Transcript New Deal and Win The War - Midlands Technical College

New Deal and Win The War
• Roosevelt was not without his critics: He was facing
still large unemployment numbers, production was
still low, GDP and GNP was mediocre at best.
• He also wanted social as well as political reform;
• The New Deal was struggling and FDR was willing to
try many things to make it stick;
• Policies, however, were destroying free enterprise and
the private sector was reeling from government
intrusion. Simply the Gov’t could not keep up with
demand for jobs and food.
• One very loud critic was
Father Charles Coughlin.
• An early supporter of FDR,
calling the New Deal
“Christ’s Deal.” coined the
term “Roosevelt or Ruin.”
• He also used Radio to reach
a large audience—he was
based out of Detroit—he was
anticommunist, anticapitalist, and antisemitism—
• Fell out of favor with FDR—
too slow, not enough for the
people—disagreed that
plowing under food was
logical.
• The most powerful New
Deal critic, was the
“Kingfish.” Huey Long
Governor of Louisiana
also a Senator.
• He was a ‘Big
Government’ ideologue
supporting
infrastructure projects
such as bridges, roads,
hospitals, schools and
colleges—thoug he
remained staunchly
segregationist.
• He had a very socialistic view of wealth in
America—he believed in “Share the Wealth.”
• He believed that the New Deal was too
conservative—accused FDR of being a puppet
to ‘Big Business.’
• He wanted to confiscate all the wealth from the
richest people in the country and then dole it
out evenly to the American people:
• Share the Wealth Philosophy:
• 1) $5,000 homestead credit allowance to all
American families;
• 2) $2,000 guaranteed annual income for all
Americans;
• 3) Free College Education for all (some would
also be offered to minorities);
• 4) Shorter Working days;
• Government storage of crops to help out both
farmers and the poor; a sort of government
commissary to ensure all people had enough to
eat during bad economic times.
• By 1935, Share-Our-Wealth clubs enlisted
around 7 million members;
• He posed a significant threat to FDR’s reelection in 1936.
• Aspirations ended abruptly with assassination
in Sept. 1935 in the Louisiana State House;
• Son-in-Law of a ruined political opponent.
• Other critics: Dr. Francis
Townsend ( a gov’t pension
for every person) of
California and Upton Beall
Sinclair also of California;
(both very socialistic);
• The Follette brothers from
Wisconsin—formed
communist and Marxist
clubs mostly within Unions
and Student groups—
distanced themselves from
Russian Communism—
spoke more of Unions and
Government associations
with the people’s best
interest at heart—no over
throw of government,just a
• FDR responded by initiating much new legislation beginning in
1935.
• A very radical shift to the left—pushed through such initiatives
: WPA, Wagner Act, Social Security Act, and Wealth Tax Act
• WPA: Works Projects Administration; promoted economic
relief and reform; tried to avoid works of private Industry—
paved streets, built bridges, restored forests, employed artists
and authors, musicians and dramatists—over 7yr period it
employed 8.5 million people, but never at one time and many
times the same people were hired again and again—good if you
were lucky, but only about 1 million employed at any one given
time—Blacks and women were almost always excluded.
(beginning for the National Endowment of the Arts)
• The Wagner Act—preserved and strengthened
section 7 of the NIRA (NRA):
• This is the first time that the federal gov’t
protected and even recognized Unions—it
guaranteed workers the right to collectively
bargain—what it doesn’t say, is it mandated
that businesses regardless of size must
bargain—hurt small business
• Social Security Act:
• This act created a cooperative federal-state system to
provide unemployment compensation and Old-Age
Insurance;
• Workers would pay a special tax each pay period and
when reaching 65 would receive a pension;
• Employee and Employer contributions would cover
the cost—fairly radical piece of legislation—initially
did not include farm laborers, domestic workers,
waitresses, service industries or healthcare workers—
mostly big business and Industry and manufacturing.
…
• The Wealth Tax Act:
• A tax designed to affect only the top wealthiest in the
country; it also created a higher tax rate on business,
capital gains, inheritances, large gifts, and any profits
from Real Estate;
• Trusts and Holding Companies also were faced with
restrictions; instead of promoting business and jobs it
actually contrary to many historians views, hurt the
private sector—and until the New Dealers were
ousted in favor of true business people during the
War effort—the economy struggled along—
eventually falling back into a deep economic
depression.
Roosevelt Coalition
• Significant because the
Democrats broadened its
constituency to include small
farmers, urban political
bosses, ethnic blue collar
workers, Jews, and
Intellectuals and for the very
first time African Americans;
• The party of Lincoln saw
almost 95% of its base move
to the democrat party—large
cities for the first time also
became democratic bastions
• Regardless of the
political paradigm shift,
FDR mainly won a huge
mandate for keeping
America out of the
European War that was
threatening on the
horizon.
• “I have said this before,
but I shall say it again
and again and again.
Your boys are not going
to to be sent to any
foreign war!”
• America possessed mostly an isolationist attitude.
Movies and Books of the day told of horrors of war—
lesson stay out of war at all costs;
• Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind; and
Sergeant York were Pulitzers and academy award
winners;
• The Nye Committee after investigation into the
munitions industry contended that greedy
industrialists and munition manufacturers provoked
and got America embroiled into WWI.
• War-mongering profiteers had popularized
gruesome atrocities abut Germany convincing
the U.S. to join in European entanglements;
• The Senate Committee suggested that even in
the late 1930s America should ignore the
propaganda and hyperbole enticing America
into another foreign war;
• Surely the atrocities of Hitler, Mussolini or
Hirohito could not be as bad as reported.
• To ensure America’s neutrality Congress
backed by a isolationist population was to pass
Neutrality Acts—the only foreign policy move
of any significance before actually entering the
war was recognizing the Soviet Union—FDR
argued that open negotiations and recognition
of the Soviet Union would open large doors of
trade for the United States.
• FDR until the day he died, though he did
finally understand not to trust Stalin, thought
he could charm “Old Uncle Joe!”
Neutrality Acts
• Neutrality Act of 1935—prohibited shipment of
American munitions or weapons to any
belligerent nation—FDR opposed this
legislation because it did not differentiate
between good guy or bad guy;
• Neutrality Act of 1936—forbade Americans to
loan financial support to any belligerent nation;
again without distinguishing between aggressor
or victim;
• The third Neutrality Act made the first two Acts
permanent; American citizens were forbade to
travel on ocean-going vessels of warring nations(try
to avoid the Lusitania); It did, however, allow FDR
to draw up a list of items that could be sold to
belligerent nations—wheat, rice, food stuffs and
medicine—and then only on a “Cash and Carry”
basis.
• Publicly FDR promised not to involve America in a
foreign war;
• Privately he admitted that entry into WWII was
inevitable.
• A quick fall of France to Germany in the Fall
of 1940 shook the American Public; America
also realized that only England stood between
democratic nations and Totalitarian tyranny.
• How did American involvement in WWII
affect both political attitudes of liberals and
conservatives?
• How did WWII affect the American economy,
short term, long term?
• How did it affect the classes of society in
America? Rural and Urban?
• World War II brought about a political,
psychological, and economic shift to the right
in America. Three questions troubled
Americans during the war years:
• 1) Big Government
• 2) The Economy
• 3) Communism abroad and at Home
• Also the New Deal had not aided much in the
gender and race sectors of America—WWII
changed that for a while at least.
• The war brought about the
need for employment—
many others filled the
military ranks—opening
the work force up to the
jobless, Women and
African Americans …
• The New Deal did very
little if anything for
Women, African
Americans or Latinos—in
fact it did very little for
the Poor Whites.
• By the time of Pearl Harbor almost 10 million
Americans remained unemployed; by 1942,
unemployment was almost unheard of.
• There actually were some labor shortages; the
most dominant gender was women—as most men
were in the military—
• “Rosie the Riveter” was a popular icon by 1945—
women made up 36% of the nations work force.
• Still there were great sacrifices on the part of everyday
Americans; Keynesian Economist point to the war as
how well deficit spending was for the economy—
• Unfortunately working and destroying production doesn’t
make an economy healthy—Americans had to ration and
do with out for the war effort.
• There were no true consumer goods for workers to buy—
very little that wasn’t earmarked for the war effort—
many people invested 10% of their income into War
Bonds—made sense, no real consumer market.
• War Bonds provided a much
needed supply of capital for
the war effort—wonder why
deficit spending wasn’t
enough?
• Celebrity auctions for Bonds—
unpatriotic not to buy them;
• War influenced American
fashion—to conserve cloth
material men forwent vests,
elbow patches for jackets, and
did away with cuffs.
• Women’s skirts became shorter and
narrower—two piece bathing suits—
conserve material.
• Americans also cut back
on food stuffs and
consumer goods;
• Needed ration cards to get
meat, sugar, gasoline,
coffee, and sort of metal
needs;
• Americans were
somewhat frustrated—
first time in years they
had money and nothing to
buy.
• American began to arise form the dolfrums of
depression:
• 1) Full employment—though standard of living
lagged due to rationing and war effort;
• 2) Labor unions due to the NRA became more
powerful and many people joined them;
• 3) Farm incomes rose, while tenant farmers
fell—ex-laborers took jobs in industry;
• 4) economists claimed Keynesian economics was
working, while Friedmanites claimed that supply
side effects were more benficial—as there wasn’t
much to buy—and Americans were saving their
money and investing it in the War Effort.
• Still, there were issues to look at:
• 1) Liberals and Reformers gave priority to Military
needs over social and economic reform;
though a thorn in the reformers side the high school
dropout rate increased to over 3million as kids looked for
war industry work; they also ignored labor laws
restricting women and children.
Americans ignored the tribulations of the JapaneseAmericans—over 100,000 were interned in dismal filthy
rudimentary camps—after re-election in 1944 FDR
canceled the internment orders.
• 2) FDR had to abolish segments of the New Deal,
he needed real business men to run the war effort
not academics and theories; winning was more
important than reforming;
• 3) Rise in the Federal deficit—military costs
always rise the deficit, social expenditures
plummeted; Some Senators wanted to broaden
the range of Social Security and to include
national healthcare coverage—the costs of the
war restricted much increase in these areas.
• 4) Though the war effort put many people back to work,
it also displaced many of the poor(unskilled labor). 20
million Americans lived at subsistence levels and near
starvation—unskilled labor made on the average of 0.64
per hour—Skilled labor made $7 or $8 per hour.
• 5) Changes in the composition of the federal bureaucracy.
The war effort cut many social programs—many liberals
who wanted to win the war but also fund enormous social
programs became disillusioned and left the government.
What many historians fail to acknowledge is that
theoreticians cannot win the war and poverty at the same
time. Businessmen understood how to organize,
prioritize and mange the war effort properly.
• By 1944-1045, as the war effort became more
efficient nd productive, many unskilled laborers
refilled the ranks of the unemployed—War
material is not a panacea for economic ills.
• 6) Increase in government employees.
Expenditures in Washington rose from $9billion
to $98.4 billion. Again deficit spending even on a
war footing did not succeed in the end.
• 7) Created a Military Industrial Complex. A
systematic relationship between Military and Big
Business. $250 million per day was spent on
military contracts—hurt many small businesses.
• 8) Created a huge Corporate State competing with
a large Welfare State; organized labor became
strong and industry became dominant.
• Agriculture population fell by 17%; better
weather, improved fertilizers, modrn technology
and better efficiency methods displaced much
manual unskilled labor; many farms were
conglomerated in large Agribusiness entities.
• 9) A more urban and technological society;
research and development expanded, science
became very important to production etc … and
more than 15 million people moved away from
the farm to the industrial and manufacturing
centers in America.
• The War changed America:
• 1) America emerged as a
leader in global economics and
politics—we were not
devastated;
• 2) U.S. possessed the Atomic
Bomb—the most powerful
nation in the world;
• 3) Americans were ready for a
rest and return to laissez faire
capitalist economics;
• Also FDR died ending an era
of depression, recovery, relief
and reform …