Franklin Delano Roosevelt, democratic governor from New York, was elected president of the United States in 1932, easily defeating his republican opponent, Herbert Hoover (SpartacusEducational). Roosevelt would preside over a nation in crisis. The United States, pinned beneath the crushing weight of the Great Depression, was desperate for leadership and reform. Roosevelt would provide both in the form of the New Deal. Instituted during his first 100 days in office, the New Deal was developed and amended continually for the next ten years. On the strength of the New Deal and American success in World War II, Roosevelt would remain in office longer than any other president before or since, serving as president for four terms until his death in 1945 (Coggan 4). His would be among the most triumphant administrations in American history.
Standing before the Democratic National Convention in 1932, Roosevelt proclaimed thus: ôI pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American Peopleö (Heale 16). The nation sorely needed it. Following the Great Depression, by 1932 nearly 25% of the labor force was unemployed. Farmers had lost their land, homeowners had surrendered their homes, and suicide rates were on the rise (Heale 17). RooseveltÆs first legislation was therefore nothing if not emergency legislation; the day after taking office, Roosevelt ordered all banks in the United States to close for four days (SpartacusEducational).
During the bank closure, Roosevelt rushed the Emergency Banking Act through Congress, guaranteeing the American people that ôthey would not lose their money if there was another financial crisisö (SpartacusEducational). A myriad of other measures would follow in 1933: the Civilian Conservation Corps, which provided work for young men in conservation projects; the National Youth Administration, the Works Projects Administration (which created Arts-based initiatives), and the Federal Ai...