FREE ESSAY ON THE NEW DEAL

THE NEW DEAL

All countries and civilizations throughout history have been run with some form of
government or leadership. Whether the governing body is ruled by a tyrant, monarchy,
democracy, or even a tsar, the body has certain responsibilities and jobs. In any given
country, the role of the government varies according to the state of the country and the
desires of the people in it. During different time periods in American history, the
people have expected different things from their government according to the situation.
Between the 1920's and 1930's, our nation's perceptions of the role of government, its
powers, and responsibilities went from wanting the government to keep out of business and
the economy to seeking change and governmental actions.
With the inauguration of Warren G. Harding, the 1920's were staged to be a "Return to
Normalcy." Between the ruling of Harding and Calvin "Cool Cal" Coolidge, America founds
its way back to regularity. The country prospered from new inventions and technology
along side with the laissez-faire styles of governing brought by Harding and Coolidge;
"... the 1920's presidents viewed the role of government as a passive servant of business
rather than as an active regulator..."# President Coolidge said: "The business of America
is business," meaning that the economy was doing fine and did not need many if any
regulations. This led to good relationships between large businesses, government, and the
people of America as shown in this quote: "With the upsurge in prosperity, most Americans
shed their fears of big business and ceased complaining about the depredations of large
corporations."# This protection occurred not only from the executive branch, but also by
the legislative branch; "The U.S. Supreme Court was dominated by conservative jurists
during the 1920's... Many of its decisions protected business from rigorous regulation,
weakened trade unions, and nullified social legislation."# Some great inventions that
came along with the twenties were: the automobile, sound movies, the telephone, electric
power and lights, and the radio. Everything in America seemed to be going proficiently,
well at least for the time being.
Herbert Hoover entered the White House at a time of great prosperity, however, he did not
know that by the end of his term the state of the country would be quite reversed. It was
during Herbert Hoovers presidency that America entered the great depression. What is now
known as Black Thursday (October 24, 1929) led to the infamous 'crash of '29' on the
following Tuesday, October 29. The stock market crash was essentially what led to the
depression. Herbert Hoover and his continuation of Coolidge's laissez-faire type
government failed to regulate the economy and business; "Hoover, eschewing laissez-faire,
accepted governmental responsibility for reviving the economy and saving the capitalist
system... Hoover's anti-depression program not only failed to generate economic recovery,
it failed to even arrest the downward spiral of the business cycle."# 
It was at this time of great depression that the attitudes of Americans towards the roles
of government changed the most. They needed a leader who could make things happen and
turn around their country. They found this quality in Franklin D. Roosevelt and his 'New
Deal.' Americans were excited by the promises made by FDR as shown here:
"The heart of his speech was a promise to fight the depression with a bold program, to do
whatever was necessary to restore prosperity. 
His words electrified a people yearning for reassurance. In one speech he had
accomplished what Hoover had failed to do in four years; he convinced Americans that an
effective leader with faith in the future had taken command. As one hopeful citizen put
it, 'At last, a live leader in the White House!'"#
FDR succeeded in taking action right away with his 'Bank Holiday.' This holiday was
essentially pointless. One congressman protested: "The President drove the money changers
out of the Capitol on March 4- and they were all back on the ninth." However, the purpose
of this holiday was to merely show the people that actions were being taken by the
government. FDR's New Deal had three main goals; relief, recovery, and reform, and in the
first one-hundred days of his presidency he passed a flurry of legislation. Relief
consisted of allotting money and jobs to people. Recovery was literally the phase of
recuperating the economy. And lastly, reform was the changes made to the economic and
business system to ensure that such a cosmic depression could never happen again. One key
to the accomplishment of FDR was that he surrounded himself with the best of the best. He
created a 'brains trust' which included Hugo Black, Harold Ickes, Raymond Moley, and
Harry Hopkins. Surrounded by this group of intelligent people, FDR was triumphant in
overcoming America's great depression. 
All countries need some sort of leadership. More specifically, America had gone through a
lot of changes between the 1920's and the 1930's, and the Americans' criteria for they're
leader also changed dramatically in this time. FDR was so thriving as a president and
leader because he was able to meet the criteria of the country. This shows that it is not
just the qualities of the leader that is important, but it is how the leader's qualities
coincide with the needs of the country being lead. Although George W. Bush was not very
successful while governing Texas, his qualities may fit the needs of our country as whole
better than they did with the individual state of Texas. It will be interesting to follow
his presidency and to evaluate his achievements.