FDR's Attempt at Court Packing FDR, the Supreme Cour

The Great Depression of the 1930s was a central event not only in American economic history but in its political history, with echoes that continue in American political rhetoric to the present day. The Republican Party, which had held the presidency since 1920 -- and through most of the period since the American Civil War -- was swept out by the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt, commonly called simply FDR, in 1932. When he entered office in 1933, he began to put into place a set of sweeping economic reforms, known collectively as the New Deal.

The American political system is characterized by the "separation of powers" between the executive, legislative, and judicial components of government, represented respectively by the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court. The following discussion will explore some of the interactions of these branches of government during the New Deal, through an analysis of FDR's so-called "Court-packing" effort in 1937.

The centerpiece of New Deal legislation was the National Industrial Recovery Act, which established the National Recovery Administration (NRA) and the Public Works Administration (PWA). The NRA took the leading role in a "national crusade" to increase industrial production and employment, among other things pressuring employers to accept new minimum wage and maximum working hours regulatio

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s. However, "while his ostensible purpose was to increase the efficiency of the judiciary, it was clear that Roosevelt was targeting six of the nine Supreme Court justices who had challenged his domestic programs." In spite of overwhelming Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, the measure generated strong opposition, and the bill ended up being remanded to a committee -- effectively killed -- by a 70-20 vote. More broadly, the negative reaction put an end to the long political "honeymoon" enjoyed by the New Deal. The opposition was centered among conservative Democrats: According to FDR biographer Frank Freidel, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Hatton Sumners (D-TX) made this ominous statement to colleagues about his support of Roosevelt: "Boys, this is where I cash in my chips." Other conservative Democrats expressed similar sentiments. In order to understand the nature of the opposition that FDR now faced from within his own party, it is necessary to outline the evolution of the Democratic Party during the 20th century. The electoral map of 1896 was nearly a mirror image of the "Red State / Blue State" map of the 2000 election. The Democrats in that era were strongest in the South and the rural inte
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Approximate Word count = 1815
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)