Main Features of the New Deal
...Deal, Roosevelt advocated a radically different role for government. He believed strongly that the government should play a much more active role in economic and social affairs and that is should try to help the American people. He was not afraid to ask for advice on important issues from a wide range of experts, (factory owners, union leaders and economists), forming a 'Brains Trust' to help him develop policies to overcome the depression. Unlike Hoover, he did not believe that the government should simply wait for an economic recovery to happen. On the contrary, he believed that it should take steps to make it happen. As Governor of New York, for example, he had already spent public money on getting people back to work. Although during the 1932 election campaign it wasn't entirely clear what Roosevelt was going to do, it was clear that his New Deal involved using the full power of the government to get the United States out of the depression. In the first hundred days of his presidency, Roosevelt and his 'Brains Trust' worked very hard, and produced an enormous range of measures. These had three main objectives: relief, recovery and reform. Firstly, there were measures for providing immediate relief to the unemployed, sick, elderly and impoverished. Secondly, there were measures aimed at ending the depression and bringing about economic recovery, trying to get American industry and agriculture back on their feet. Finally, there were legal measures aimed at reforming a large number of economic institutions. I will say a few words about each in turn. Relief: Public Works Administration: Created six hundred thousand jobs, mostly construction. Created San Francisco Bridge. Tennesse Valley Authority: Built a series of dams in the Tennesse river, and transformed the region, making it possible to irrigate dried-out lands. Emergency Banking Act: Closed banks, which where then reopened after government inspection. 'Fireside chats': Roosevelt would speak to t...