Pros and Cons of FDR's Brainchild: The New Deal

President Roosevelt initiated the only program that could pull the U.S. out of the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s New Deal got the country through one of the worst financial

AAA gave a big push in agriculture economy, as well as modernizing new farming technique of, “…cultivation of soil-improving crops such as legumes, lespedeza, and soybeans. The range of these crops was extended northward, and the production of soy-beans became a major item… Hybrid corn was used more extensively and yields double previous ones were reported in many areas. These changes and experiments were expected to have far-reaching effects on the economy” (Saloutos 400-401). These new findings in farming crops increased the production, giving hope to farmers. The New Deal also imposed the Federal Crop Insurance Act, “viewed the crop insurance program as the agricultural counterpart of the Social Security Act, which furnished unemployment insurance for nonagricultural workers. During the first year of the program, 1939, about 56,000 farmers received in excess of 10,000,000 bushels of wheat or the cash equivalent in indemnities for crops destroyed by forces beyond their control; this provided them with income that otherwise would have been lost” (Saloutos 402). Through this insurance policy for farmers, they were reimbursed with money or crops if they were unemployed for any reason. Giving farmers product to work with allows them to build on it and increase income, therefore increase spending and saving. Saloutos also explains

Roosevelt had to fulfill his most important campaign promise, the new deal. “If the new deal is a success, a friend told Roosevelt in 1933, you will be remembered as the greatest American president. If I fail, Roosevelt replied, I will be remembered as the last one. “ (“FDR”) Roosevelt moved to put the government itself on a budget, freeing up federal dollars for relief and reform measures. (www.pbs.org) He boosted the morale by making the sale of beer and wine legal. FDR also launched a congregation of recovery endeavors, which were dubbed “alphabet soup” programs for the acronyms that identified them. The civilian conservation Corps (CCC) put 2.5 million men to work on conservation and reforestation projects. (Stolley, 86) FDR believed that the assembling of the National Recovery Administration was the most important legislation of the early New Deal. “The NRA was meant to stop wasteful competition, encourage better regulated pricing and selling policies and provide for higher wages and shorter hours throughout the American business community.” (Alsop, 123) During the Farm crisis, President Roosevelt initiated the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). This financed farmers for limiting the size of their crops. It assisted to make the farming community more solvent, also at the same time reducing the massive surpluses that had run down produce prices. (Alsop, 124) The most popular New Deal ideas

In his inaugural address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the tone for the upcoming half century when he confidently said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. In response to the economic collapse of the Great Depression, a bold and highly experimental fleet of government bureaus and agencies known as Roosevelt’s Alphabet Soup were created to service the programs of the New Deal and to provide recovery to the American people. The New Deal was one of the most ambitious programs in American history, with implications and government programs that can still be seen to this day. Through its enactment of social reform and conservation programs, the New Deal mounted radical policies that gave the federal government unprecedented power in the nation’s economy and society, however, the New Deal did not bring America out of the Great Depression and could be considered conservative in the context of the era, ultimately saving capitalism from collapsing in America.

Some presidents had their busy starts and ends. However, no one had it worse than the president who got us out of the depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. While FDR served twelve years as president, he was able to do many things to change America for the good, specifically during the Great Depression, when the United States needed it most. He created Social Security, jobs, and saved banks. If he did not step up with his plan, known as the New Deal, the U.S. would not be what it is today. Instead, we would still be in the depression. He saved generations to come, with the help of the New Deal.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried the solve the problems if fear, chaos, hysteria, and decline of the American economy that came with the Great Depression. Roosevelt used relief, reform, and recovery to help the people. His plan was the “New Deal” which is seen as controversial. Although Roosevelt worked hard to improve the lives of American, there were still negative interactions between the different races and classes of the time.

"No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country," - Franklin D. Roosevelt ("Thinkexist.com"). In the middle of the deepest economic recession in the history of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt took office and did everything in his power to try and turn the country around. Roosevelt was a very intelligent man and the country believed he would lead them out of the Great Depression (Brinkley). Roosevelt inspired the nation to make drastic changes during the Great Depression with his extensive knowledge, understanding of the people's suffering, and new government reforms.

During the Great Depression Franklin Roosevelt enacted the “New Deal”, which was a series of government programs that helped the american people, this New Deal was the best thing that could have been done to help the American people who were struggling during the Great Depression, thus making it a good deal. The New Deal worked wonders in the US in terms of fixing the damage done during the Great Depression. This along with WW2 brought the US out of the worst economic depression that the country had ever faced. Despite the tragedies and the hardships that our nation was facing, The WPA, social security, and the AAA(agricultural adjustment act) helped this mighty nation persevere and remain unmoved by such a tragedy.

As historians look back into the past today, the question arises about the controversial topic of the success of the New Deal. Conservatives tended to believe it did too much in giving the federal government too much power, while liberals repealed this idea saying Franklin Roosevelt did not go far enough into the roots of the Great Depression. The New Deal tended to become sidetracked, focusing on one subject then jumping to another, never fully developing FDR’s ideas. As a whole, it is best said that historians can all agree the New Deal did not do its job in pulling the nation out of the depression. The New Deal seemed as if it was made to help the middle and lower class just below the poverty line, but ended up hurting them the most.

The New Deal policies were created by Franklin D. Roosevelt and his people who are known as the “New Dealers”. They were created in hopes that they would bring relief, recovery, and reform to America and help bring America out of the depression. This flawed plan that many historians believe was largely a success brought America another rescission and caused the unemployment rate to rise. To believe that the New Deal was largely a success is to overlook its many failures and negative impact on America. From the failure of the NRA to the hostile reactions of many critics to the fact that unemployment rose, and the discrimination towards women and blacks it is clear that this New Deal was far from a success and was indeed very flawed.

Roosevelt became president he took charge and started pushing new laws that countless of businesses saw as threatening to their work. Republicans also disagreed with Roosevelt’s new ideas, arguing that this changes were not actually going to help prevent another economic crisis. Republicans and businesses joined forces to make new “anti-New Deal campaigns that expressed their resentment and fear of regulations, taxes, and unions.”(729) Even major businesses like National Association of Manufactures became “openly anti-New Deal” due to the disagreement of the “New Deal efforts to regulate [and] reform” their “enterprise.” Republicans and Businessman call the new AAA, Agricultural Adjustment Act, unconstitutional and saw it as “the end of democracy.” People even started calling Roosevelt “Stalin Delano Roosevelt” because the saw his views as communist and almost Dictatorship like. The Supreme Court ended up getting in between of the arguing, but it did not favor FDR due to the fact that the agreed with businesses naming the new NRA

In an era known as the darkest time in U.S history the American people of the 1930’s needed something to remedy their failing economy and the dubbed “New Deal” was the answer.

The New Deal did more than just bring jobs, it helped improve individuals lives and the way they were able to live. We could go on and on talking about each legislation and what it did for the people, but we can conclude that these pieces of legislation helped the United States get out one of the most difficult times in history. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt put the United States on his back and guided them through a vicious jungle. These legislations set a new standard of operation for the government that FDR did not intend it to be. That standard would be the increase of control within the White House in the influence of legislation, as well as the continued measurement of the first 100 days of a new President’s term, which has been a unique measurement.

“The years between 1933 and the start of 1935 are commonly called the first New Deal. The period from 1935 until the end of 1938, usually known to historians as the second New Deal, was in many ways quite different from the first” (Renshaw 110). During the second New Deal, Roosevelt launched the Social Security Act, which was based on the experiences gained from similar plans already in use in Ohio and Wisconsin. Even though it was approved by Congress, FDR criticized it because while it helped “mothers, children, the crippled, the blind… it excluded large categories of workers – domestic servants and agricultural workers, for example – most in need of social security” (Renshaw 118). In the same New Deal phase, president also implemented the

Franklin Delanor Roosevelt entered the presidency in the dark era of the Great Depression. For any president this would be a challenging circumstance. In an effort to reverse one of the worst economic crises that America had faced in its short history, Roosevelt created innovative programs that used unprecedented government control and funding. Though critics of the New Deal argue that Roosevelt went too far, increasing government debt and exploding the scope of the government, Roosevelt did what was needed at the time. His policies aided millions of needy americans. He did not merely give people money, moreover. It was distributed through programs that benefitted america in other ways, such as the building of an enormous infrastructure system