Responding to the Great Depression
You must make an ethical decision about how FDR is remembered before we can move on:
Congressional Record dated Thursday, May 1, 1997
Senate Section
I. The Election of 1932:
Herbert Hoover vs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Hoover: “General prosperity had been a great ally
in the election of 1928. Great Depression was a major enemy in 1932.”
“Herbert Roosevelt and Franklin Hoover”
--one columnist’s opinion of the two candidates
Campaign Song for FDR:
At first, “Anchors Aweigh”
“Sounds like a funeral march.” (two campaign workers)
“Happy Days are Here Again.”
Bonus Army: “Hoover sent the army. Roosevelt
sent his wife.”
FDR: “Above all, be sure there is plenty of
good coffee. No questions asked. Just let free coffee flow all the time.”
Electoral Vote: 472 to 59
Inauguration: March 4, 1933
II. THE NEW DEAL
“Brain Trust”
--FDR’s trusted advisers
--politicians and professors
First Hundred Days:
March 9 to June 16, 1933
Will Rogers:
“Congress does pass legislation—they just wave at the bills as they go by.”
John Maynard Keynes(1883 to 1946):
Keynesian Economics
--unemployment leads to money hoarding
--govt. must expand money supply
--short term but massive government spending
Nixon: "We are all Keynesians now."
POLICIES OF THE NEW DEAL
--RELIEF, RECOVERY, REFORM--
A. RELIEF:
1. work relief:
WPA
--1935--1943, employed 8.5 million americans
--spent $10.5 billion
--constructed 651,087 miles of roads
--125,110 public buildings
--8192 parks
--853 airports
-- built or repaired 124,087 bridges
2. direct assistance
B. RECOVERY:
1. industry:
NIRA…
TVA…
2. agriculture:
C. REFORM:
1. Social Security Act:
2. Emergency Banking Act:
Was the New Deal Successful?
III. OTHER RESPONSES TO THE DEPRESSION:
A. Cultural Responses
B. Political Responses from the Left:
1. Huey Long, "Share Our Wealth"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIMi7fBA6e4 huey on “grub”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8elIlcrNf0 every man a king
2. Dr. Townsend, "Old Age Revolving
Pension"
3. Father Coughlin, "Social Justice"
C. Political Responses from the Right:
1. Father Coughlin turns Right
2. William Dudley Pelly's "Silver Shirts"
IV. SIGNIFICANCE:
A. desperate times require desperate policy
B. changing expectation of govt. involvement
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