26.3 The Second New Deal

Timeline & Key Events

  • 1935 – FDR begins Second New Deal after Supreme Court strikes down parts of First New Deal

  • June 1935 – First week: “must-pass” legislation for Second Hundred Days

  • 1936 – Landslide re-election: FDR beats Alf Landon (523–8 Electoral College)

  • 1937 – Recession hits after FDR cuts spending; unemployment rises 5%, industrial output drops 1/3

  • 1938 – Emergency relief authorized: $33 billion to PWA/WPA; Fair Labor Standards Act signed

Challenges & Critics

  • Conservative criticism:

    • Too much government spending & power → feared socialism/fascism

    • American Liberty League & National Association of Manufacturers oppose New Deal programs

  • Liberal/left criticism:

    • Didn’t help poor enough

    • Dr. Francis Townsend: $200/month pension plan for elderly

    • Father Coughlin: Radio priest, National Union for Social Justice

    • Upton Sinclair: “End Poverty in California” campaign

    • Huey “Kingfish” Long: Share Our Wealth → redistribute fortunes, $5,000/family; assassinated 1935

Key Legislation & Programs

  • Banking Act of 1935: 7-member board, federal control over interest rates & reserve requirements

  • Works Progress Administration (WPA):

    • 8 million employed, roads, schools, hospitals

    • Federal Project Number One: murals, music, theater, writing, oral histories

  • National Youth Administration (NYA): Jobs for college & high school students

  • Social Security Act: Pensions for elderly, unemployment insurance, aid for disabled & orphans

  • Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act): Workers’ right to unionize & bargain collectively

Supreme Court & Political Maneuvers

  • FDR’s Supreme Court Packing Plan:

    • Attempted to add justices for those 70+

    • Opposed by Congress, Court, and own party → failed

    • Still politically intimidates justices → Wagner Act & Social Security upheld

Economic Challenges & Adaptation

  • 1937 Recession: caused by cutting federal spending

  • FDR adopts Keynesian deficit spending

  • Spring 1938: $33 billion to PWA & WPA → jobs & public works

  • WWII later provides ultimate economic recovery

Social & Racial Impact

  • African Americans:

    • Initially excluded from many programs (CCC, WPA, CWA, NRA)

    • WPA hires 350,000 Black workers/year (~15%)

    • PWA enforces hiring quotas

    • Mary McLeod Bethune: Director of NYA Division of Negro Affairs, advises FDR

  • Native Americans:

    • Indian Reorganization Act 1934 → self-government, land restoration, preserve heritage

Women & First Lady Influence

  • Women’s work: sewing projects, not construction; husbands & wives limited to one job per agency

  • Molly Dewson: “little general,” organizes women for Democratic Party & FDR re-election

  • Frances Perkins: first female cabinet member (Labor), champions Social Security, labor protections

  • Eleanor Roosevelt:

    • Advocates for women, African Americans, rural poor

    • Anti-lynching & civil rights lobbying

    • DAR/Marian Anderson concert → Lincoln Memorial performance

    • Traveled, held press conferences, public face of civil rights

Legacy

  • Expanded federal government’s role in economic stability & welfare

  • Social safety net & labor protections endure (Social Security, Wagner Act)

  • Mixed results: racial & gender inequalities remain, environmental impact from massive projects

  • Paved way for Truman’s Fair Deal and Johnson’s Great Society