Roosevelt’s measures allowed standards of living in the USA to improve by 200 percent.
In January 1935, Roosevelt introduced the Second New Deal, in his annual message to Congress. Roosevelt still wanted to get as many people to work as he could.
The Workers Progress Administration was set up between May 1935 and June 1943 and spent $11 billion on 1.5 million separate projects. The workers built or improved 5,900 schools, 1000 airfields, more than 2500 hospitals, 69000 kilometres of road and almost 13,000 playing fields. There were also schemes to employ actors and artists.
The National Labour Relations Act enabled in 1935 (or Wagner Act) protected the right of workers to join unions. The NLR Board was set up to help workers take action against unfair practises. These included unfair sackings. But the business community opposed the Wagner Act – it felt the workers had gained too much power.
Roosevelt was concerned about security for the unemployed, elderly and the disabled. He appointed a committee to look at these issues. In the Social Security Act of 1935, the Government introduced pensions for the over 65s, unemployment benefits and aid to the disabled and their dependant children. This act was a major intervention in many people’s lives and showed Hoover’s policy of laissez-faire was gone. This act pleased most people.
The government took new areas of responsibility but this new system lead to a ‘complex bureaucracy’ which many people hated.
However, there was opposition to the New Deal and Roosevelt. In the Presidency Election of 1936, Roosevelt received 60.7 per cent of the vote and won 523 out of 531 electoral votes. But the election was bitter and Roosevelt endured personal and political attacks made at his family.
Roosevelt won a landslide but people like Senator Alfred Landon claimed the New Deal was undermining traditional US initiative and self-reliance. He was a Republican candidate. There were many people who supported Landon and saw the recent legislation as limiting their powers.
During 1933 and 1938, many government agencies were created and the number of civil servants rose from 500,000 to more than 850,000 and new federal buildings appeared in Washington DC. This extension of federal government activity shocked Republicans, big businesses and the Supreme Court. It was to believed to undermine individualism. It was also thought to be Socialism – political philosophy that aims to create a more equal society by redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor, though this is known as ‘robbing the rich to pay the poor’.
One major result of the New Deal was the strikes of 1934. Unionisation tended to increase strikes and factory leaders tried to stop their workers from joining unions. This was illegal, but many sacked workers tried to start unions.
The most popular person to oppose the New Deal was Senator Huey Long of Louisiana. He claimed the USA should have a redistribution of wealth. He had a ‘Share Our Wealth’ scheme which called for the federal government to guarantee every family at least $5000 in annual income. To do this, Long wanted to tax the property and income of wealthy people. By 1935, he had many people on his mailing list and had set up many clubs.
In 1935, Roosevelt was under attack from the Supreme Court. The Court stated the NIRA was unconstitutional, and then in 1936, they decided the AAA was too. He thought the judges in the Supreme Court were ‘out of touch’. All nine had been appointed before Roosevelt came to power.
In February 1937, he put forward a plan, which would reorganise the judiciary, claiming the judges were too old to keep up with the workload. He wanted six new judges – but came underfire by his supporters as well as anti-New Dealers.
Roosevelt was seen to be packing the Supreme Court with pro-New Deal judges. This idea would destroy the independence and judiciary. It would give the presidents more power too. However, the plan failed and Roosevelt lost some popularity.
The Wagner Act and Social Security Act were upheld. But the judges retired within the next four years, and Roosevelt appointed six of his own supporters.
It is believed the New Deal claimed Roosevelt didn’t do enough for the needy in the USA. The New Deal did not help farm labourers, the elderly, black people, black workers of the South and women. Another belief is that Roosevelt interfered too much with business and spent too much money on the unemployed. Others felt he was undemocratic and was trying to be too powerful. Opposition grew. The USA stated there should be a clear separation between the president and legal system.
During the Supreme Court problems, Roosevelt witnessed the economy running into trouble again. Industrial production fell and stocks and shares were sold in big numbers. Unemployment figures rose to 5 million within a year. To stimulate the economy, the government spent a lot of money. Roosevelt asked Congress for $3.8 billion to help financial recovery.
The New Deal helped restore the USA’s economy and the TVA was successful. The New Deal brought relief, employment, and helped the USA believe in the government again. It’s proven that American’s were better off in 1938 than 1932.
The New Deal helped democracy in the USA but the New Deal wasn’t that successful. Roosevelt concentrated more on tension in Asia and Europe and the New Deal started to grow to a halt. Only when World War 2 begun did America grow out of the recession. There were still 6 million unemployed. However, as you would expect, the New Deal could only work for a certain time, and by the end of 1940, the New Deal was having very little effect.
Some believe the actions of the Government were revolutionary, contrary to US ideas. The idea that the government was responsible for the new economic and social welfare had been accepted, creating a view that it was a turning point in US history.
Some people argue the Second World War restored the US economy – and not Roosevelt. The jobs were permanent and the expansion of armed forces meant people could return to work. Another view is the New Deal was relatively successful in creating jobs and it gave a spirit of optimism. It is believed the US went down a ‘road of Fascism’
