Introduction
The presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt was not one without criticism and struggle. As any other presidency, it came with numerous challenges, however it was particularly challenging for the President and Congress. President Roosevelt took over during one of the most challenging eras to our economy ever. The great depression was a challenging era and forced U.S. citizens out of work. The new government was faced with tackling the now struggling America. Some critics of Roosevelt and the government at the time stated that they did not do enough to help bring down the unemployment level. However, those critics were incorrect in stating that they did not do enough. The New Deal in its entirety helped to lower the unemployment and tackle the other issues surrounding the great depression.
The New Deal The great depression was a …show more content…
Therefore, Roosevelt and Congress helped to revise the New Deal and put in place policies to help these citizens. A big part of this was expanding federal relief. In order to help the unemployment rates “Congress passed the $5 billion Emergency Relief Appropriation Act in April 1935. Roosevelt swiftly set up the Works Progress Administration… to funnel assistance directly to the jobless. The WPA employed more than 8 million Americans and constructed or improved vast numbers of bridges, roads, post offices, and other public facilities” (Boyer, 773, YEAR). This is a huge advancement at the time to the current struggling America. The WPA that Roosevelt helped to create employed 8 million Americans. It is safe to say that this helped the unemployment rates at the time. It overall improved the life of Americans as well. Roosevelt and the administrations that he worked with did as much as possible to help the unemployment rate. There was only so much that could be done at the