Roosevelt's Proposal To Help People During The Great Depression

In the 1930s, times were tough, due to the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, there was not a real plan to help people out. Until Franklin Roosevelt came up with an idea to help people get through the Great Depression. When the people voted him for president, they believed that he would change society for the better. When he became president, to the people’s surprise, Franklin Roosevelt did not do what he said he would do to help the people. Franklin Roosevelt’s plan was criticized for being too vague and for not getting rid of the businessmen from the government, also the plan was completely opposed for not doing its part and for taking control of the whole government. To start, a reason why President Roosevelt’s plan for the
Great Depression was criticized was because his plan was to vague: “We accept your general leadership in the emergency, but we find your orders vague, and we don’t know just what to do. Can’t you reduce your program to something a little more definite, and tell us what it it, so that we may know how to plan ahead?”(Document 2). The person who said this, had a job to talk to businesses about the government. The quote came from what he thought all the businessmen would say, based on what they talked to him about. So by what the quote says, the businesses do not understand what Roosevelt’s ideas are due to the fact that they are not thoroughly explained. Which means that they like the idea, but they do not understand his wording, which could make the people confused about what Roosevelt wants to do. If Roosevelt explains his plan, then the businesses will thrive faster, which would help the economy. If not, the businesses could revolt against the government. Following up, another reason why Roosevelt’s plan was criticized because he did not what he promised to do to help the United States: “No man in modern times received such plaudits from the poor as did Franklin Roosevelt when he promised to drive the money-changers from the temple [...] But I am constrained to admit that ‘Roosevelt and ruin’ is the order of the day, because the money-changers have not been driven from the temple…” (Document 4). What this means is that Franklin Roosevelt promise to get rid of the money-changers (the businessmen) from the government, but he did not do it. This quote criticizes Roosevelt’s plan because it only says that Roosevelt did not do what he said to do for a part of the plan, not the whole thing. Roosevelt did not lie about the whole thing, just about getting the businessmen out of the government. However, Roosevelt’s plan was not just criticized, but also opposed for not doing what it was supposed to do: “It was after my disappointment over the Roosevelt policy, after he became President, that I saw the light. I soon began to understand that, regardless of what we had been promise,our only chance of securing that fulfillment of such pledges was to organize the men and the women of the United States so that they were a force capable of action, and capable of requiring such a policy from the lawmakers and from the President after they took office” (Document 3). What this quote is saying is that Roosevelt’s plan is not doing what it said it was doing. The only way for the people to get their promises is to join together and use force to get them. This is an opposition because the quote is saying that the whole policy is not keeping its side of the deal, so it is worthless to the people, unless they are heard around the country. Also, another reason why Roosevelt’s plan was opposed, was because in order to actually use it, Roosevelt had to control the Judiciary, when he already controls the other two department in the government, which means that he had to control the whole government: “Our Government is composed of three departments, Legislative, Executive and Judiciary… As a result of the election and the transfer of powers by so-called emergency measures, the Executive now dominates the Legislative Department.
The President now proposes also to dominate the Judiciary… This proposal should give every American grave concern for it is a step toward absolutism and complete dictatorial power” (Document 7). What this quote is saying is that Roosevelt already controls two-thirds of the government. If he controls all of the government, then he can do whatever he wants in the country. He needs to control the Judiciary Department because all of his ideas were not voted for, which means that they are not good for the United States. With the Judiciary Department, he could pass whatever he wants, good or bad idea. This quote opposes Roosevelt’s whole plan because in order to pass his ideas, Roosevelt must control the whole government, which could make the people mad and the economy could
collapse. Franklin Roosevelt’s plan was criticized for being too vague and for not getting rid of the businessmen in the government, also it was opposed for not doing its part and for taking control of the whole government, just to use it. The plan was not completely understood due to the fact that it was not completely made. It was not getting rid of the businessmen (who were controlling society). The plan did not even do what it was promised to due, which lost respect for Roosevelt. Finally, in order for the plan to be used, Roosevelt had to of controlled the whole government, which made people worried, which might have hurt the economy. In conclusion, Franklin Roosevelt’s plan had its many flaws from the people’s perspective, which is why the plan was never fully liked by the people that would be affected by it.