26.1 The Rise of Franklin Roosevelt

At the Democratic National Convention in 1932, Roosevelt coined the famous phrase

"I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people." The New Deal did not yet exist, but to the American people, any positive and optimistic response to the Great Depression was a welcome one.

Franklin Roosevelt elected president

1932

First New Deal legislation passes

1933

Southern Tenant Farmers Union organizes

1934

Supreme Court strikes down key elements of the New Deal; Second New Deal begins

1935

Roosevelt re-elected in a landslide

1936

U.S. encounters recession when government spending is curtailed; Fair Labor Standards Act passes

1938

So what was Roosevelt's plan? Before he took office, it seems likely that he was not entirely sure. Certain elements were known:

He believed in positive government action to solve the Depression; he believed in federal relief, public works, social security, and unemployment insurance; he wanted to restore public confidence in banks; he wanted stronger government regulation of the economy; and he wanted to directly help farmers.

Collectively known as the "Brains Trust" (a phrase coined by a New York Times reporter to describe the multiple "brains"on Roosevelt's advisory team), the group most notably included

Rexford Tugwell, Raymond Moley, and Adolph Berle.

Raymond Moley

credited with bringing the group into existence, was a government professor who advocated for a new national tax policy to help the nation recover from its economic woes

At a time when the country not only faced its most severe economic challenges to date, but Americans began to question some of the fundamental principles of capitalism and democracy, Roosevelt sought to show that he was

different—that he could defy expectations—and through his actions could find creative solutions to address the nation's problems while restoring public confidence in fundamental American values.

the Roosevelt administration changed the nation's

economic fortunes with reforms, preserved the constitution, and expanded rather than limited the reach of democratic principles into the market economy.

On February 15, 1933, after delivering a speech from his open car in Miami's Bayfront Park, local Italian bricklayer Giuseppe Zangara emerged from a crowd of well-wishers to

fire six shots from his revolver.

the U.S. Constitution was subsequently amended to reduce the period from election to inauguration to the

now-commonplace two months.

Franklin Roosevelt was part of the

political establishment and the wealthy elite, but in the 1932 presidential campaign, he did not want to be perceived that way

interregnum

the difficult four months between the election and President Roosevelt's inauguration in March 1933 Congress did not pass a single significant piece of legislation during this period

Adolph Berle

was a mediating influence, who often advised against a centrally controlled economy, but did see the role that the federal government could play in mediating the stark cycles of prosperity and depression that, if left unchecked, could result in the very situation in which the country presently found itself.

Rexford Tugwell

who eventually focused his energy on the country's agricultural problems, saw an increased role for the federal government in setting wages and prices across the economy

Roosevelt emerged from the assassination attempt unscathed, Zangara

wounded five individuals that day, including Chicago Mayor Tony Cermak, who attended the speech in the hopes of resolving any long-standing differences with the president-elect.