FDR and the Second New Deal

THE SECOND NEW DEAL• Although the economy

had improved during FDR’s first term (1932-1936), the gains were not as great as expected

• Unemployment remained high and production still lagged

The “Second” New Deal

• 1st New Deal = Relief/Recovery• 2nd New Deal = Social Reform• Election of 1936 - Cements “New Deal Coalition”– South– Farmers– Labor– Urban– Blacks

V. New Deal Programs:

B. Second New Deal:1) Works Progress Adm. (WPA): 1935

-employed writers, teachers, librarians, actors, musicians, and artists-also expanded the number of workers in existing organizations (ex: CCC)-created 100,000’s of jobs - relief

Works Progress Administration

• 9 million employed in over 250,000 public jobs

• Cost more than $11 billion• Over 40% of population involved

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

• Employed 8.5 million workers in construction and other jobs, but more importantly provided work in arts, theater, and literary projects.

• Helping urban workers was critical to the success of the Second Hundred Days

ARTISTS HERALDED

• Painters like Edward Hopper, Thomas Hart Benton, and Iowa’s Grant Wood were all made famous by their work in the WPA program

• Photographer Dorothea Lange gained fame from her photos during this era (featured throughout this presentation)

Wood’s American Gothic is perhaps the most famous piece of the era (1930)

NATIONAL YOUTH ADMINISTRATION

• The National Youth Administration (NYA) was created to provide education, jobs and recreation for young people

• Getting young people off the streets and into schools and jobs was a high priority for the NYA

National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act)• Purpose: reform• Put restraints on

employers and set up a National Labor Relations Board to protect the rights of organized labor to bargain collectively with employers. Called the “Magna Carta” for labor

Congress of Industrial Organization

Second Agricultural Adjustment Act • Purpose: recovery

for agriculture• Paid farmers for

conservation practices, but only if they restricted production of staple crops.

Fair Labor Standard Act

• Minimum wage (.40 an hour) $6.13 today• 40 hour week• No children under 16

Revenue Act

• Wealth Tax Act• Tax on income over $50,000, (75% tax on

income over $1 million• Tax on estates over $40,000• Corporate tax

V. New Deal Programs:

2) Social Security Act (SSA): 1935-required a social security tax to be taken out of every workers’ paycheck-gave money to those who were disabled or too old to work-relief

New Deal Part II• WPA - Libraries, Roads, Artists• NYA - Youth• RA - Resettle tenant farmers• REA - Rural Electrification• Public Utility Holding Company - Regulate Utilities• Wagner Act (NLRB) - Collective Bargaining/Labor

Rights– CIO - “One Big Union” Again?

• Social Security

Big policies from New Deal

• FDIC – banking insurance critical to sound economy

• Deficit spending has became a normal feature of government

• Social Security is a key legacy of the New Deal in that the Feds have assumed a greater responsibility for the social welfare of citizens since 1935

Decline of New Deal Reform after 1937

• Reasons for decline of New Deal reform after 1937:• Court-packing plan made Congress irritable.• Recession of 1937-38 weakened confidence in New

Deal measures. Republicans gained strength in both houses.

• Attempted purge of Democratic party failed.• Conservative Democrats were elected to office.

Resentful of attempted party purge, they joined ranks with Republicans to block New Deal legislation.

• Increasing focus on foreign affairs.

Physical Rehabilitation of Country• Attacked soil erosion• Built dams and planted trees

to prevent floods• Reclaimed the grasslands of

the Great Plains• Developed water power

resources• Encouraged regional

reconstruction projects like the TVA and Columbia River project

Revitalization of Politics

• Strengthened executive branch

• Reasserted presidential leadership

• Revitalized political party as a vehicle for the popular will and as an instrument for effective action.

Maintenance of a Democratic System • The New Deal maintained a

democratic system of government and society in a world threatened by totalitarianism.– Increased size and scope of

government to meet needs of the depression

– Provided the leadership that enabled Congress to put through the necessary relief, recovery, and reform measures.

– Sponsored moderate legislation to neutralize the popularity of radical opponents

VI. Impact of the New Deal:

• Increased the power of the Pres.• Conservation gains – dams built, trees

planted, etc.• Created new federal social programs – social

security, established modern welfare state• Deficit spending – the gov’t spends more

money than it brings in from taxes

Legacy• The New Deal established the foundation of the modern

welfare state while preserving the capitalist system.• Legislation passed as part of the New Deal

experimented with a new level of governmental activism in an attempt to relieve social and economic suffering of Americans.

• Federal New Deal programs addressed areas such as business, agriculture, labor, the arts, and even people's daily lives.

• Despite a mixed legacy with respect to recovery and reform, the political response under Roosevelt proved that the economic crisis did not require Americans to abandon democracy.