Paul K. Conkin, a professor of history at Vanderbilt University, wrote The New Deal, which gives insight into the journey of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) from a young man to a persuasive administrator and president. The Great Depression of the late 1920s was one of the most severe economic crises in the history of the United States. President Herbert Hoover allowed the US economy to go into a downward spiral. People lost their jobs, banks closed, and significant industries dwindled. President Roosevelt and his New Deal programs helped improve the welfare of US citizens. Conkin asks important questions for his readers: First, how did the New Deal change the United States? Second, what measures did Roosevelt use to do so?
Conkin addresses…show more content… He also uses many value-laden words to indicate his opinions. Conkin puts forward many arguments in his scholarly dissertation on the New Deal. He first argues that the New Deal is best viewed by comparing President Hoover and President Roosevelt. Which president, he asks, could have done better in the horrid predicament of the Great Depression? Conkin directly asserts his impression of the crisis: “Regardless of the New Deal welfare programs, the main burden of the Depression, the tremendous waste of human resources, fell more heavily on the poor than on the rich.” Conkin discusses the political strengths of the two presidents, their leadership styles, and their approaches to the Great Depression.
Conkin’s introduction to Herbert Hoover is a thorough synopsis of the obstacles the president faced. In the second chapter, Conkin uses vivid modifiers, such as “humane” and “generous,” to describe Hoover and predicates, such as “desired” and “wanted improvement,” to characterize his policies targeting the Great Depression. But Conkin also describes Hoover as “helpless” and “soul sick,” implying that Hoover—just like many other US citizens—was a victim of the Great