Fdr and Obama

The First Hundred Days
1. The first hundred days of the presidency between Obama and Roosevelt (FDR) share a common similarity. Both, FDR and Obama entered office at a time when an economic crisis was taking place. In moments of despair, these men showed the willingness to make America better by giving the people hope. As a result, Congress passed several bills that were essential to the growth of the economy and businesses.
Similar to FDR’s emergency banking bill, Obama creates a 1,000 page emergency stimulus bill of $787 billion on February 17 of 2009. According to ‘The American Spectator’, President Obama used the economic emergency to pass massive a spending bill that would spend $25, 000 per second every second of the year. (Folsom Par. 2). Obama, like FDR has already begun centralizing power in the executive branch. He moved the Census Bureau into the executive department from the Commerce Department, to control the counting of the U.S. population for the 2010 census (Folsom Par. 3). As a way to solve global warming, billions of dollars from Obama’s stimulus package is used to increase spending on renewable energy which transports electrical power used from wind farms to major cities (Henschen and Sidlow 358). Equal to FDR’s CCC projects, Obama’s Department of Transportation approved 2,500 highway projects to provide more transportation (Stein Par. 7).
In reminiscent of Obama’s stimulus package, FDR’s New Deal was set to promote employment and economic growth. The New Deal fixed the banking crisis, reached out to the unemployed, established a program to help farmers and established a public works program (Winkler 80). President Franklin Roosevelt supported many new federal programs during the Great Depression. In his attempt to free the United States from the Great Depression, he made his New Deal, which involved many government spending and public-assistance programs. His effort of launching the New Deal is a model of cooperative federalism, which involves all branches of government and marked the beginning of national supremacy (Henschen and Sidlow 62-63). FDR’s New Deal legislation was liberal because it made the national government largely responsible for helping individuals and establishing new policies and practices. “FDR created the banking bill to control the currency and movement of gold. It gave Federal Reserve Board the power to issue bank notes, authorized the reopening of the banks that had adequate assets and arranged for the reorganization of the banks that did not” (Winkler 71). He gave more power to the banks and helps the recirculation of the economy by gaining control of the bank’s currency.
As a result of the New Deal, FDR created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) projects such as building dams, bridges, firebreaks in the woods, flood-control projects and cleaned up the national parks and highways (Winkler 73). In comparison to Obama’s renewable energy research, “On April 10, 1933, Roosevelt asked Congress to create what would be called the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to generate and distribute cheap electric power, provide flood control through more dams, produce fertilizers, curb soil erosion, and offer services to improve health and education in the region” (Winkler 77). During times of such economic turmoil, FDR and Obama create governmental aid for the people and solutions to get the economy healthy again. They both worked on similar solution techniques for creating jobs, investments and projects for aiding the poor.
2. Starting with foreign policy issues, Obama orders to close Guantanamo Bay Prison and stop U.S. from participating in acts of torture (Timeline of First 100 Days). Next, Obama lifts the ban on federal spending for international organizations that perform or provide information on abortions (Timeline of First 100 Days). “In February 2009, Obama announced that U.S. combat forces would leave Iraq by the end of August 2010, and the rest of the troops would be out by the end of 2011. In addition, he ordered 17,000 additional troops into the Afghanistan” (Henschen and Sidlow 382). Obama signs first bill into law, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, making it easier for workers to sue for pay discrimination (Timeline of First 100 Days). Opposite to FDR, Obama’s Department of Treasury implemented policies with impact on debt-burdened families to help offset cost of tuition for school. He helped revive the auto industry by allocating $2 billion in stimulus cash for advanced batteries systems (Stein Par. 9). As a domestic policy, Obama tackled the topic of healthcare by spending $87 billion dollars from Congress to reduce Medicaid burden on states (Henschen and Sidlow 352). In contrast to FDR, Obama accomplishes his goal of saving the auto industry, supporting education, international affairs, healthcare, and planning to end the war on terrorism. Obama seems to have accomplished more foreign policy issues than FDR.
In return, FDR took a more centered approach on domestic issues. He made the Glass-Steagall Banking Act, which separated commercial and investment banking and also provided federal insurance of bank deposits, to protect investors if another banking crisis ever occurred (Winkler 80). From the New Deal, FDR produce several projects such as: “The Civil Works Administration created jobs during the first winter of his administration; and the Works Progress Administration, which replaced FERA, pumped money into circulation, and concentrated on longer-term projects. The Public Works Administration focused on creating jobs through heavy construction in such areas as water systems, power plants, and hospitals. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. protected bank accounts” (Walsh Par. 8). Roosevelt worked on many projects to improve the economy. According to critics, the primary difference between Obama and FDR’s first hundred days in office is FDR accomplished more than Obama. In actuality, FDR had less of a harder time dealing with Congress to get bills passed.