The Legacy of FDR and the New Deal - Assignment Example

FDR and the New Deal The American history provides a dilemma that between the actions of the Hoover and Roosevelt, in the new deal to save the American people during the great depression of the 1930s. Kennedy in his argument presents the actions of the FDR to be appropriate at the time and geared to saving the American people from the worst economic crisis in the country. Kennedy therefore argues that FDR was an advocate for the American people that helped them to overcome the serious economic crisis. On the contrary, Folsom considers the FDR to be incompetent and ineffective in saving the country from the great depression. According to Folsom, the actions taken by Roosevelt and Hoover were not very effective and did not solve the economic crisis in the manner that the crisis was supposed to be approached. Judging from the tow analysts and the economic conditions that existed at this time, it is possible to conclude that FDR was really an advocate of the American people and was interested in aiding the common Americans to overcome the effects of the worst economic crisis ever. Folsom in his argument concedes that Roosevelt with the New Deal had useful tools to the American people that offered considerable relief from the economic depression of the 1930s.1 The Great Depression was mainly accelerated by the lack of adequate purchasing power among the American workers, which means that during the 1920s the workers could not promote the local industries through purchasing the industrial products. The effects of the great depression can be taken back to President Coolidge and his treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon.1 The great depression was in the making during 1 Hoffman, C. Elizabeth, Gjerde, John and Blum, J. Edward. 2010. Major problems in American History: MA: Cengage Learning the tenure of Coolidge after massive tax cuts were affected to the rich through the Mellon Tax Policy, thereby burdening the poor American workers while at the same time relieving the millionaires and businessmen. The New Deal as Folsom agrees was aimed at correcting the effects of Mellon Tax Policy through uplifting the American workers who had been overburdened. During the 1933 election when the effects of the economic crises had hit, Hoover insisted on a platform of limited federal interventions to save the American people. Roosevelt the challenger at the election however insisted on the need for detailed federal government intervention to have the government play a greater role in helping the poor Americans.2 In his campaigns Roosevelt advocated for ‘a matter of social duty’ that he insisted had to be undertaken in providing a relief payment to the unemployed. This saw the massive voting of Roosevelt over Hoover with 22.8 million against 15.8 million votes for Hoover.3 This indicates the hope that the American people had in Roosevelt in helping them to design a strategy that would help the poor workers from the biting recession. To ensure the New Deal worked, Roosevelt had to use ingenious ways of making people to have confidence in the banking sector, as deposits had been withdrawn leading to the collapse of banks. Though Roosevelt’s Banking Policy was similar to the Hoover’s policy that was termed as a laying duck 4, it was widely agreed that the only way to restart the economy was to ensure that people had enough confidence in the banking sector. The Financial Policy though described to be conservative was well planned to restore confidence in the banking system that was important in restarting the American economy at that time. 2.Norton, B. Mary, 2011. Cengage advantage books: a people and nation, Volume 2. MA: Cengage Learning., p 752 3 ibid, p 753 4. ibid p754 Roosevelt’s policy was more of a social philosophy. Both Roosevelt and Hoover had generally set aside politics of being democrat or a socialist and their main aim was to save the economic crisis. Large, the economy could not have been salvaged without involving the majority American workers who were very instrumental in the economy. The socialist policy worked in instilling confidence in people and on the opening of banks four days later, the magic of Roosevelt with the Congress was evident as people started to walk into banks making the depots as required.5 This explains that the New Deal had received a general acceptance among the people and had already jumpstarted the economy again. Under the New Deal, the aim was to establish benchmarks in wages and jumpstarting the manufacturing sector that was very instrumental in American economy7. The prices were adjusted and the workers’ wages were set with clear policies that prevented competition in the manufacturing industry from affecting prices and wages of workers. Generally, stabilizing wages and prices would mean that customers have more to spend which would increase production and in turn increase the employment opportunities in the economy. The bill also set in place policies that allowed workers to unionize. The magic New Deal was more targeted at the poor Americans compared to the rich class and this made its impact be felt in a short time. Folsom largely agrees that the New Deal worked marvelously and the results were overwhelmingly positive.6 in fact, the unemployment rate in America dropped from 25% in 1933 to 15% by 1937. This indicates that the New deal was effective enough in stimulating the economy. 5.Hoffman, C. Elizabeth, Gjerde, John and Blum, J. Edward. 2010. Major problems in American History: MA: Cengage Learning, p 248 6. ibid, p 256 7.Norton, B. Mary et al, 2011. Cengage advantage books: a people and nation, Volume 2. MA: Cengage Learning, p,755 One advantage of the New deal was to prevent rural-urban migration by giving farmers incentives to make them remain in the farms. Because of this, more than 30% of farmers remained in the farms and got direct interventions from the government in addition to enhancing the employer- employee relationship and enabling the farmers to have more bargaining power through formation of associations. Though under Roosevelt many people opposed the relief program of assisting the poor, it was necessary in the hard economics time to ensure a sustainable life and to prevent many Americans from slipping to the poverty line. Under the New Deal, the rich business class opposed each policy as it leaned much towards the common man and ignored their plight.8 The southern whites under radicalism were the main opponents of the New Deal and the taxation policy. The effects of the great depression were to serious that though the economy showed signs of recovery, there was mulch critics with many American dissatisfied with the pace at which the government policies were taking effect. The New Deal was a magic that worked wonderfully, in jumpstarting the American economy after the great depression. The new deal was mainly targeted at the poor Americans and the workers who had suffered hard under the depression. The effects were clear as many Americans had confidence in President Roosevelt, which enabled the reopening of banks, which was instrumental in the economic recovery. The New Deal was mainly skewed in fixing wages, and preventing price fluctuations, which increased the purchasing power of American workers and this jumpstarted the economic recovery. Though the rich class was strict opponents, the majority Americans had full support in the new deal. This made the FDR the advocate of the American people, as it helped in improving their lives after the great depression. 8Norton, B. Mary et al, 2011. Cengage advantage books: a people and nation, Volume 2. MA: Cengage Learning p, Bibliography Hoffman, C. Elizabeth, Gjerde, John and Blum, J. Edward. 2010. Major problems in American History: MA: Cengage Learning Norton, B. Mary, 2011. Cengage advantage books: a people and nation, Volume 2. MA: Cengage Learning. Read More