FDR's New Deal

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt was relatively unknown to politics until his campaign for presidency in 1932. He won the landslide election not because the public was sure he was capable of pulling the country out of the depression, but more because they wanted change from Hoover who seemed to have no set plan for dealing with the depression. The nation was hoping for a miracle. Their wish was granted when the enthusiastic and charismatic president Roosevelt proposed a record of 15 bills to congress within the first 100 days of office. Thus was the start of the new deal and for the first time the government took an active role in the organizing of private businesses and farms, as well as in individual people's lives. In Roosevelt's inaugural speech he states, "I pledge to you, I pledge to myself, to a new deal for the American people. Give me your help, not to win votes alone but to win this crusade to restore America to its own people. The most important effect of the first 100 days is that it rekindled hope in the American people and gave the feeling of progress. FDR's New Deal created many new roles for the government, such as directly helping the needy in society, managing industry as well as reforming the economy to prevent a depression of that scale from happening again.

The New Deal was a series of acts designed to pull the country out of economic strife. FDR started his presidency off with a bang when he passed the Emergency Banking Act. Under this act the federal government ordered an official bank holiday in which all banks across the nation shut down for a period of time and were permitted to reopen with the government's approval. After the trust in the banking system was restored, Roosevelt turned his head toward the needy in society, the lower class. Congress passed the Civilian Conservation Corps or the CCC to provide jobs and training to 10000 unemployed men and restored many of the country's resources by planting trees, fighting fires, and building roads. Though the number of citizens directly affected by this was small it instilled hope in the nation that the federal government was taking initiative towards helping the poor and unemployed. This was only the start of acts passed to directly relieve the poor; others were: the Federal Emergency Relief Administration which benefited those ineligible for the CCC, the Emergency Farm Mortgage Act was designed for the relief of farmers, and the Home Owners' Loan Corporation which helped homeowners who were in danger of losing their homes.

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