Justin+S.+-+FDR+-+SP10

//Franklin Delano Roosevelt Born January 30, 1882 - Died April 12, 1945// //Political Party: Democrat Terms in Office: March 3, 1933 - January 19, 1937 January 20, 1937 – January, 19 1941 January 20, 1945 – (Death) April 12, 1945// //Vice Presidents: John N. Garner (1933 - 1941)// //Henry A. Wallace (1941-1945)// //Harry Truman (1945)//

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was the only President to ever break the two term tradition, but he did so for the greater good of the country, not out of selfish gain. FDR served as president during the great depression and World War 2 (WWII). During both of these tragic events, he showed the nation that he was a good president and that he was able to get the job done. Even though many people didn't think that some of his ideas would work, he stuck by them and pulled through, showing his critics that they were wrong. For both his achievements in the Great Depression and during WWII, I award Franklin D. Roosevelt an A for his efforts as president.

FDR had many goals going into the presidency, the most urgent of which being pulling the nation out of the greatest economic depression it had seen so far. His way of dealing with the depression "New Deal" was completely opposite from Herbert Hoovers "Old Deal." The Hoover had the mentality that if he gave money to the rich people and big businesses, then there would be a trickle down effect, obviously, he was mistaken for his plan did not work. FDR wanted to instead provide relief, recovery, and reform, later to become known as "The 3 R's." He focused on getting the "people" back on their feet before the rich people and big businesses and hopefully providing a trickle up effect. In his famous "first hundred days" in office, he pushed through legislation aimed at stopping the drastic plunge of the economy. As he came into office, the banking industry was on the verge of collapsing due to the mad rush of people pulling all their money out of the banks. More than half the banks in the U.S. had either gone bankrupt of suspended withdrawal privileges. The first move that FDR made to stabilize the economy was to create a national banking holiday in which all banks would be closed to a week so they could be reorganized. This helped increase the trust in banks slightly and helped check further bank runs. Along with this bank holiday, FDR created many other relief programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Social Security Act, and the Glass Steagall Act. All of these programs were part of the New Deal and were designed to get the economy back on its feet. Some programs, such as the CCC, TVA, and the WPA, were designed to employ massive amounts of unemployed people. Other's, such as the SEC and the Glass Steagall Act were designed to rebuild people's trust in the economy and start pumping money back into the economy also. All of these programs helped ease the country out the depression, but what really got the U.S. out of the depression was WWII. The U.S. stayed out of the war as long as possible. At first the U.S. wanted to stay neutral and didn't differentiate between friend of foe. But as the war drew on, the U.S. started to lean towards supporting the Allies. Right before the U.S. was drawn into the war, everything short of fighting themselves was being done. America was providing massive amounts of munitions, food, and almost everything else (short of manpower) to the allies. Then, the tragic event of Pearl Harbor occurred. The Japanese sent out a massive air strike against the U.S. naval port of Pearl Harbor and destroyed most of the Pacific Fleet. Fortunately, the aircraft carriers had not been in the fray and were saved. This direct attack pushed the U.S. into the war, but instead on retaliating against the Japanese, the U.S. realized that the only way to end the war would be to assist the Allies in Europe and then move on to punish Japan. With the help and support of the U.S. the tides turned in favor of the Allies and the Axis lines started to fall back. On August 24-25 of 1945, France was liberated providing the allies with their first major victory. This signified the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. The revival of the country during the Great Depression and the victory of World War 2 were the 2 main goals of FDR during his presidency.

FDR had a decent relationship with congress mainly because in his first hundred days he passed so much legislation that helped the country. Congress realized that FDR was trying and succeeding in helping the nation, so they approved most of his programs, even though later, many of them were found to be unconstitutional by the supreme court. Congress even passed a law that gave even more power to the president then alloted before. One thing that congress did prevent him from doing was from appointing more supreme court justices that would rule in his favor, but other then that, FDR's relations with congress couldn't have been better. Unfortunately, his popularity in congress decreased when the New Deal started to lose support and popularity, but over all, FDR had a good relationship with congress.

FDR's most positive actions included his New Deal Program and the U.S. involvement in WWII. The most positive outcome of the New Deal was the first Hundred Days. These hundred days stopped the country from falling even deeper into the depression and laid the ground work for the rest of the New Deal programs. The most positive outcome of WWII was obviously that the support of the U.S. enabled to Allies to come out victorious. The most negative outcome of his presidency was to try to pack the supreme court with New Dealers so that his New Deal would not be terminated. Had this been successful, FDR would have had considerable control over all branches of government.

The one thing that had the most lasting impact on future generations was the Social Security Act. This act provided support and money for senior citizens and others who couldn't provide for themselves. This was a lasting impact because it is still around today and many people depend on this for survival. Another lasting impact FDR had on future generations was the Glass Steagall act which provided insurance for invested money. Both of these New Deal programs are still around today and are still useful in keeping confidence in the banks.

Over all, FDR had a very good presidency and had the support of much of the nations population. He created the New Deal which helped pull the country out of the Great Depression and he also help win WWII. Both of these things were the greatest aspects of his presidency. He also provided programs that ensured people that their money was safe and provided a trust in the economy that would be hard to destroy. All in all, FDR did a great job and he deserves an A for all of his efforts and achievements while in office.

Bibliography:
 * Degregorio, William A.. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents//. Fourth Edition ed. New York: Barricade Books Inc., 1993. Print.
 * "Franklin D. Roosevelt | The White House." //The White House//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2010. [].
 * "American President: Franklin Delano Roosevelt." //Miller Center of Public Affairs//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2010. .