{Dayton and the nation got quite a show. Clarence Darrow, the best known lawyer ‘io the country, volunteered to join the ACLU team. Former presidential candidate ‘William Jennings Bryan volunteered for the prosecution. Every major newspaper in “the country covered the trial. Most people thought Darrow got the better of Bryan in ‘the arguments, but on the facts, Scopes was clearly guilty. Scopes admitted he had vio- ‘Ined the law, and he was found guilty and fined $100, though the Tennessee Supreme ‘Court threw the case out on a technicality to avoid appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, ‘which the ACLU wanted Cautious textbook publishers changed their books. In future editions, A Civic \Biology stopped calling Darwin “the grand old man of biology” and instead simply ‘sid that he was a “Teading biologist.” Evolution, which inthe earlier editions had been ‘s‘wonderful discovery” now became merely Darwin's “interpretation of the way in ‘hich all life changes.” Only in the late 1950s would a full discussion of evolution {eturn to high schoo! textbooks. Quick Review To what ensht were te racism, antsimmigraton efforts, and fundemental- ism of the 1820s the rasut of changes throughout te United States? HARDING, COOLIDGE, AND HOOVER—NATIONAL POLITICS AND POLICIES IN THE 1920s ‘Three Republican presidents led the United States during the 1920s. The election of Warren Harding in November of 1920 was almost a foregone conclusion given the general disenchantment with Woodrow Wilson's policies, the war, and the League of Nations. A politician who promised to return the nation to “normalcy” was just ‘what people wanted. Harding and his running mate Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge defeated the Democratic nominee, Ohio Governor James Cox, and his run- aing mate, the young Franklin Roosevelt by 16 million to 9 million popular votes. In iwhat was his last race, the Socialist Party candidate, Eugene V. Debs polled close to a aullion votes while still in prison for violating the World War I sedition laws. Late in 1921, Harding commuted his sentence, and Debs was freed. Although Harding was remembered mostly for the scandals of his administra- ion, he also made some very strong appointments. Three months after coming to aflice, he appointed former President William Howard Taft to the job Taft had always wanted, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, where Taft served until 1930. Charles vans Hughes, the 1916 Republican presidential candidate, became secretary of stat. Snowing that there was no chance of U.S. participation in the League of Nations >ut wanting to foster peace in the postwar world, Hughes called the Washington Sonference in 1921 to try to end the competition among the United States, Britain, snd Japan to build up their navies. To the surprise of many, the result of the confer nce, the Five Powers Treaty of February 1922, slowed the worldwide navy build up 1ad established limits on battleships, battle cruisers, and aircraft carriers in a ratio of S -zch for the United States and Britain, 3 each for Japan, and 1.75 each for France and taly. No limits were set for other types of ships, In 1922 Hughes also ended the long- tanding U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic. Harding also appointed Andrew Mellon, one of the wealthiest people in the United tates, to serve as secretary ofthe treasury. Mellon, who served through the Harding, 2oolidge, and Hoover administrations, ensured that there was a close and comfort. ble relationship between government and business, He cut government spending, cut axes, and retired half of the World War I debt while in office. He was often hailed as the greatest secretary ofthe treasury ever" unti the coming of the Great Depression aised serious questions about his policies. Herbert Hoover, perhaps the most liberal Homawoce de | (2 /v/ le Washington Conference conference called by the United States in 1921 that led tothe adoption ofthe Five Powers Treaty n 1922 19 an ultimately Ineffective effort to limit the growth ofthe World’ navies and thus preserve peace. Chapter 21. A Unique, Prosperous, and Discontented Time 687member of the cabinet, served as secretary of commer, for Harding and Coolidge, encouraging cooperat Detween businesses to stabilize industrial production the economy. Hiarding died suddenly in August 1923, probani the result of a heart attack, His wife's refusal to allow gy. zutopsy led to rumors that he was poisoned or com ted suicide, though there was never any evidence fg either, His death came just as the Tea Pot Dome sea’ dal was about to come to light. He was reported to hay asked Herbert Hoover “what a President should do wis his reputation was tarnished before the year was out, Fortunately for the Republican Party, Harding's vice president, the stern and distant Calvin Coolidge, had no coind nection to the scandals and quickly took steps to investigag! them, News of Harding's death reached the vice president” ‘while he was vacationing with his father ina rustic Ver farmhouse, Since the house had no electricity; Colonel John Coolidge administered the presidential oath of office to is [ets cxtoon sows the Tea PtDome Gi sandal thatcametolghtin1923s0an_son bythe light ofa kerosene lamp—a reassuring image that after President Haring’ death threatened to stzanwallover may leaders ofthe perfecty it the tone of austerity and adherence to old Repubian Paty. Hovey, the at tha the naw Republican president, Cavin Coole, SlowinteedinesncayocoteWisetousiienivee se 10 Coolie succes, the economic downturn of 1921 ection. ceased, and by 1923, many Americans were experiencing, economic boom, known as the “Coolidge prosperity.” no one's surprise; Coolidge, a man of so few words he can : tobe known as “ent Ca” was nominated fr a fll term by the Republican Party inthe summer of 1924. : ‘The Democratic Party was deeply divided between a southern and western wing th was primarily white, Protestant, rural, and supportive of Prohibition and a northers ‘wing that, though also very white, included many Catholics and Jews, and wes highly. turban as well a strongly anti-Prohibition. The Klan wos a force atthe summer nominat- ing convention where their opposition to a Catholic candidate who wanted to repel Prohibition made itself felt. The two leading contenders for the nomination inchided former Treasury Sectetary William G. McAdoo, a “dry” who favored Prohibition and ‘vas supported by the southern and western wing ofthe party, and New York Governor Read on MyHistoryLab Al Smith, a Catholic and a “wet” staunch opponent of Prohibition. They batled for 103 (28) Document Calin Coolidge, ballots before the delegates turned to the West Virginia lawyer and former congressman Inaugural Address, 1925 ~_Johia Davis in an exhausted compromise. Others, disgusted with both partes, cebu the old Progressive Party of 1912 and nominated Wisconsin's popular progressive Seoator Robert La Follette for president : Coolidge’s victory in the 1924 elections was as decisive as Harding's had been in. 1920, He won 54 percent of the total with only 28.8 percent for the Democrats and 1646 percent for the La Follette Progressives. Except for Wisconsin, which went for Ia Follette, Coolidge carried every state outside ofthe then solidly Democratic South. The Coolidge administration took some important steps in foreign policy. Just before he took office as Coolidge’s vice president, Charles G, Dawes negotiated the so-called Dawes Plan to help ameliorate the German financial criss brought on by the ‘The Kellogg-Briand Pact hhuge reparations payments to Britain and France. In 1925, Coolidge appointed Frank 1928 intemationaltreaty that denounced Kellogg as secretary of state. Two years later in 1927, French foreign minister Aristide ‘aggression and wer butlacked provisions for Briand proposed a joint U.S.-French alliance, but Kellogg turned the conversation to ‘enforcerment, a multilateral treaty. The Kellogg-Briand Pact outlawing war was signed in Paris in 658 Part Vil War, Prosperity, and Depression, 1890-1945‘August 1928, and eventually, 62 nations were signatories to the much acclaimed agree- ‘ent. Unfortunately, unlike the plan for the Leegue of Nations, there was no enforce- ment mechanism to the Kellogg. Briand Pact. While passive at home, U.S. government under Coolidge also enthusiastically encouraged engagement with Latin America, Me maintaining military force in some countries and doubling investment in others, © Alter coming to office in 1929, Hoover tried to improve relations with Latin America, removing American troops from Nicaragua and Haiti, In addition, while not offi. ally recognizing the government of the new Soviet Union, the Coolidge and Hoover administrations encouraged business investment and the Soviet government wel- = comed it, especially the mass-production of automobiles that they called “Fordismn.” ‘The 1928 presidential election that brought Hoover to office was very different, and much closer than the previous two. The tone of the contest was angrier. When _ Calvin Coolidge announced that he would not seek another term as president, the ‘epublicans nominated Hoover. The Democrats, tired of their losses in 1920 and 924, decided that Al Smith’s charisma and enthusiastic support in the North would snake him a winner. After all, many asked, didn't the South vote for the Democratic nominee no matter who he was? | On many issues, Hoover and Smith were not far apart. Hoover was more liberal _ than Coolidge and privately worried that the Coolidge prosperity was ¢ balloon that ‘would surely pop. He said that he looked forward to the day when “poverty will be banished from this nation,” though he saw business success, not government inter vention, a8 the key to accomplishing that goal. Coolidge once called him “that damn © Bolshevik.” Smith was also a friend to big business. Once nominated, Smith chose John J. Raskob of General Motors to run his campaign and included several leading {industrialists in his inner circle. Nevertheless, there were two huge differences between the candidates. Hoover _ Wasa “dry” who favored continuing Prohibition, and Smith was a “wet” committed to ending it. Hoover called Prohibition “a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose.” Smith told the convention that nominated "him that “there should be fundamental changes in the present provisions for national prohibition.” With many people becoming disillusioned with Prohibition, on that issue alone Smith might have had the edge. However, another issue influenced the race. Hoover, a Quaker, was @ Protestant, Smith was a Catholic. Many Catholic voters in places like Boston, New York, Chicago, = and San Francisco rallied to Smith with an enthusiasm they had never shown for any Previous presidential candidate. Meanwhile, in much ofthe nation’s Protestant heart- land, Smith's Catholicism was the heated issue of the campaign, The candidate him- © self thought he had addressed the issue, but as he campaigned in the Midwest and «South, Smith could see burning crosses on the hillsides and his rallies were met by _~ Klan members. At one rally in Oklahoma, Smith eyed the crowd and commented to |. reporter, “I don't know those people out there. I don’t speak their language.” On = lection day in November 1928, Hoover won, carrying states in the South that had hot voted Republican since the end of Reconstruction and even Smith’s home state = of New York. Smith won 40 percent of the vote and carried Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and parts of the South, but Hoover's 58 percent of the vote and 444 electoral Yotes guaranteed that he could enter the White House with a solid mandate. The stock market responded to Hoover’ election by reaching greater heights than ever before. ‘The new president kept his reservations about the stock market bubble to himself, The nation seemed confident in their new president, the economy, and the way society __ had been moving for the last 10 years. It would be Hoover's bad luck that none of this {Confidence would last through is first year in office. [=a] Auick Review How were th elections of 1924 an 1828 smite? How were thy diterant Read on MyHistoryLab Document When Historians Disagree: Did Coolidge, Hoover and Mellon Cause the Great Depression? Chapter 21 AUnique, Prosperous, and Discontented Time 659Bi Se 19 ' 1s30 22), ww 1935, 1936 1937 Steere ash Soot Hawley aes ofan ineratona a war orselag wot depression eestrvtion Fence Corporation ill sine by Preset Hover Bones Marcher eed fom Washington, oe Fenn. Roos defeats Heer present Beals dsearundountry ‘Dalnauurated deeds bankoliday Fist OR pres cofetence and reside ha lead et amended agate ber Gian onseraten ops an tional ec Adminsaton Seca eat Acta tonal Labor elton et Wagner pas Congres ose defeating Aled lane feseetcoart yc pan proposed ‘THE COMING OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION ‘The Great Depression was a worldwide crisis. The crash of the American stock may ket was but one of many causes of the economic catastrophe, People lost theit jobs: Japan. In Chile, mineral exports, the mainstay of its economy, collapsed, leading ‘The Great Crash: October 1929 and the Coming of the Great Depression Speculative booms and busts had occurred regularly in economies (and continue ever in modern times) as people allowed prices to rise far beyond value and then the ney ‘able crash in prices came. In the 1600s, Dutch investors were caught up in speculate 74 in tulip bulbs, and in the 1720s, English investors lost fortunes in what came to BeJse} known as the Great South Sea Bubble, In the mid-1920s, many Americans beges >buy Florida real estate that later became worthless, | | | did well in the 1920s and it would have been strange ifthe value ofstocks had not go | up, Stocks, afterall, are merely partial ownership in a company, so a share of sock people start to worry that «company will do poorly, shares wil probably decrease value, The stock market is—in theory—a place where people who went to sella shte! of stock meet people who want to buy one and agree on a price; the price of the most: recent sale of stock s then listed asthe current value of the stock. ; During the 1920s, stock prices generally rose, with some modest downturns between 1924 and 1928. Toward the end of 1928, especially after Herbert Hoover’ 7")! election victory in November, the stock market started going up much faster. Many people—including president-elect Hoover, as he later wrote in his memoirs We worried that the prices were showing al the hallmarks of a speculative boom. | people continued to buy stocks, ‘the Radio Corporation of America, known on the stock market simply as “Radio,” was a relatively new company that had never pid dividend, Radio sold for $85 a share at the beginning of the year, and the price to to $420 a share by the end of the year. (Stock prices are reported simply as whol numbers, so Rao sold for 85 and 420.) Other companies followed the same couse: | DuPont began the year at 310, ending at 525; department store giant Montgomery." Ward began at 117, ended at 440, At the height ofthe market in September 1928, si without distributing single dividend, Radio was selling for 505 : ‘As people sw the chance to make money, they lo borrowed money to buy tals ‘process called buying on margin. Ifa person could invest $85 in Radio anda yearlte | have a stock worth $20, why not borrow enough to buy ten shares fr $850 and fatly | quickly reap $4,200? And brokers were more than happy to lend the money. Buyers we? expected to use their own money for 25 percent to 50 percent ofthe value ofa stock be! coald easly borrow the rest. ari in the 1920s, perhaps a billion dollars of loans were" vided to cover stock parchases; by the end of 1928, those loans reached sic billion dolls 664 Part VII Wa, Prosperity, and Depression, 1890-1945 eSIn the spring of 1928, the outgoing President Calvin Coolidge reported that the ‘conomy was “absolutely sound,” and stocks were “cheap at current prices.” The more { cautious Hoover, who understood economics better than his predecessor, believed © instead thatthe “growing tice of speculation” was not merely a problem but was, indeed, = a crime,” yet woried that his saying so might cause a devastating loss in confidence, By 2 | September 1929, a respected economist Roger Babson warned, “Sooner or later a crash jscoming and it may be terrific.” Factories will shut down, he predicted, and “men will ‘be thrown out of work.” The speech precipitated a drop in stock prices, but the so-called sbson Break’ lasted only for 1 day. Most economists thought Babson was wrong. Stock prices kept going up through the spring of 1929, and then in the summer they skyrocketed. From the beginning of June to the end of August, Westinghouse stock = ent from 151 to 286, General Fletric from 268 to 391, and U.S. Steel from 165 to 258. i: _Atthe sight of those kinds of profits, most investors simply forgot about the warnings. ‘The market reached its high point on the day after Labor Dey in 1929. There was a small downturn in September and by October, everyone started to worry, Thea in late October, speculation turned to panic as stock prices just Kept falling. Tuesday, [October 29, knoyn a Black Tuesday, was the worst single day inthe history of the [stock exchange. Crowds formed all up and down Wall Street. Contrary to contempo- | j sary rumors and later-day myths there were no suicidal leaps ftom windows, though 1 few speculators did die by their own hand on that and the following days. Most qui- & elly watched thei life savings disappear as prices continued to fll In the months and years that followed, stock prices continued to fall. On © November 11, the New York Times Industrial Average closed at 224; a drop by half from 52 from September. The worst possible news was followed by even worse news as prices et falling through 1930, 1931, and 1932. By July 1932, the New York Times reported the “Dow Jones Industrial Average as 58—a little more than a tenth of what it had been only 3 years earlier. Value, itseemed, had simply disappeared from American businesses. “The loans that had enabled many to buy stock “on margins” made things worse. "When the value ofa stock fell tothe actual percentage the buyer had invested, 50 percent ‘0r 25 percent, the stock broker who had arranged the loan would notify the owner that the or she had to produce more money to pay off the loan or else the stock would “be taken over by the broker and sold to {recoup the loan, Since many investors had put all their savings into the stock market, they had no funds to cover such “calls” and were wiped out. Even if the market «later rallied, they had no investment left In + addition, the brokers often were not able to sell the stock in time to protect the loan > tither, so brokers lost money, too. ‘The stock market crash was far from the only problem with the nation’s economy in 1929. At the same time, basic © underpinnings of the American economy, including banking, manufacturing, farming, and international trade, were also surprisingly fragile. When the economy came apart, it came apart thoroughly. A sizable number of Americans, perhaps as many as half—farmers, farm workers, and sharecroppers; American Indians living ‘on reservations; factory workers; widowss and the elderly—had been living on the Thispicture reflects some ofthe chaos on New York's Wall Street on October 28,1928, 2s stock values | edge of poverty throughout the boom. cashed and people saw ther fe savings dapper. ‘a 223 | ‘Watch on MyHistoryLab Video The Great Depression CChapter22 Living inHard Times 665 | jee eeea {2 1830, before even the intial impact of the Depression, 60 percent of Americ a a families had a total income ofless than $2,000 per year, which was then considered poverty line. Between 1929 and 1932, farms across the country were foreclosed on—and mp, ‘would have been had not armed groups of farmers banded together to prevent sales, Factories, which had been overproducing, now closed and workers lot Jobs. One out of four people inthe United States was out of work by 1932, Many living in shanties, and others rode the rails as stowaways ot waited in bread i 4a the winter of 1932-33, the nation’s banking system started to collapse as bay that had also invested in stocks or offered mortgage loans on property that wes Worthless faled, and state governors announced “bank holidays” in their state to further failures, ELE | L The Hoover Years, 1929-1933 RvB Explore on MyHistoryLab Herbert Hoover had been president for ‘only 7 months when the stock market ‘crash Bx; The GreatDepresion Given his background, Hoover seemed the idea president fora moment of and served as Secretary of Commerce, he understood economics; moreover, he far more flexible than Coolidge. As the economy worsened, Hoover: called on people {0 engage in voluntary collective action—asking business leaders to Keep wages yy. prices up, asking bankers to pool resources to help weaker banks, encouraging farmers to form cooperatives and keep excess crops off the market. He cut taxes and supported | federal public works suchas constuction of dams, bridges, and hospitals o stimula {pe economy. Afer 1932, he reluctantly agreed with a Democratic Congress to ce the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to provide funds to Keep banks and railoid to states for relief and public projects, 4 As the economy worsened, however, Hoover’ call for voluntary solution seemed weak. Farmers weré reluctant to cut back on their’ ‘crops if their neighbors gy ‘would simply fill the gap. Bankers were too worried about staying solvent to bail on Ines ws2Us.Amyvoopsandlcipolce other bunks. The Recswowution Frece Corporation never invested enough to seve oe US Cot omenepvithinsght all the banks that needed saving. Hoover tried but fled re negotiate a reduction in sence wh eae reac foe the reparations that were wrecking the German economy and thus undermining ©) Femara Saks seeking persons tom | U.S. trade with Burope. Then in 1930, Congress patsed the Smoot-Hawley Tall Roores eeu manyandfurterundemined diastrous move that was designed to protect Amertean Inder by raising the cost Hoovers reputation of imported goods, bu resulted ina trade war as other nations also raised their tari | in return leading to a huge decrease in international trade with devastating results, Despite the dire circumstances, Hoover, though no orthodox conservative, seul nat pomeonal bring himself to support further government intervention and debt Shantytowin, sarcastically named afer Pethaps it was simply Hoover's bad luck to preside over the beginning of the homelecspeonenaricunempiyedand Depression, People would have blamed him no matter what he did: has ge ceed - Tories peonelvedinmalashitshacks, to restore confidence by ‘announcing that, “The fundamental business ofthe country, ars and boxes. Hooveriles cropped upin’ ip Production and distribution of commodities, is on a sound and prosperous. ® many citiesin 1930 and 1931 f basis,” things just kept getting worse and people lost confidence in him. When home: less families built communities of shacks, they called them Hoovervilles, When out. Bonus Army of work veterans marched to Washington asthe ‘Bonus Army” to demand a pension, ini3aa dena war veterans he ordered the army wo disperse them and people caled him heathen When he had pee oe Ses one ince lost his bid for reclection and tried to get the incoming administration to cooperate Uno te Greet Depesion saeteraide 008 plan fr the banking crisis in early 1933, Roosevelt ignored him. Hoover's was at | a stimulus for the econonny ‘unhappy presidency in an unhappy time, | Quick Roview How dd the fragile economy ofthe 19095 combined with the stock markt rash create dir skuotion forthe American people? What action dd the Hoover ‘administration tako to address the situation? What other actions could Hoavar have tokon? 665 Part VIE War, Prosperity, and Depression, 1890-1945 PeZ) Explain the goals and results of the New Dea! andthe responses to change onthe part of civerse Americans, bla the desperate situation thatthe United States faced in 1932, probably the most des- perate economic moment in American history, most thought that whoever won the 1932 Democratic nomination would win the election. After all, the crisis hed occurred p under the leadership of previous Republican presidents. Among the Democrats, Al “Smith entered the race again along with Speaker of the House of Representatives shn Nance Garner, former cabinet member Newton Baker, and New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt won the nomination on the fourth ballot and, ‘reaking precedent, flew to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to secept the nomination in person on July 2, 1932, where he promised a ‘New Deal for the American people” coining the phrase by which his administration would be known. He selected Garner tobe his running mate and, promising “a New Deal for the ~American people” while offering very few specifics, defeated Hoover by a landslide in ‘the November election, carrying 57 percent of the vote and 472 electoral votes. In the long months between the clection in November and the inauguration on March 4, 1933, the U.S. economy kept getting worse. (The date of the inauguration ‘was later changed by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution so that every president > fter Roosevelt was inaugurated on January 20 after a much shorter wait) The number of unemployed workers and evicted farmers kept growing. In addition, tne banking _ system, the heart of the nation’s economic structure, faltered, and more banks closed, © Banks that had given loans to buy stocks now held worthless paper since the loans ff could never be repaid. Banks that had given loans to farmers now owned worthless ef form land or were blocked from foreclosure ‘by angry farmers, As more banks failed, [;_ People began to take their money out of the remaining banks. A “run on a bank? as large number of withdrawals all at once was known, could put any bank out of usiness because no bank simply kept deposits in its vaults but, rather, invested the © money. In 1930, 1,352 banks closed; in 1931, 2,294 more went out of business: and in 1932, another 1,453 failed. In November 1932, Nevada’s governor proclaimed a “bank. holiday,” temporarily closing all banking before more banks got into trouble. Iowa followed in Janvary, then Michigan, Maryland, Oklahoma, Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, and Arizona in February. Sixteen more states closed banks at the beginning of March, and finally, on March 4, Illinois and New York—home to the nation’s largest banks fF 12 Chicago and New York City—declared a bank holiday. On that day at noon, wth [most banks closed and most economic activity in the country ata standstill, Franklin. |, Roosevelt was inaugurated to replace Herbert Hoover as president, The Brain Trust and the First 100 Days i Athis inauguration, the new president told the nation that it must not “shrink from J; honestly facing conditions in our country today” And he was blunt about what those © conditions were, saying: Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment, Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance....Plenty Isat our doorstep, but 8 generous use of it anguishes in the very sight ofthe supply, Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, heve admitted theit failure, and abdicated, © But in that same address, he also insisted on his “firm belief that the only thing we bave to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes Zeeded efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Given the nation’s situation, many “Could think of quite a few things to fear, but Roosevelt made it clear that he was ready 4 Wactto address the crisis, and that alone gave people optimism—for a time, Now Deal ‘Atermn forthe programs and legislation developed during Franklin Roosevelt: ‘administration aimed at ending the Great Depression, Watch on MyHistoryLab Video The New Deal Chapter 22 LivinginHard Times 667 CP arefleeside chats ‘Speeches broadcast nationally over the radio in which President Franklin Roosevelt explained complex Issues and programs in BE plain lenguage. Read on MyHistoryLab Bacument Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fireside Chat, 1936 Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt, April 20, 1935 Roosevelt had 2 magnetic, optimistic personality, He used radio, still «jg, ‘medium, to connect with the American people through frequent fireside chaty press conferences. Roosevelt had been paralyzed by polio in the early 1920s, but Americans knew that he could not walk without help, and the media kept his se Radio carried the president's voice and kept his disability out of sight. Another yal kept secret was the deep strain in Roosevelt's marriage, While Franklin and Begs. 4 Roosevelt's personal life was often tense, as a public couple, they wete extraordi ‘The new first lady was often the eyes and ears of the administration, visiting de farmers and industrial workers, traveling down mine shafts to coal mines, spea to audiences around the country, and bringing the nation’s problems back tg White House. People responded to her on a personal level. Thousands of “Dear hy Roosevelt” letters poured in to the White House. Together, Eleanor and Fran Roosevelt projected hope toa nation that wanted desperately to believe. ‘The new president knew that although people were willing to give the’ administration a chance, their patience was short. Banks could close for afew days; if people could not get their money, pay their bills, keep their mortgages up to d ‘worse crisis would follow. Roosevelt's economic team moved to reopen the banks. \gnored a proposal by Wisconsin Senator Robert La Follette, J, to nationalize the b Using a plan that had been drafted by officials in the outgoing Hoover administra they convinced Congress to pass an Emergency Banking Act on March 9 that alle those banks deemed safe to open, and permanently iquidated the weakest. After in office, President Roosevelt gave his first fireside chat, assuring people that “itis safer ‘keep your money in a reopened bank than it is to keep it under the mattress.” The ria the banks stopped, and the newly federally approved banks remained solvent ‘Three months later, Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Act that created the Fe Deposit Insurance Corporation to guarantee bank deposits, Given the role banks had p inthe stock market speculation of 1928 and 1928, the Glass-Steagall Act also separated ‘mercial banks and investment banks; the former could take deposits and make loans) government guarantees, and the latter could invest in the stock market, at their own risk Early in 1932, while he was still a candidate for the presidency, Roosevelt ( EDR, as many called him) had created what he called his “Brain ‘Irust.” The o American Voices Pile inereres he nation’ Ft ay Heanor Roeser received more than 300,000 letters, a large percentage of which were from ‘young people asking for her help. Mis. Roosevelt had become a personal symbol of caring for the Roosevelt administration, and people—particularly poor people and especially children—turned to her. From the thousands letters such as the one shown here, the needs of those who lived through the Great Depression, espectally tine young, also take on a human face, Dear Mrs. Roosevelt, ama thirteen year old girl and live on a farm with my mother and Step-Father we are very poor people | have lived here for five years and have wished each year for a radio but as the years go by our circumstances get worse and worse. ! am wondering if ‘would be asking to much of you to help me obtain one. As we live in the country we wold have to have a Battery Radio. We live rer reer 668 Part VII War, Prosperity, and Depression, 1890-1945 {ive miles from town, and we are poor and we have no money fot boughten amusements. There is not a radio around in the cout: ‘ry and | get terribly lonesome In summer, Sincerely yours, MIN.C. Source ibe Cota er ear eae ete fom chidenctie eat ‘prin (apa Uy Norn caraa Pey DD es Thinking Critically a 1, Contextualization a What coes this later tell you about the hopes and dreams of 2 13-year-old child living in the midst ofthe Depression? 2, Historical interpretation ‘Why would a child, or any American, turn to the First Lady for help? What does this decision tell you about Eleanor Roosevelt's public persona? Sell aaNet eee tee eee eeee group —Raymond Moley, apolitical scientist Rexford Tugwell, an economist; Hand Adolf Berle, a legal financial expert, were all professors at Columbia [sniversity. Others joined or departed from the group. Although they argued with Bach other, the members ofthe Brain Trust all agreed that a lack of purchasing {power was 2 key cause of the Depression and that a way had to be found to raise rm income and industrial wages s0 more Americans could buy more of what she nation could produce, thus putting more Americans back to work. ‘They, like F/R, disliked what they called “the dole” and preferred jobs, any jobs, to welfare. = When Roosevelt came to office in 1933, the Brain Trust guided much of licy. Some members of the oficial cabinet represented the older, more cautious SDemocratic Party establishment. However, others in the eabinet were closer to Bie Brain Trust, especially farm editor and inventor Henry Wallace, who became bectetary of agriculture; Chicago reformer Harold Ickes, who became secretary of ibe interior; and Roosevelt's long-time New York State ally, Frances Perkins, who ecame secretary of labor and the first woman in a president's cabinet. f ln what became known asthe first 100 days, Congress passed a steady stream (fnew legislation. On March 13, Congress passed the Economy Act, giving the president broad powers to cut government spending. It also amended the Volstead ct to legelize beer while the country waited for the repeal of Prohibition. While Economy Act cut federal costs—and did nothing to stimulate the economy— amended Volstead Act not only allowed people to drink beer legally but also sought millions of dollars of new tax money into the treasury. Before the end of |. Congress established the Civilian Conservation Corps, probably the most »pular New Deal agency, through which hundreds of thousands of unemployed Fung men worked in rural camps planting forests, pruning trees, building parks, gand shoring up the nation’s wild lands, thus giving many of the unemployed pobs and income to spur the economy. In April 1933, FDR, took the country off ld in government or bank vaults, Smillion piglets. Many, including agriculture secretary Henry Wallace, were heartsick f tthe destruction of food in a nation with many hungry people, but one-third of the f tation’s workers were in agriculture, and the Brain Trust believed that raising farm f Prices by ending the surplus of agricultural products, and therefore raising the income sand spending power of farmers, was the highest national priority. Before the end of May, Congress also created the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to build dams on the Tennessee River that would control floods, bring electricity to rural areas that were ‘without it, and provide jobs (see Map 22-1). In June, in addition to the Glass-Steagall Act that regulated the banks, Congress j passed the National Employment System Act, the Home Owners Refinance Act, the Farm Credit Act, the Railroad Coordination Act, and perhaps most significant, the National Industrial Recovery Act. The ast act established two of the best known New Deal agencies, the Public Works Administration (PWA)—committed to large-scale Pome Projects across the country—and the National Recovery Adininistration £ (NRA) with a mandate to create a voluntary national network of businesses to maintain { Nages and prices. In 100 days, the United States had a quite different federal government j, than it had ever seen before. The National Recovery Administration set minimum wages Vand Prices, outlawed child labor, and guaranteed labor the right to organize. The NRA {05 later declared unconstitutional, but from 1933 to 1935, the NRA, with its “We Do ‘Our Part signs in store windows across the nation, was a prime symbol of the New Deal, Watch on MyHistoryLab Video The President Takes on the Depression The Clan Conservation Corps wes very popula New polthe gold standard, replacing currency backed by gold with currency backed Deal program that eventually put hundrevsof thousands py the government's promise to pay. The change put badly needed money inta _%/0uNg men towerk-ae gave them and thei feriles Srincome--as they parades a but outdoor freulaton since the supply of dolars was no looger limited by the amount of 424g zshe/ ard ee first 100 days ‘The first 100 days ofthe Rooseveltadmin- 'stration, beginning vith his inauguration ‘on March 4, 1933, in which the Democratic ‘Congress passed several important pleces of legislation designed to put Americans back to work and undercut the effect of the Great Depression. Chapter 22 Living in Hard Times 669