FDR and New Deal: Key Policies, Programs, and Impact

What disease permanently crippled Franklin Roosevelt?

Infantile paralysis (polio)

What was Eleanor Roosevelt known as?

The 'conscience of the New Deal'

What was FDR's political appeal characterized by?

A commanding presence, good voice, and great charm

What did FDR promise during his campaign in 1932?

A balanced budget and sweeping social and economic reforms

What was the Brain Trust?

A small group of young, reform-minded intellectuals who authored much of the New Deal legislation

What was the New Deal?

The economic and political policies of FDR's administration aimed at solving the problems of the Great Depression

What was the significance of the 1932 election for African Americans?

They began to shift from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party

What were the three Rs of FDR's New Deal?

Relief, Recovery, Reform

What was the purpose of the Emergency Banking Relief Act of 1933?

To give the President the power to regulate banking transactions and reopen solvent banks

What did FDR's fireside chats aim to do?

Reassure the public about the safety of keeping money in banks

What did the Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act create?

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

What was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)?

A program that employed young men in government camps for environmental projects

What did the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) provide?

About $3 billion to states for direct relief or wages on work projects

Who was Father Charles Coughlin?

A Catholic priest and demagogue who preached anti-New Deal rhetoric

What was Dr. Francis E. Townsend's proposal?

To provide $200 a month to everyone over 60 years of age

What was Huey P. Long's 'Share our Wealth' program?

A plan to distribute $5000 to each family at the expense of the prosperous

What was the Works Progress Administration (WPA)?

An agency created to provide employment on useful projects

Who was Frances Perkins?

America's first woman cabinet member, serving as Secretary of Labor

What did Mary McLeod Bethune direct in the Roosevelt administration?

The Office of Minority Affairs in the National Youth Administration

What movement did Ruth Benedict develop?

The 'culture and personality movement' of the 1930s and 40s

What was the main goal of the New Deal?

To provide relief for the unemployed and stimulate economic recovery

What did FDR do during the 'Hundred Days'?

He enacted a series of remedial legislation to address the national emergency

What was the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)?

An act that provided financial assistance to farmers to help meet their mortgages

What was the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC)?

An organization designed to refinance mortgages on nonfarm homes

What was the Civil Works Administration (CWA)?

A branch of FERA that provided temporary jobs during the winter emergency

What was FDR's approach to gold during his presidency?

He took private gold holdings to the Treasury and canceled the gold-payment clause in contracts

What was the impact of the Great Depression on employment?

One in every four workers was jobless when FDR took office

Who was Ruth Benedict?

An anthropologist who developed the 'culture and personality movement' and authored 'Patterns of Culture' in 1934.

What significant contribution did Margaret Mead make to anthropology?

She advanced ideas about sexuality, gender roles, and intergenerational relationships based on her studies of adolescence among Pacific Islanders.

What is the title of Pearl S. Buck's best-selling novel?

The Good Earth, which introduced American readers to Chinese peasant society.

What was the purpose of the National Recovery Administration (NRA)?

To assist industry, labor, and the unemployed by combining immediate relief with long-range recovery and reform.

What did the NRA aim to achieve with 'codes of fair competition'?

To reduce labor hours and spread employment among more people.

What was outlawed by the NRA?

The 'yellow-dog' contract, which prevented workers from joining unions.

What was the outcome of the Schechter 'sick chicken' decision?

The Supreme Court ruled that Congress could not delegate legislative powers to the executive, effectively dismantling the NRA.

What was the primary purpose of the Public Works Administration (PWA)?

To focus on long-range recovery by funding public projects, including buildings and highways.

What significant project was completed by the PWA?

The Grand Coulee Dam, which enabled irrigation for millions of acres of farmland.

What did the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) aim to do?

To establish 'parity prices' for commodities and eliminate price-depressing surpluses by paying growers to reduce crop acreage.

What was the result of the AAA's actions?

It confused many and was deemed unconstitutional in 1936 due to regulatory taxation provisions.

What environmental disaster struck the Great Plains in the 1930s?

The Dust Bowl, caused by prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices.

What was the impact of the Dust Bowl on migration?

It led to 350,000 Oklahomans and Arkansans migrating to southern California in search of better living conditions.

What was the purpose of the Resettlement Administration established in 1935?

To relocate near-farmless farmers to better land and plant trees as windbreaks.

What did the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 aim to achieve?

To restore Indian autonomy, revive tribal interests, and preserve native crafts and traditions.

What was the Truth in Securities Act?

A law requiring promoters to provide independently audited information to protect investors.

What was the role of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)?

To protect the public against fraud, deception, and insider manipulation in the stock market.

What did the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 do?

It aimed to control bloated growth in the utility industry, limiting excessive corporate expansion.

What was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) established for?

To develop hydroelectric power in the Tennessee River area, creating jobs and reforming the power monopoly.

What were some achievements of the TVA?

Full employment, cheap electric power, low-cost housing, and improved navigation and flood control.

What was the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) created for?

To stimulate the building industry through small loans for home renovation and construction.

What was the significance of the Social Security Act of 1935?

It provided for federal-state unemployment insurance to cushion against future economic depressions.

What measure was introduced to cushion against future depressions?

Federal-state unemployment insurance.

What type of payments were provided for old age under the New Deal?

Regular payments ranging from $10 to $85 a month, financed by a payroll tax.

Who were the primary beneficiaries of Social Security in the U.S.?

Specified categories of retired workers.

How many people were eligible for Social Security benefits by 1939?

Over 45 million people.

What was the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 also known as?

The Wagner Act.

What significant labor event occurred in San Francisco in 1934?

A general strike following 'Bloody Thursday'.

What technique did workers in the CIO use during the strike at General Motors?

The sit-down strike.

What was the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 known for?

Establishing minimum-wage and maximum-hour standards.

What was the outcome of the Memorial Day massacre in 1937?

Police fired upon pickets and workers at the Republic Steel Company.

Who was the Republican candidate against FDR in the 1936 election?

Alfred M. Landon.

What was the main reason for Roosevelt's landslide victory in the 1936 election?

His appeal to the 'forgotten man' including southerners, blacks, urbanites, and the poor.

What did Roosevelt propose regarding the Supreme Court in early 1937?

To add a new justice for every member over 70 who would not retire.

What was the public reaction to Roosevelt's Court-packing plan?

It shocked many and led to accusations of dishonesty.

What economic theory did Roosevelt consider to stimulate the economy?

Keynesianism, which advocates for government spending to encourage consumer spending.

What did the Reorganization Act of 1939 achieve?

Created the Executive Office of the President, giving the president substantial power to structure his office.

What was a major criticism of the New Deal?

It failed to cure the depression and led to increased national debt.

How did the New Deal impact unemployment rates?

Reduced unemployment from 25% to 15% during Roosevelt's first term.

What was the Hatch Act of 1939 designed to do?

Prohibit federal administrative officials from active political campaigning.

What did critics accuse Roosevelt of regarding the New Deal?

Trying to make America over in a Bolshevik-Marxist image.

What was the main focus of the New Deal according to its supporters?

Relief from the worst of the crisis and preventing mass hunger.

What did FDR's economic record indicate by the end of his presidency?

Government investment in infrastructure helped pave the way for post-WWII economic boom.

What was the sentiment of business tycoons towards FDR?

They hated him, yet he purged capitalism of its worst abuses.

What was the impact of WWII on the national debt?

The debt increased significantly, from $40 billion in 1939 to $258 billion in 1945.

What was the New Deal's legacy in terms of government intervention?

It represented a broad consensus on the opportunities and limits of government efforts in shaping the economy.

Brain Trust

Specialists in law, economics, and welfare who advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt and helped develop the policies of the New Deal.

New Deal

The economic and political policies of Franklin Roosevelt's administration in the 1930s, aimed to solve the problems of the Great Depression by providing relief for the unemployed and launching efforts to stimulate economic recovery.

Hundred Days

The first hundred days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, from March 9 to June 16, 1933, when many reform bills were passed by a Democratic Congress to launch the New Deal.

Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act

A law creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insured individual bank deposits and ended a century-long tradition of unstable banking.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

A government program created by Congress to hire young unemployed men to improve the rural environment through various conservation efforts.

National Recovery Administration (NRA)

An early New Deal program designed to assist industry, labor, and the unemployed through centralized planning mechanisms.

Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

A New Deal program designed to raise agricultural prices by paying farmers not to farm.

Dust Bowl

Nickname for the Great Plains region devastated by drought and dust storms during the 1930s.

Indian Reorganization Act of 1934

Also known as the 'Indian New Deal,' aimed to reverse forced assimilation and promote tribal autonomy.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

A New Deal public works project that brought cheap electric power and environmental improvements to the Tennessee Valley.

Social Security Act

A law providing for unemployment and old-age insurance financed by a payroll tax on employers and employees.

Wagner Act

Also known as the National Labor Relations Act, it protected the right of labor to organize in unions and bargain collectively.

Fair Labor Standards Act

New Deal legislation that regulated minimum wages and maximum hours for workers involved in interstate commerce.

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

A New Deal-era labor organization that organized unskilled industrial workers regardless of their sector.

Court-packing plan

Franklin Roosevelt's scheme to add a new justice to the Supreme Court for every member over seventy who would not retire.

Keynesianism

An economic theory advocating that central banks adjust interest rates and governments use deficit spending to increase purchasing power.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The thirty-second president of the United States, credited with developing the New Deal to help the nation recover from the Great Depression.

Eleanor Roosevelt

The wife of Franklin Roosevelt, known for her activism and devotion to the impoverished and oppressed.

Harry L. Hopkins

A major architect of the New Deal, he headed the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and Works Progress Administration.

Father Charles Coughlin

A Catholic priest known for his anti-New Deal radio broadcasts.

Francis E. Townsend

A retired physician who promoted a plan to pay seniors $200 a month, provided it was spent within the month.

Huey P. Long

Louisiana governor and U.S. senator known for his anti-New Deal 'Share Our Wealth' program.

John Steinbeck

An American novelist famous for his works depicting the lives of the working class during the 1930s.

Frances Perkins

The first woman cabinet member and secretary of labor under Roosevelt, instrumental in labor policies.

Mary McLeod Bethune

The highest-ranking African American in the Roosevelt administration, she headed the Office of Minority Affairs.

Robert F. Wagner

A Democratic senator from New York responsible for the passage of important New Deal legislation.