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FDR The First Hundred Days

FDR The First Hundred Days One of the most traumatic situations this country has ever experienced was the Great Depression. It was an extraordinary event for the people of this country because , unlike the previous events such as wars this country has experienced, it directly affected whole families, including women and children. Many families were living in conditions similar to what we see in third world countries today. These extraordinary times required an extraordinary leader. Franklin D. Roosevelt was such a leader. While his New Deal policies were not the sole solution to the multitude of problems that this country faced, the first hundred days of his administration set in place the foundation that ultimately restored the economy, and more importantly, the faith of the people in the Federal Government. Roosevelt inherited the situation from President Herbert Hoover. While it is hard to pinpoint the exact date that the depression started, the stock market crash of 1929 is the major signpost. In October of 1929, the New York Stock Exchange lost fifty billion dollars and the leading industrial stocks in the United States had lost forty percent of their value (Watkins 40). The ten years following the crash constitute the span of the Great Depression. While it is certain that it hit the poor and working class the hardest, its reach was felt throughout society and reached into all economic levels. Between the years of 1929 and 1932, the year Roosevelt was elected, the situation went from bad to worse. Signs of collapse were everywhere. National unemployment approached 20 percent. Joblessness among black Americans was close to 50 percent. By 1932 overall manufacturing stood at a paltry 54 percent of what it had been in 1929. More specifically-and depressingly-the automobile industry was operating at only 20 percent of capacity in 1932, and steel at 12 percent. Nor did banks escape the economic blows they had helped deliver to others. Although more than seven thousand financial institutions had gone under between 1920 and 1929 (providing evidence of underlying economic weakness well before the fateful October 1929 crash), more than nine thousand additional bank failures occurred in the three years between the stock market crash and the end of Hoover’s term as president in 1933. (Chalberg 21) Reacting to the ineffectiveness of Hoover’s administration to deal with the state of affairs, Roosevelt was elected to office in 1932 on his “New Deal” platform. During his campaign, however, it was hard to tell exactly what Roosevelt’s New Deal policy was. He lashed out against the Hoover administration for high tariff policies, but by the end of the campaign, no real difference separated the candidates on the tariff issue. In his speeches he said he would increase aid to the unemployed, but he would slash federal spending (Leuchtenburg 10). One of the New Deal administrators reflected subsequently: “Given later developments, the campaign speeches often read like a giant misprint, in which Roosevelt and Hoover speak each other’s lines” (qtd. in Leuchtenburg 11). However, Hoover’s handling of the economic crisis and many other issues virtually assured Roosevelt of the Presidency. In his inaugural speech, Roosevelt said “This nation asks for action, and action now…. We must act and act quickly” (qtd. in Schlesinger 1). This address was also where his famous quote “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” was uttered (qtd. in Freidel 93) The first part of the New Deal happened in the first three months of his presidency, which became know as the hundred days. The first objective of the new administration was to get the banks on a more firm footing. On his very first night in office, Roosevelt directed his Secretary of the Treasury to draft an emergency banking bill, and gave him only five days to get it ready. On March fifth he proclaimed a national bank holiday to close the banks. On March ninth the Emergency Banking Act was passed by both houses of the Legislature with little debate and was signed by the President that night. The emergency measure extended government assistance to private bankers to reopen banks, gave the President complete control over gold movements, penalized hoarding, authorized the issue of new Federal Reserve bank notes, and arranged for the reopening of banks with liquid assets and the reorganization of the rest. On Monday, March thirteenth, banks reopened to the sound of people depositing money instead of withdrawing it. The crisis was over (Leuchtenburg 42-45). On Thursday night, March ninth, barely an hour after he had signed the Emergency Banking Act, Roosevelt outlined an economy program to congressional leaders. The plan included reduction of veteran’s benefits, reduction of congressional salaries, and reduction of Federal salaries. It was designed to save the government half a billion dollars. This economy bill received much more debate in the House. Many liberal Democrats abandoned Roosevelt. Conservative Democrats were able to maintain control and, with the help of economy minded Republicans, the bill passed through both houses by the fifteenth of March (Schlesinger 10-11). This flurry of activity kindled the hopes of the people. They felt that something was being done to alleviate their situation. Will Rogers said “America hasn’t been so happy in three years as they are today, no banks, no work, no nothing….If he burned down the capital we would cheer and say ‘well, we at least got a fire started anyhow’”(qtd in Schlesinger 13). That first explosive week was only the beginning. The rest of the one hundred days saw the following legislation passed: March 31 - establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps April 19 - abandonment of the gold standard May 12 - the Federal Emergency Relief Act May 12 - the Agricultural Adjustment Act May 18 - the Tennessee Valley Authority Act May 27 - the Truth-in-Securities Act June 13 - The Home Owner’s Loan Act June 16 - the Glass-Steagall Banking Act June 16 - the Railroad Coordination Act The Civilian Conservation Crops goal was to put young, unmarried men to work, to give them something to do, as well as feed, cloth, and house them. By September 1935, over five hundred thousand young men lived in CCC camps. During its existence more than two and one-half million boys would enlist. They planted trees, built flood barriers, stocked fish, and built a network of lookout towers and roads and trails so that fires could be detected and reached more easily. They also fought those fires, with forty-seven losing their lives (Leuchtenburg 174). The other benefit just as important as the work was the pride and skills that it taught. Their statements to interviewers expressed their pride in the experience. “I weighed about 160 pounds when I went there, and when I left I was 190 about. It made a man of me all right.” “Here they teach you how to pour concrete and lay stones and drive trucks, and if a boy wants to go and get a job after he’s been in the C’s, he’ll know how to work”(qtd in Schlesinger 339). The Civilian Conservation Corps is often considered the most successful of the New Deal initiatives. The abandonment of the gold standard was accomplished by an executive order permanently embargoing the export of gold. This was done to fight deflation and ease the burden on debtors. The Federal Emergency Relief Act set aside five hundred million dollars for grants-in-aid to states. Two hundred and fifty million was to be assigned on a matching basis and the other half was to go where need was urgent and the matching requirements could not be met (Schlesinger 267). The Agricultural Adjustment Act sought to deal with depressed prices and mounting surpluses. This act gave price support for the farmers' crops. (Leuchtenburg 52). The Tennessee Valley Authority Act built dams which would create reservoirs to control flooding and, at the same time, generate electricity. It would manufacture fertilizer, dig a 650 mile navigation channel from Knoxville to Paducah, and engage in soil conservation and reforestation (Leuchtenburg 55). It would also employ thousands of people in a highly impoverished area. The Truth-in-Securities Act required full disclosure in the issue of new securities. This would help prevent the kind of stock market manipulation that contributed to the crash of 1929. The Home Owner’s Loan Act helped refinance one out of every five mortgaged urban private dwellings in America (Leuchtenburg 53). The Glass-Steagall Banking Act required commercial banks to divorce themselves for their security affiliates and investment banks from their deposit business. The most important thing this act did was to create the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This gave people an even greater confidence in the banking system. The Farm Credit Act sought to provide more relief for the nation’s farmers than the Agricultural Adjustment Act had done. It offered protection against foreclosure and, in time, would refinance one fifth of all farm loans (Leuchtenburg 52). The Railroad Coordination Act set up federal coordination of transportation. “It seeks to provide and make certain definite planning by the railroads themselves, with the assistance of the Government, to eliminate the duplication and waste that is now results in railroad receiverships and in continuing operating deficits” (Roosevelt). With the exception of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the first hundred days of Roosevelt’s administration saw the passing of more legislation that any other time in history. While not all of the policies stood up over the test of time, taken as a whole, they helped bring back the nation from disaster and, with the eventual help of World War II, restore the people and economy to prosperity and confidence. Bibliography: Works Cited Chalberg, John C. Introduction. The Great Depression: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. William Dudley. San Diego: Greenhaven, 1994. 14-21. Freidel, Frank. Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous with Destiny. Boston: Little, 1990. Leuchtenburg, William E. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. New York: Harper, 1963. Roosevelt, Franklin D. Fireside Chat: Outlining the New Deal Program. Online. New Deal Network. Internet. 1 November 2000. Schlesinger, Arthur M. The Coming of the New Deal. Boston: Houghton, 1959. Watkins, Tom H. The Great Depression: America in the 1930s. Boston: Little, 1993.

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