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Diamond Hudson
Ms. Geiss
3B
8 December 2014
Economic Platform
On March 4, 1933, FDR took the oath of office to become the 32nd President of the
United States, America. During this time the country was in the worst economic crisis in history..
Since the Great Depression had come more downfall in the fall of 1929 when the stock market
crashed. Nearly 25 percent of the workforce, were now unemployed. In rural America, couldnt
make a profit from the Dust Bowl plummeting their farms and income, having families forced to
leave their homes in search of work. The pressures this massive economic falling, more than
11,000 banks had closed and the U.S. banking system stopped functioning. American lost its
order and systematic ways.
In response FDR initiated the "New Deal, a series of economic policies and acts
designed to improve the worst effects of the depression, restart the economy, and restore the
confidence of the American people in their banks and other institutions. One of the most
significant of these acts was the Banking Act of 1933, which bought an end to the banking
system panic. But the success of the Banking Act relied on the American peoples willingness to
trust the bank again. To ensure their trust FDR used the radio for the first broadcasting of his
fireside chats, in order to convince them that the crisis was over and that it was safe to ensure
the banks with their deposits because of the newly established Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation.

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Within the New Deal there were other acts, such as the Works Progress Administration
(WPA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration
(AAA). The most recognized was the Social Security Act in 1935, which led to the creation of
the Social Security Administration and a national system of old-age pensions and unemployment
compensation. Social Security granted federal financial support to the disabled. The New Deal
also led to the formation of a wide range of significant agencies, such as the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC), set up to prevent another crashing of the Stock Market, the
Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which made homes affordable to average Americans, as
well as the National Labor Relations Board, the Civil Aeronautics Authority, and the Federal
Communications Commission.
The New Deal was able to lessen the effects of the Great Depression but it didnt fully
restore the nations unemployment population. Critics of FDR's policies, wanted to condemn it.
Conservatives argue that it brought much government authority, whereas others thought it could
have done more. But the New Deal's greatest achievement was offering hope and restored the
faith of the American people in their representative institutions. It also transformed the federal
government into an active body of social justice and put in place a network of laws and
institutions designed to protect the American economy from the worst excesses of liberal
capitalism. FDR's exploitation of the media, mainly in radio communication with the American
people through his "Fireside Chats," restored the spirit of the nation as he worked to lift the
economy out of the Great Depression.

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Works Cited
"The New Deal." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2014.