Roosevelt, Franklin (Administration)

HARDLY ANY PRESIDENTIAL administration holds a more prominent place in history than that of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). Most think of FDR as one of the greatest American presidents, though some think the opposite. None can doubt that his presidency spanned some of the most important events in American history, for better or worse.

Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in a prominent New York family. He attended the Groton School and Harvard College. He became a lawyer after attending law school at Columbia University. He married his distant cousin, Eleanor, in 1905. They had six children, one of whom died in infancy. Roosevelt was elected to the New York State Senate in 1910. He served in the Woodrow Wilson administration as assistant secretary of the navy. The Democratic Party nominated him for vice president in the election of 1920. He and presidential candidate James M. Cox lost to Warren G. Harding in a landslide. In 1921, Roosevelt was crippled by polio. In time he reentered politics and became governor of New York in 1930. By this time, America was in the early stages of the Great Depression.

Over the next two years the nation sank deeper into the Depression. Unemployment rose, and the promises of President Herbert Hoover that prosperity was around the corner seemed empty. Discontent over economic conditions made it likely that Hoover would lose to his Democratic opponent. The Democratic Party nominated Roosevelt, and his personal charm made him effective in political campaigning. He won by seven million popular votes and with 472 electoral votes. Dealing with the nation's economic conditions would prove more difficult.

The Great Depression was unprecedented in terms of both its severity and duration. The unemployment rate had been 3.2 percent in 1929. It rose to 8.9 percent in 1930, 15.9 percent in 1931, and 23.6 percent in 1932. Industrial workers and farmers bore the brunt of these job losses. The Gross National Product (GNP) was $203.6 billion in 1929, but it fell to $183.5 billion in 1930, $169.3 billion in 1931, and $144.2 billion in 1932. Per capita GNP for this period fell from $103 to $58. There had also been waves of bank failures, a collapse of the money supply, and deflation. Approximately 10,000 banks failed in the panic of November 1930, including some of the nation's largest institutions. Many people lost their life savings in bank runs. The money supply fell by one-third. Hoover also converted a federal budget surplus of $1 billion into a deficit of close to $500 million in 1931, and nearly $3 billion in 1932. While there had been considerable prosperity during the boom of the 1920s, the early 1930s were marked by the impoverishment of millions. Crises in the past had generally not lasted for long. This crisis seemed to worsen with each passing year.

Franklin Roosevelt expanded the federal government to deal with the impoverishment of millions during the Great Depression.

The Roosevelt administration took an active approach in dealing with the Depression. Hoover had increased spending on public works and formed the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, but Roosevelt extended the role of the federal government further. He formed a “Brain Trust” within his administration to design a New Deal for the American people. Key members of this group were Harry Hopkins, Henry Morgenthau, Lewis Lowe, Averill Harriman, Cordell Hull, Harold Ickes, Frances Perkins, Sam Rosenman, Raymond Moley, and Rexford Tugwell.

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