Criticism of Roosevelt's New Deal Policies

Franklin Roosevelt was elected president in 1932 in the wake of the crashing of the American economy. The American public was largely disillusioned and apprehensive about the future. Millions of people were in dire financial and physical predicaments. Clarence Darrow and J. H. Holmes debated the question of whether civilization could be savedDarrow thought not ("C. Darrow and J. H. Holmes..." 1934, p. 23).

Roosevelt proposed a set bold plans for the reconstruction of the American economy and the rebuilding of the American public spirit. The entire policy package was tagged with the name "New Deal." The policies ranged from the provision of aid for business and industry to the regulation of business and industry to the development of public works programs to put people back to work quickly, to social welfare programs. To say the "New Deal" was controversial is to understate the case. Generally, Republicans, conservatives generally, and the business community favored those parts of the "New Deal" that provided aid to industry, while opposing any regulation of industry, and claiming that social welfare programs were dangerously socialist in character ("Principle Criticized..." 1934, pp. II-2). Equally generally, Democrats and the great majority of the American population rallied behind the "New Deal" ("Child Is Told..." 1934, p. 2).

This research examines the criticism of the "New Deal" du

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ational Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) program ("R. Moley Replies..." 1934, p. 14). The NIRA was widely credited with improving business across the United States; however, critics of the NIRA were virulent in their efforts to undermine the program ("Business Execs Cite..." 1934, pp. II-16). W. I King ranted that the NIRA should be called either the "National Retardation Act" or the "National Regression Act" ("W.I. King On the NIRA..." 1934, pp. IV-4). At the opposite pole of the spectrum of opinion, H. Humphries called the NIRA a "Christian Crusade" ("Called 'Christian Crusade..." 1934, p. 15). An early "New Deal" social program designed to provide work for the unemployed, as well as to provide public benefits in forest improvement was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) ("Cal Pleased with Results..." 1934, pp. IV-6). The CCC also engaged in wildlife preservation projects. The CCC camps were criticized by opponents of the "New Deal" as being too militaristic ("Roosevelt Says Camps..." 1934, p. 10). The critics of the "New Deal" by and large were the same people who were responsible for the mess in which the country found itself in the firsthalf of the 1930s. The critics, thus, opposed everything that the Roosevelt Admin
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Approximate Word count = 2187
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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