1933–1938: The New Deal and the Great Depression

In December 1938, US president Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) contemplated recent setbacks that challenged the viability of his program of economic recovery, popularly called the “New Deal.” Various achievements and defeats in the first three years of his administration energized his supporters and galvanized a diverse opposition of conservatives, populists, and extremists—who believed FDR had gone too far or not far enough. Critics accused him of overreach of powers beyond his constitutional authority, of inconsistency, of inciting class warfare, and of creating conditions that actually retarded recovery. Would the record of the New Deal sustain the level of popular support that he won in the election of 1936? Had his policies and programs promoted economic recovery? What lessons should he learn from his defeats? What changes should he make in his programs and politics as he entered the election year? Should he double down on his progressive agenda or change course? Excerpt UVA-F-1951 Jun. 30, 2020 1933–1938: The New Deal and the Great Depression In late 1938, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) contemplated recent political setbacks that appeared to doom his political program, popularly called the “New Deal.” A program of unprecedented breadth and impact, the New Deal stood out as the most aggressive civic reaction to an economic crisis in history. And it proved to be among the most polarizing. Various achievements and defeats in the first five years of FDR's administration energized his supporters and galvanized a diverse opposition of conservatives, populists, socialists, communists, isolationists, and extremists—all of whom believed FDR had gone too far or not far enough. Critics accused him of overreach of powers beyond his constitutional authority, of inconsistency, of class warfare, and of creating conditions that actually retarded recovery. Nevertheless, voters had returned FDR to a second term in office with a thumping majority of 60.8% in 1936 (see Exhibit1). On the basis of that momentum, FDR had sought to sustain his reform policies of “bold, persistent experimentation,” only to confront rising resistance and political humiliation in the midterm elections of 1938. By year-end, FDR saw that the New Deal had lost its momentum and that rising international tensions would command more of the nation's attention and resources. In his draft State of the Union Address for January 4, 1939, he planned to “advise the congress of disturbance abroad and of the need of putting our own house in order in the face of storm signals from across the seas” and to relegate “our nation's program of social and economic reform [to]…a part of defense”—thus marking a major shift in priorities and policies. . . .