The Second New Deal By: Ryan Nunez
Franklin D. Roosevelt 32 nd President (1933-1945) Brought a sense of hope during The Great Depression The Great Depression depleted the work force and citizens were left jobless and in search of answers Roosevelt was considered many things- Patrician, stamp collector, politician but above all he was a Democrat Citizens believed that Roosevelt would turn to reconciliation with big corporations during 1935 and reform would virtually end - Turned out to be the opposite in the next two years to come In his Inaugural Address he asserted these words, We have nothing to fear but Fear itself.
Roosevelt During the time of The Great depression Roosevelt made a swift change to the left in politics- -Meaning that he sided with Progressive ideas; was a popular reform movement of the early twentieth century, emphasizing efficiency and democracy. IT focused on changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large corporations Roosevelt rarely if ever made decisions without thrusting a damp finger( never took actiuon without hearing public opinion) The luxury of consensus government( a government whereby the majority of citizens agree) was one of many privileges Roosevelt enjoyed but had to give up during the time of The Great Depression
Election of 1934 As late as the election of 1934, FDR was still aiming for the middle, ( speaking to the 10-15% of people who are in extreme oppose to his New Deal) Before the election President Roosevelt addressed the American Bakers Association convention to placate business opposition-he sought an alliance of major interest in the country. He pledged to reduce large expenditures as soon as business revived At the end of his speech he altered text by saying, That is what we call and accept a profit system Bankers liked this idea but it did not last A reason for Roosevelt shifting to the left (Progressive) was the fact businesses deserted him before he gave up on them. Few business officials dared not to oppose the new dynamic president Their own prestige was shattered; as FDR s was growing
Liberty League Founded by John J. Raskob who stated that big businesses must, Organize to protect society from the suffering it is bound to endure if no one should be allowed to get rich. Raskob, the Du Ponts, and other bankers- sought to turn the Democratic party towards Conservatism and switch the tax burden from the rich to the poor and the middle class In 1932 these men tried blocking Roosevelt's nomination It labeled the AAA, A Trend toward focus control of agriculture. The National Labor Relations Act, Unconstitutional
Re-Election The reasons for Roosevelt's new deal or second 100 days were many Business hostility and Supreme Court decisions against such early New Deal Legislations as the program had been in effect for two years, yet the depression continued FDR s population with the working class was declining Roosevelt realized with re-election approaching he had to regain support of the citizens whose votes he needed to win (middle and working class) 2 ways in taking action; Ease the Depression and by making it clear the administration favored, The forgotten man and opposed big business
Utility Companies FDR launched an attack on the least popular of all business groups, the utility companies. The worst abuse on the power industry was the pyramiding of holding companies, rarely existed for any function other than to issue and inflate profits. By 1932 thirteen companies controlled 75% of the nations private power interest 1935 Legislation called the Wheeler Rayburn bill was drafted to compel the dissolution of all utility holding companies that could not prove to prove they served a valid economic purpose. It was known a, The death sentence that drew a distinct line between FDR and Businessmen. Businessman reacted strongly in defense of their brothers in the utilities Passed the Senate but failed in the House for businessmen sent a quarter of a million fraudulent telegrams to Congressmen saying Roosevelt was on the verge of a mental collapse
First Inaugural Address Franklin D. Roosevelt March 4, 1933 (abridged) This is a day of national consecration. And 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 situation of our Nation impels. This is preeminently the 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 endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark 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 support to leadership in these critical days.
In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment. Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for...plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind s goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish. 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, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public
OPVL O: Franklin D. Roosevelt's Inaugural Address to the Nation in 1933 P: To illustrate to the American people his propositions as President and that he would take firm actions against major corporations in America. FDR acclaims that he stans firm on his beliefs as a Democrat and is ready to change America and provide jobs for the middleclass. V: This is actually documentation of FDR s Inaugural Address that he wrote and presented to the country during his first term as President. L: The address is appealing to the masses of people but it does not tell of the struggles or the steps that FDR has planed out to the nation. He lists of rising taxes and loss of jobs but does not speak of any solutions he has so far as entering as President
Second New Deal The Works Progress Administration (WPA), the principal relief agency of the second New Deal, was an attempt to provide work rather than welfare. Under the WPA, buildings, roads, airports and schools were constructed. Actors, painters, musicians and writers were employed through the Federal Theater Project, the Federal Art Project and the Federal Writers Project. In addition, the National Youth Administration gave part-time employment to students, established training programs and provided aid to unemployed youth. The WPA only included about three million jobless at a time; when it was abandoned in 1943 it had helped a total of 9 million people
Social Security The Social Security Act as a significant achievement in that it at last acknowledged a modicum of societal responsibility for the care of the aged, unemployed, hand capped, and impoverish It was also important as a symbolic gesture to demonstrate that Roosevelt's heart was with the people and not with big businesses. Although conservatives complained that the Social Security system went against American traditions, it was actually relatively conservative. Social Security was funded in large part by taxes on the earnings of current workers, with a single fixed rate for all regardless of income. To Roosevelt, these limitations on the programs were compromises to ensure passage. Although its origins were initially quite modest, Social Security today is one of the largest domestic programs administered by the U.S. government
Social Security This Act did not include everyone. It contained 4 flaws: First, In the South there was an opposition to African Americans receiving these benefits. Second, Payroll taxes and lower income workers paid a far larger percentage to security taxes unlike the upper class Third, Payroll tax was used to build up a fund from which social security payments would eventually be made. This meant simply that purchasing power was being taken out of the economy Finally, by creating a twisted state based network of unemployment compensation, the act helped precipitate the enactment of another regressive type of tax.
Wagner Act May 27 1935 supreme court announced the unanimous decision that declared the NRA ( National Recovery association) unconstitutional. The case US vs. Checter Poultry Corporation, involved the charge that the company had violated the NRA code by selling diseased poultry among other regulations. This case came to be called, Sick chicken case Roosevelt appointed Frances Perking a social worker rather than a union worker, as secretary of Labor. Acted as if she believed that workers had few good ideas and that expert reformers must think for them Laborers strongest friend in Congress was New York Senator Robert Wagner Sought new legislation to protect unions and those who wished to join them Wagner was the embodiment of the new urban liberalist that had begun to emerge in the Progressive era and was reaching a level of great influence in the New Deal
Wagner Act The Wagner Act established the federal government as the regulator of labor relations. It set up a permanent, three-member National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with the power to protect the right of most workers (with the notable exception of agricultural and domestic laborers) The act prohibited employers from engaging in such unfair labor practices as setting up a company union and firing or otherwise discriminating against workers who organized or joined unions. Under the Wagner Act, the NLRB was given the power to order elections whereby workers could choose which union they wanted to represent them. The act prohibited employers from refusing to bargain with any such union that had been certified by the NLRB as being the choice of a majority of employees.
Wagner President Roosevelt hoping to hold the middle ground between workers and employers, blocked the Wagner bill in 1934 but introduced it agin in 1935 and yet the president wanted no part it Senator Wagner maneuvered the bill to the Senate. Businessmen already up in arms over the proposal on utilities and social insurance and believed this bill would mark the end of the world or at least America. The bill passed the senate 63-12. This bill greatly helped workers and did little harm to employers. Roosevelt tried taking credit for the bill when it went to Congress saying it was his, must list of Legislation The bill passed the house then Roosevelt signed the National labor relations Act on July 5.
Wagner Wagner did not always agree with the goals of the Roosevelt administration. He fought Roosevelt's Court-packing plan in 1937 and disapproved of his proposal to reorganize the executive branch in 1938. He never won Roosevelt's support for a new federal antlynching law, which would protect blacks in the South from being hanged by groups of white vigilantes, or a full employment bill. The primary reason for The Second New Deal was the growth of discontent among the workers First New Deal: 1933-1935 Second Deal: Begins in 1935
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