Political Science- FDR

In this week’s lecture, the topics are going to be Progressivism and Liberalism, and as much as this may seem like a discussion of present-day politics, this harks back to the era, essentially, from Roosevelt to Roosevelt, or for the better part of the first half of the Twentieth Century. Progressivism, highlighted by the efforts of politicians and reformers that grew to power around the era of Theodore Roosevelt, saw work toward the end result of making the citizen more responsible for his/her actions, even if legislation was necessary to make that the case. As for the era of Liberalism, this would be the generation of FDR, who worked to change the world, even if not always successfully. And while both of these eras reach much further than what we are going to look at this week, we are going to look at the concrete results of the Progressives and the theories of thought espoused by the Liberalism Era.

Coming into vogue around the turn of the century, the Progressive Era marked a huge change in political thought and action, which would result in the proposal and ratification of four amendments to the United States Constitution. The first of those would be the 16th Amendment, which many of you are probably very familiar with at this time of year, that being the creation of federal income tax. The idea being to create a fair program of government funding through the codified collection of taxes from all working Americans, http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=57&page=transcript. The next, the 17th Amendment spoke to the need for the direct election of U.S. Senators, which had for many years been accomplished through a vote by state legislators, which could lead to the misrepresentation of statewide political opinions, http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=58&page=transcript. After that came the 18th Amendment, one of the few later amendments that most students of history are always familiar, as it dealt with the social ill of alcohol. Prohibition was a major push during the Progressive Era, but would eventually be seen as more destructive than productive, and would be repealed with the 21st Amendment, http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html#18. And finally, the 19th Amendment, which finally gave women the franchise, http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=63&page=transcript. These amendments speak to the forces that pushed forward the Progressive agenda to great success. It is also nice to see where we might have been had this not occurred.

During the twelve years of the FDR presidency, many changes were proposed to the United States Constitution, most controversial, in my opinion, was FDR’s real desire to “pack the court” by raising the number of seats on the SCOTUS to 15, which would have allowed him to appoint 6 new members to the country’s highest bench. And while this is one of the more memorable missteps, it is during this era that programs such as the TVA and the CCC help dig America out from the depths of the Great Depression, that and the war industry that booms during the late thirties and early forties with the commencement of World War II. Late in his presidency, Roosevelt gave an important speech that spoke to his desire for there to be an “Economic Bill of Rights”:

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all -- regardless of station, or race or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries, or shops or farms or mines of the nation; The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; The right of (every) farmers to raise and sell their (his) products at a return which will give them (him) and their (his) families (family) a decent living; The right of every business man, large and small , to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; The right of every family to a decent home; The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, and sickness, and accident and unemployment; And finally, the right to a good education.

http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/011144.html

This was a plan that was believed to need to take place through legislation, which would, in turn, allow for its acceptance as law for the courts, and eventually codified in the U.S. Constitution. As you can see, this was/is a dream deferred.