New Deal

2 Pages 570 Words

NEW DEAL

In October 1929, Franklin D. Roosevelt was governor of New York when the Wall Street Crash created the worst depression in American history. He made desperate attempts to help those who were unemployed. Roosevelt also set up the New York State Emergency Relief Commission and appointed the respected Harry Hopkins to run the agency. Frances Perkins, who was a well-known person with a good record for helping the disadvantaged, was recruited to the team as state industrial commissioner. With the help of Hopkins and Perkins, Roosevelt introduced help for the unemployed and those too old to work.
Roosevelt was seen as a role model with great success as governor of New York. Therefore, when the Election of 1932 came about, he was the obvious choice as the Democratic presidential candidate. Although Roosevelt was not specific about what he would do about the economic depression, he easily defeated his opponent, Herbert Hoover.
Roosevelt's first act as president was to deal with the country's banking crisis. Since the beginning of the depression, one-fifth of all banks were forced to close. As a result, around fifteen percent of people's life-savings had been lost. By the beginning of 1933 the American people were beginning to lose faith in their banking systems and a large portion were withdrawing their money and keeping it at home. The day after taking office as president, Roosevelt ordered all banks to close. He then asked Congress to pass legislation. This would guarantee that savers would not lose their money if there were another financial crisis.
On 9th March 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt called a special session of Congress. He told the members that unemployment could only be solved, "by direct recruiting by the Government itself." For the following three months, Roosevelt proposed a series of important bills that attempted to deal with the problem of unemployment. Congress passed these bills. The special session of Co...