History HW - Write 2 page paper,answer 13 questions, create complex thesis per instructions

ELECTING FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT Although the Republicans renom- inated President Hoover as their candidate, they recognized he had little chance of winning. Too many Americans blamed Hoover for doing too little about the depression and wanted a new president. The Democrats pinned their hopes on Franklin Delano Roosevelt, known popularly as FDR, the two-term governor of New York and a distant cousin of former president Theodore Roosevelt.

As governor, FDR had proved to be an effective, reform-minded leader, work- ing to combat the problems of unemployment and poverty. Unlike Hoover, Roosevelt possessed a “can-do” attitude and projected an air of friendliness and confidence that attracted voters.

Indeed, Roosevelt won an overwhelming victory, capturing nearly 23 million votes to Hoover’s nearly 16 million. In the Senate, Democrats claimed a nearly two-thirds majority. In the House, they won almost three-fourths of the seats, their greatest victory since before the Civil War.

WAITING FOR ROOSEVELT TO TAKE OVER Four months would elapse between Roosevelt’s victory in the November election and his inauguration as president in March 1933. The 20th Amendment, which moved presidential inaugurations to January, was not ratified until February 1933 and did not apply to the 1932 election.

FDR was not idle during this waiting period, however. He worked with his team of care- fully picked advisers—a select group of professors, lawyers, and journalists that came to be known as the “Brain Trust.” Roosevelt began to formulate a set of policies for his new administration. This program, designed to alleviate the prob- lems of the Great Depression, became known as the New Deal, a phrase taken from a campaign speech in which Roosevelt had promised “a new deal for the American people.” New Deal policies focused on three general goals: relief for the needy, economic recovery, and financial reform.

THE HUNDRED DAYS On tak- ing office, the Roosevelt admin- istration launched a period of intense activity known as the Hundred Days, lasting from March 9 to June 16, 1933. During this period, Congress passed more than 15 major pieces of New Deal legislation. These laws, and others that fol- lowed, significantly expanded the federal government’s role in the nation’s economy.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT 1882–1945

Born into an old, wealthy New York family, Franklin Delano Roosevelt entered politics as a state senator in 1910 and later became assistant secre- tar y of the navy. In 1921, he was stricken with polio and became partially paralyzed from the waist down. He struggled to regain the use of his legs, and he eventually learned to stand with the help of leg braces.

Roosevelt became governor of New York in 1928, and because he “would not allow bodily disability to defeat his will,” he went on to the White House in 1933. Always inter- ested in people, Roosevelt gained greater compassion for others as a result of his own physical disability.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT 1884–1962

A niece of Theodore Roosevelt and a distant cousin of her husband, Franklin, Eleanor Roosevelt lost her parents at an early age. She was raised by a strict grandmother.

As first lady, she often urged the president to take stands on controversial issues. A pop- ular public speaker, Eleanor was particularly interested in child welfare, housing reform, and equal rights for women and minorities. In presenting a booklet on human rights to the United Nations in 1958, she said, “Where, after all, do human rights begin? . . . [In] the world of the individual per- son: the neighborhood . . . the school . . . the factory, farm or office where he works.”

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

A Summarizing

What plans did Roosevelt make in the four months while he waited to take office?

KEY PLAYERSKEY PLAYERS

A

The New Deal 695