decisions

Answer 22

declared executive agreements constitutional. It confirmed the president’s powers in foreign policy and had tremendous consequences in the future sowing the seeds of imperial presidency.

Question 23

What role did the New Deal play in the relationship between president and people?

Answer 23

Basically Roosevelt and his New Deal created a direct link between the president and the people.

Question 24

Why did the president come to be seen as the care-taker of the people?

Answer 24

From the beginning of his presidential campaign, Roosevelt presented himself as the defender of the people against special interest, especially against industrial establishments. He insisted in his rhetoric on new rights economically which individuals were not able to defend alone against big corporations. It was now the duty of the government and in particular of the president, to defend these rights, to restore equality between the citizens. With Roosevelt, the president came to be seen as the protector of the people. In practice the creation of the welfare state reinforced the notion of the President as care-taker of the people.

Question 25

How did F.D.R communicate with the people?

Answer 25

he made the direct address to the people a routine feature for the presidential office. He used the radio to explain and justify his policies on a regular basis, these radio addresses came to be called “fireside chats”. Through them the president entered the homes of Americans and became more familiar. He also held regular press conferences at the White House. These became more and more important, as the modern presidency developed.

Question 26

executive powers in foreign policy

Answer 26

apart from emergency situation, it had always been interpreted as strictly limited by the Constitution, Congress supposedly being the Supreme Authority (Congress has the power to declare war and appropriate funds for it).

Question 27

How did the New Deal era changed the executive powers in foreign policy?

Answer 27

→ Curtiss-wright, 1936, the important point was not only the decision itself (authorising the president to decide an arms embargo on foreign countries), but the justification that came with it : the assumption that the president had constitutional inherent powers in foreign policy meant that he did not have to justify his actions, nor to consult Congress in foreign matters. This created a crucial precedent which has determined presidential behaviour up to now.
→ United States v. Belmont, 1937, reinforced the orientation of Curtiss-wright in asserting the legitimacy of executive agreements. They are agreements signed by the president and foreign countries without Senate consent, unlike treaties which require ratification by the Senate.
→ Pearl Harbor, 1941, created an obvious emergency, Congress declared war on Japan on Dec the 8, then Germany and Italy declared war on the US. Roosevelt now acted as commander in chief, it didn’t claim inherent powers but emergency powers, Congress delegated him broad powers in foreign and domestic policy. He passed the War Powers Act. The Office of Emergency Management part of the EOP controlled the whole economy during the war. So the welfare state became the national security and welfare state.

Question 28

What is the legacy left by F.D.R on executive powers on foreign policy?

Answer 28

After FDR the threat to national security became the best justification for the expansion for presidential power in domestic policy even in peacetime. WWII gave way to the cold war and to a permanent state of emergency, besides in the following era, the presidents tended to claim inherent powers to avoid justifying their questionable actions even when there was no real emergency or immediate threat to national security.