FDR Reelected!

Voters Recognize Success of the New Deal

Today, Franklin D. Roosevelt was

reelected to office after four years of his New
Deal policies. His reelection can be seen as an
affirmation of his New Deal program, which
was successful in restarting the economy by
creating jobs and putting people to work.
When Roosevelt ran for office against

But when over 20% of the labor force is

unemployed and millions are homeless, time is
not something the country has a lot of.
Roosevelt won his first term in 1932 and began
his New Deal legislation, which sparked huge
economic recovery. The various agencies that

President Herbert Hoover in 1932, it was clear

were initiated as part of the New Deal were

who would win. Roosevelts New Deal policy

crucial to its cause. The Civilian Conservation

called for economic support that would only

Corps (CCC) was created to put millions of

work if the federal government assumed direct

jobless men to work. These men worked in

control over big business. Hoovers previous

civil service: they learned how to take care of

policies were laissez-faire, or hands off,

the forests and parks, how to control floods,

when it came to business regulation. His idea

and how to prevent fires. Similarly, the Works

was that the economy would fix itself, given

Progress Administration (WPA) put millions of

enough time, and that the success of businesses

men to work building bridges, sewers, roads,

left to their own devices would trickle down to

airports, and schools. Franklin Roosevelt has

the masses.

rebuilt our country after the great stock market

(1932 Roosevelt v. Hoover

http://www.kennesaw.edu/pols/3380/pres/1932.

crash that occurred less than a decade ago.

html)
1

(The New Deal - http://www.u-s-

Deal -

history.com/pages/h1851.html)

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/New_De
al_opposition.htm)

However, Roosevelts New Deal is not

without its opponents. Critics from the right
clearly oppose FDRs interventionist hand in
the economy, and many far left-wing figures
claim that the policy has not done enough for
the country. After all, these temporary jobs
provided by the CCC and WPA are only
temporary solutions to the economic
recession. Roosevelts most formidable

President Roosevelts New Deal

policy, although not perfect, has done a lot to
help the countrys economy. By putting
millions of people to work again, Roosevelt
relieves those struggling in these hard times,
allowing them to get back on their feet and
move forward. His reelection signals the
nations recognition of the power of the New
Deal.

opponent is Louisiana Senator Huey P. Long,

who suggests that Roosevelt is not helping the

Written by Matthew Rosenthal and Daniel Cohen

poor with their economic struggles as much as

November 3, 1936

the middle class. However, Longs radical

position is untenable after all, he wants to
literally confiscate money from the rich and
give to the poor. (Opposition to the New