New Deal – FdrThe amazing leadership and controversial ideas of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Maynard Keyes was instrumental in why America was finally able to rise up from the Great Depression, some of their ideas and radical thinking faced opposition, and the “New Deal” was no exception. Although it was a long road that FDR and JMK had, with strong conviction and faith these two men pretty much single handily were able to save America. Their ideas and beliefs went against everything that had ever been done before, and they were not afraid to take on the powerhouses of America. FDR did what he thought was right, he did not forget about the average joe, infact he worked for him.
The late 1920s was a hard time for America. Farmers were struggling with their profession and many relocated to cities for factory work. The economy was in a downward tailspin with declining crop prices, and high inflation. On October 24, 1929, the unthinkable happened, the New York Stock Exchange crashed, with a loss of over 5 billion dollars (
Franklin D Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, and he had a different way of thinking than Hoover. He believed the only way to get America out of the Great Depression was not to ignore the poor, but to help them. In March of 1933, he began a program that gave the poor financial assistance, while working on a plan that would bring life back to Americas economy, which he called the New Deal (
His first 100 days in office led to the reselling of alcohol, ending Prohibition. He implemented the Emergency Banking Act which only allowed stable banks to be open and closed unstable ones. FDR believed it was crucial to have laws for the NYC Stock Exchange, so he created the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC watched the purchases within the NYC Stock Exchange and made sure there was no fraud involved. FDR also knew the importance of helping those struggling, so he implemented the Federal Housing Administration. The FTC was designed to pay the house payment for those struggling. He also set aside 5 million in emergency funding for the poor and created jobs. FDR made all these radical changes, and many more, the majority of the public embraced them. In order to continue gaining support for the New Deal, FDR had fireside chats
During the late 1940s and early 1950s, he was the most vocal in opposition to the welfare state. He helped usher in the Civil Rights movement which was rooted in a belief in black people receiving equal access to services. These victories had been realized by President Johnson, who was against the Civil Rights movement, even though black Americans were too often ignored and abused by the white politicians. FDR was also staunchly opposed to the new Civil Rights legislation that he saw as bringing in all the bad things about racial equality! He opposed what he viewed as political corruption and had even supported civil rights legislation. He worked tirelessly to get the National Park Service and the FBI to go after the most corrupt and violent elements of the local police force! FDR was also against the proposed Fair Housing Act which was known as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which did not make economic gains. Since then, many people have pointed to the fact that many New Deal reforms to the environment and the health care system have been implemented, and FDR continued to support the Fair Housing Act.
- He called the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission a fraud by giving it $200 million and $1 billion of its funds to work for the people. At the same time, the Federal Reserve created the FDIC, a secret Federal Reserve Corporation to buy assets and control the economy. This gave the FDIC enormous power. FDR was opposed to bank foreclosures which he saw as immoral, as both foreclosures and fraud made a profit. This ultimately left him open to government manipulation.
- He supported tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires and promised to raise the top marginal rate to 55%. This was to help people to make more money. He said that it would come down to how much money the wealthy can control, and that we need strong and capable tax code that supports middle class jobs, good schools, public pension systems, the building of good airports, roads, transportation, and our future public schools. There were more jobs with the higher living standards than if the rich had chosen to buy stock in the stock market.
- He said that one of the worst things about the world was this, that we’re getting this level of mass education that nobody does. This meant that the people who do learn more about what we really need are the future elites who need to start working to make us richer and more powerful. He supported Social Security and Medicare which together provided for about 60 million people. He supported giving millions to civil servants who were taking time off work.
- During his first term, he was pro-union, pro-choice, anti-imperialist, for many environmental issues including a ban on all genetically modified ingredients from the world. He opposed the construction and sale of fracking, and his efforts to block the transfer of oil, gas and coal to Europe led to a dramatic increase in the costs of fracking. He supported cutting off all federal lands from any use of fossil fuels and called for the repeal of the Wilderness Act.[/li>
- During the Obama administration, Obama called for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport tar sand from the Bakken to western North Dakota. This project led to an explosion of oil companies operating illegally inside the US.[/li>
- After Bill Clinton’s victory in 1992, he went for an agreement with the Clinton administration