Samantha+-+FDR+-+F08

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945) Democratic Party In office: March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945 VP's John N. Garner (1933–1941) Term One Henry A. Wallace (1941–1945) Term Two Harry S. Truman (1945) End of Term Two President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was faced with a huge challenge when he went into office. He had to figure out a way to get a tanking economy and America's people, who were quickly losing hope, back on track. He created so many organizations that helped the well being of the people. It gave them jobs and a chance to put food on the table. He also revived the banks and allowed the people to put money in the banks again. I would give President Roosevelt an A because he made great strides toward getting America out of the Depression, revived the banks and put polices in place that wouldn't let this terrible tragedy happen again. (reform movements)
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Going into his first term he needed to act quickly. Hoover had been faced with the Depression and did absolutely nothing about it. The people lost hope in finding jobs. They took to the streets and fought over minor jobs. The banks tanked when the depression started and people started storing their life's savings under their mattress. (desperate times caused thievery and people's money was easily accessed) FDR had three goals going into his term, they called them the three R's, relief, recovery, and reform. FDR knew that people were hurting. The unemployment rate when he took office was 25%. This means that 1 in 4 people were out of work. With people out of work, they are not paying taxes and the country has less spending money. FDR new that to recover, he first needed to provide relief to those people out of work. He knew he had to create jobs for the economy to recover. He also knew that reform in the banking system was necessary. During the early part of his first term, he created many new programs to help get the country back on track. These became the first part of a huge plan called the New Deal. For relief he created many groups like the CCC and the CWA to give jobs to the unemployed. His administration also created the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). This was the largest government owned enterprise at the time. It brought many of the unemployed people back to work. To achieve his goals on reform, he signed the Emergency Banking Relief Act and the Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act. These acts didn't allow banks to fail. Using the radio he coaxed people into trusting the banks again, and American citizens began putting their money back into banks. He also created more groups such as the NRA, which combined both, reform and relief. His efforts payed off. The country was starting to recover. FDR's goals of relieving the pain, recovering from the downward spiral, and reforming the government were a success.

During FDR's first term in office, he had a great relationship with Congress. Everyone in the country, including Congress, knew that change was necessary and that new laws had to be passed to allow the country to recover. FDR had congress in the palm of his hand, so to speak. During the first one hundred days of FDR's term he had what was called a 100 days congress. They passed so many laws in those days that congress was frantic. Critics taunted " If FDR asked congress to jump off a cliff they would. The only main thing FDR ever vetoed was the Veteran's Act. He did not believe in giving them so much money. FDR was a very social person and was good at communicating leading his congress to victories in the New Deal plan.

FDR's action that had the most positive outcome was the creation of the TVA. The TVA hired over 20,000 workers that were responsible for managing the water flow in the Tennessee Valley. On the Tennessee River, the TVA oversaw the construction of many power plants the generated the much needed power to fuel growth in the region and later needed power for the war effort. The jobs created also allowed people to start paying taxes and this helped the country to pay for new programs. The worst action of FDR's presidency was when he pulled out of the London conference. The London Conference was a 66 nation conference that if America would have participated, it would have greatly increased forms of foreign trade. Increasing foreign trade most likely would have pulled America out of the depression. The only reason he got cold feet and pulled out was because the conference wanted to stabilize the dollar value. This means he couldn't cause an inflation, which was part of his plans for America's economy. He made the mistake of choosing the American economy over foreign trade, causing the depression to continue.

FDR's administration had a large impact on future generations. His efforts to create jobs helped to stimulate the economy and brought the country out of the Depression. The lessons learned under his New Deal programs became a model for all future presidents to follow in times of trouble. In fact, the current Democratic party talks about a new New Deal to stimulate the economy today.

FDR was obviously well liked. He was elected president 4 times. He was well liked because he tried to help the working people. He created labor unions that allowed workers to have a set of rights. He created a number of important government agencies that still exist today including the Securities Exchange Commission to oversee the banks and the Social Security Administration. He also broadened the powers of the Federal Trade Commission to include consumer protections. During more than 12 years as president, FDR led the country through the dangerous times of the Great Depression and World War II. His leadership in times of crisis is what makes him one of the most remember presidents. This is why I gave him an "A" as president. Works Cited: "Franklin D. Roosevelt." __Wikipedia__. 10 Dec. 2008 .

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