By 1933, when F.D.R entered office, the countrty was in shambles. The stock market crash of 4 years earlier had cut the value of stocks at nearly a fifth of what they once were. The average income of farming jobs had dropped by 50% and one fourth of Americans were out of work. America's depression was truley as "Great" as its name.

In the election of the previous year, an election took place for president of the United States, between Republican Herbert Hoover and Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR won the election by almost one and half as many votes on a strategy of economic recovery. One of his first actions of president was The New Deal.

The New Deal, marked a huge change in the structure of government today. Many new systems were put in place, some of these still in place today, such as the Social Security System and the Federal deposit insurance corporation (FDIC). It focused on helping the people who were suffering by expanding the responsibilities of of the government to help watch the citizens. There were actually two parts to The New Deal. The first part was dedicated to short term recovery.

The Second New Deal helped keep the recovery strong by strengthening the unions, as an example the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the introduction of minimum wage and maximum work hours.

In the end, The New Deal and FDR helped us get out of our massive debt and depression by redifining government involvment.

Sunday, March 1, 2009