The Presidency of FDR essays

The Presidency of FDR essays In 1932, Americans realized that they had an increasingly great financial problem on their hands, and tried to correct it by centralizing power. The President contained so much power that the nation almost became communism, especially with Roosevelt's introduction of the New Deal. When Franklin Roosevelt became President of the United States in 1933, the nation was in the depths of the worst depression it had ever experienced. President Roosevelt, a very energetic and enthusiastic person, inspired the people with his own confidence and faith in the future. He gathered a group of people sharing his views to help him, and provided food, clothing, and shelter for millions of unemployed Americans. This was part of what he called the New Deal, of which his three objectives were relief, recovery, and reform for American citizens. In another attempt at recovery, Congress attempted to revive the nation's agriculture and industry and place the economy in good position. They printed extra money to lend to industries that quickly paid it back. By 1933 nearly 14 million Americans were out of work. In response, the Roosevelt administration immediately launched what seemed at the time to be a wonderful program of direct relief. In two years, federal agencies distribute d three billion dollars to the states. However, the people unemployed wanted jobs, not welfare, thus the Works Progress Administration came into existence. This helped restore some of the lost jobs. By 1936, the New Deal program faced a large body of opposition, from within the Democratic Party itself. Many critics felt that the government was interfering too much with the free enterprise system, and was threatening individualism and democracy. This excess of power by Roosevelt is what is known as the Imperial Presidency. By the end of 1938, the opposition had become so strong that President Roosevelt decided to hold back other large reforms he ...