Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Progressive Response To The Great Depression

As the longest governing president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt greatly impacted a volatile and vulnerable America with effects that last to this day. Coming into office, he was faced with the worst economic crisis in America’s history, and his decisive action afterwards permanently shaped the nation’s political and social structure. Towards the end of his final term, he was leading his country into a global war that would later define America as a powerhouse. Although FDR’s aggressive and progressive response to the Great Depression directly benefited the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans and he was skillful handling the controversial World War II, he only earns an eight out ten with deductions for his poor treatment of minorities and his role in the Roosevelt Recession.
A stark contrast
The main focus of these New Deal policies would be relief, recovery, and reform (Faragher 883). Relief-focused administrations included the Civilian Conservation Corps, Tennessee Valley Authority, and Works Progress Administration (Faragher 855). In comparison to Hoover’s economic trickle-down-effect ideology, these programs provided direct relief to the people through employment and wages. With the restriction of jobs in the private sector, government-provided employment was often the only option available for many Americans. Furthermore, for those that couldn’t work, relief was provided through the first federal welfare program, the Social Security Act of 1935 which provided old age pension and assistance to the disabled (Faragher 859). The New Deal was the first instance of the federal government providing massive, widespread relief to the people; and it was more effective than previous state or private programs. By reacting immediately to the needs of the people, FDR demonstrated pragmatism and desire to serve. Relief and recovery often went together as helping the people (consumers) injected money back into the struggling