FDR DBQ

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After the 1929 Stock Market crash, the U.S. economy continued to slide, and Republican President Hoover was unable to control its decline by various support policies. As businesses laid off workers, unemployment rose to 20%. There was no welfare then and plenty of suffering. The deepening depression stirred up the political atmosphere. Franklin D. Roosevelt and his political “sidekick,” Jim Farley, embraced the notoriously corrupt New York City Tammany Hall pattern nationwide, i.e. unite the minorities by giving them preferred treatment through transfer of funds. Harry Hopkins, FDR’s liberal colleague, succinctly expressed the democratic policy of “tax and tax and tax” and “spend and spend and spend” and “elect and elect and elect.”…show more content…
In those days, a newly elected president was not sworn in for office until the following March 4th. This four month lag gave the big-time New York operators and others ample time to ship out gold at $22 an ounce to overseas cities. Gold left the U.S. by the shipload, to be returned after FDR devalued gold to $35 an ounce for a windfall profit of $13 an ounce. As a minor by-play during the campaign, the old Literary Digest was then the only national poll-taker. They came out with early coverage (2%) that FDR would take Iowa. In political ignorance, the writer mentioned at the Rotary Club that FDR would put Iowa in the Democratic column. With that, Mr. Sammons, publisher of the Sioux City Journal said, “Ridiculous, Iowa has voted Republican since it became a state in 1846.” A bet was suggested to settle…show more content…
Just as soon as FDR got into office, he closed all banks in the U.S. pending a re-examination and/or reorganization prior to passage of the FDIC bill, which guaranteed depositors up to $10,000 by the government. The Toy National Bank checked out sound and was allowed to open. The Security National Bank was put through the “wringer” (discarding all doubtful paper). A proposed merger of Security National with the First National Bank of Sioux City was turned down by the First National crowd, which was fortunate as the First later failed and was
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    Americans struggling to find work and to make ends meet, FDR was willing to attempt any measure that would safeguard his progressive New Deal programs. According to Merriam-Webster online, a dictator is: (a) a person granted absolute emergency power; (b) one holding complete autocratic control; or (c) one ruling absolutely and often oppressively. Critics were very quick to use the term “dictator” when referring to FDR’s actions during the late 30’s. FDR exerted dictator like force to make sure that his

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