Week of February 1 - 5 - Blogs

Monday, February 1

FDR Presidency

1932 Election - Hoover vs FDR
Anyone could've won against Hoover
FDR - "happy days are here again"
FDR wins in 1936 against Alf Landon
people weren't ready to go back to Republicans
Court Packing Bill
9 Supreme Court justices - 6 of them over the age of 70
Supreme Court declare some of the New Deal programs unconstitutional
justices slow down the recovery from the Depression
FDR wanted to "pack" the Supreme Court by adding a new justice for every justice over 70
made it 15 justices
backfired - idea was shot down by Congress

Tuesday, February 2

Snow Day! :)

Wednesday, February 3

Snow Day! :)

Thursday, February 4

Bonus Army

WWI vets march on Washington for money
promises $1.25 per day they served in WWI
money wasn't supposed to come in until 1940
They were known as the American Expeditionary Force then, and wanted their Bonus check
Congress debates on whether or not they could get money early
Congress decides not to get them their money early
most protesters left, but some stayed and protested more aggressively
Hoover brings in the military to use tear gas, tanks, etc. to get the veterans out
MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Patton - three most famous WWII generals
those three - all involved in the conflict in DC. MacArthur in charge
he takes force farther than Hoover wanted him to
Hoover didn't like what MacArthur did, but had to support him because he ultimately achieved what he wanted him to do
Eisenhower - criticizes MacArthur years later for his actions

goals of new deal

Three R's

Relief, Reform, Recovery
Relief for the needy - help the people who lost their jobs/life savings today
Economic Recovery - long term change of the Vicious Cycle
Financial Reform - reforming banking and the stock market system to make sure rules are in place to prevent another crash

Fireside Chats

radio addresses given by FDR occasionally
called Fireside Chats because people sat next to their fireplace and listened to their radios
first topic - banking crisis. he told people he would be closing banks down for a couple of days
gave these through WWII

Deficit Spending and Priming the Pump

Deficit Spending - spending more money than you make
prior to the 30s, our country did not deficit spend
Priming the Pump - throw a bunch of money in the economy, i.e. spending money on programs and creating jobs for people
priming the pump led to massive deficit spending - biggest criticism of the New Deal

Hundred Days

Roosevelt's Background

Critics and Failings of the New Deal

Republicans - "you're spending too much, you're a socialist"
Other end of the spectrum - "you're not doing enough"
Republican Challenge #1: he was a very powerful president that led Congress, this was a violation of checks and balances
Republican Challenge #2: it was a radical difference from Laissez-Faire and created a big government
Republican Challenge #3: some laws that you are passing are against the Constitution
Republican Challenge #4: you're spending too much money and this is bad for the economy in the long run

Huey Long

"Robin Hood"
wanted to take land/money from the rich and distribute it to the poor
people actually kind of supported him, even though they were terrified of communism
was going to run for presidency in 1936 but was shot and killed by Carl Weiss in 1935
best example of a person who thought Roosevelt wasn't doing enough

New Deal vs. 2nd New Deal