The first New Deal began in 1933 and focused on banking reform, work relief programs, and the end of the gold standard. That included the establishment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which guaranteed deposits up to $5,000, thereby restoring public confidence in the banking system. Huge public works programs put hundreds of thousands of men and women to work on such projects as the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Rural Electrification Administration, as well as building schools, hospitals, and other much-needed facilities. In effect, FDR took advantage of low wages and prices to do what was needed. Prohibition was repealed, a measure that also raised revenue.
The second New Deal included labor relations reform such as collective bargaining guaranteed by the National Industrial Recovery Act, the Works Progress Administration, and the Social Security Act. The Public Works Administration spent over $3 billion in two years to further reduce unemployment.
The New Deal has been called a scattershot, and it is true that FDR was willing to try any promising solution to deal with the national crisis. There were overlapping institutions and conflicts within them, but by the elections of 1936, some eight million Americans, black and white, had found work. Even though groups such as the American Liberty League and other New Deal opponents criticized FDR on the grounds that he was creating too great a dependence on the federal government, everyone benefited from its provisions.
While the effectiveness of these programs is still being debated, no one can doubt that FDR’s presence in the White House did a great deal of psychological good for the people and for the economy. His decisiveness helped, as did his Fireside Chats and the Brains Trust. Even though FDR was from the upper class, he soon had the confidence of workers and African Americans and finally even that of the “malefactors of great wealth,” as he called the people whom he blamed for the depression.
For all those reasons, I believe FDR was the greatest leader of his century.