Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal 1932-1941

Brains Trust

An unofficial advisory cabinet to President Franklin Roosevelt, originally gathered while he was governor of New York, to present possible solutions to the nations’ problems; among its prominent members were Rexford Tugwell, Raymond Moley, and Adolph Berle.

Civilian Conservation Corps

A public program for unemployed young men from relief families who were put to work on conservation and land management projects around the country.

Interregnum

The period between the election and the inauguration of a new president; when economic conditions worsened significantly during the four-month lag between Roosevelt’s win and his move into the Oval Office, Congress amended the Constitution to limit this period to two months.

Social Security

A series of programs designed to help the population’s most vulnerable—the unemployed, those over age sixty-five, unwed mothers, and the disabled—through various pension, insurance, and aid programs.

Supreme Court Packing Plan

Roosevelt’s plan, after being reelected, to pack the Supreme Court with an additional six justices, one for every justice over seventy who refused to step down.

Tennessee Valley Authority

A federal agency tasked with the job of planning and developing the area through flood control, reforestation, and hydroelectric power projects.

Works Progress Administration

A program run by Harry Hopkins that provided jobs for over eight million Americans from its inception to its closure in 1943.