Roosevelt and the New Deal

1. Roosevelt and the New Deal Sect 1. Roosevelt Offers Relief and Recovery

2. M.I. • While other countries turned to dictators to solve their economic crisis, we needed to prove that a democratic society could succeed.

3. Roosevelt’s Background • FDR – cousin of Theodore Roosevelt • Born 1882 – wealthy family in NY • Lived on estate • Educated at Harvard and Columbia Law School • Very competitive • People person • Met Eleanor at Harvard – Teddy’s niece

4. FDR & Eleanor • Married soon after Harvard

5. FDR’s Early Political Career • 1910 - New York Senate • Progressive reformer • 1920 – nominated for V Pres but lost • 1921 – caught polio • Wore steel braces on his legs - paralyzed

6. The history of polio begins with records from antiquity mentioning crippling diseases compatible with polio. Michael Underwood first described a debility of the lower extremities in children that was recognizable as poliomyelitis in England in 1789. The first polio outbreaks in Europe were reported in the early 19th century, and polio outbreaks were first reported in the United States in 1843. History of Polio: Pre-Vaccine Era For the next hundred years, epidemics of polio disease were reported from developed countries in the Northern Hemisphere each summer and fall. These epidemics became increasingly severe, and the average age of people affected rose. The increasingly older age of people with primary polio infection increased both the severity of the disease and the number of deaths from polio. In 1952, polio reached a peak in the United States, with more than 21,000 cases of paralytic polio. In the immediate pre-vaccine era, improved sanitation allowed less frequent exposure and increased the age of primary infection. Boosting of immunity from natural exposure became more infrequent and the number of susceptible people grew. This ultimately resulted in the occurrence of polio epidemics, with 13,000 to 20,000 paralytic cases reported annually.

7. Polio Causes • Polio is very contagious. When a person is infected with poliovirus, the virus resides in the intestinal tract and mucus in the nose and throat. Poliovirus is usually spread through contact with stool of the infected person (known as fecal-oral transmission). Less frequently, polio is spread through contact with infected respiratory secretions or saliva (oral-oral transmission). • A person who is infected with polio can spread polio about 7-10 days before symptoms begin. A person can continue to spread polio for about three to six weeks after the beginning of polio symptoms. However, a person is most contagious for the 7-10 days after symptoms of polio have begun.  • Following polio transmission, a person does not become immediately sick. Once the poliovirus enters the body, it travels to the back of the throat, nose, and intestines, where it begins to multiply.

8. Paralytic polio • Less than 1 percent of polio cases will result in paralysis. In these severe cases, polio symptoms begin with:  • These early polio symptoms improve after several days. However, 5 to 10 days later, the fever returns and paralysis begins. Paralysis progresses for two to three days. Once the temperature returns to normal, there is usually no further paralysis. Along with paralysis, other polio symptoms with paralytic poliomyelitis can include painful muscle cramps and muscle twitching.  • The risk of paralysis with polio increases with age. In children under the age of five, paralysis of one leg is common. In adults, paralysis of both arms and legs is common. The muscles that control urination and breathing may also be affected.  • Many people with paralytic poliomyelitis recover completely, and muscle function returns to some degree. However, paralysis after six months is usually permanent.

12. Warm Springs, Georgia • FDR established a foundation for polio at Warm Springs • It was suggested by a leading entertainer named Eddie Cantor that everyone send in a dime for polio research. • March of Dimes • 1945 – FDR’s image put on dime • 1950’s Jonas Salk – polio vaccine

14. Governor of NY • Roosevelt re-enters politics in the early 1920’s • 1928 – became Governor of NY • Cut taxes for farmers • Reduced rates of utilities • State relief agency

15. Roosevelt Takes Charge • Election of 1932 • Republicans – Hoover ran for 2nd term • Democrats – NY Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt • FDR made an acceptance speech at the nominating convention in Chicago. • Talked about the failure of Republicans in the depression

17. “Republican leaders not only have failed in material things, they have failed in national vision, because in disaster they have held out no hope…I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.”

18. Victory!!! • FDR’s new program known as the New Deal. • He won the election by a landslide

19. Roosevelt is Inaugurated • March 4, 1933 • People made bank runs – fearful that FDR would abandon the gold standard to fight the Depression • Gold standard – 1oz of gold= set amount of money • Many removed money from banks and converted it to gold before it lost its value • By March 1933 – 4,000 banks collapsed • Governors in 38 states declared bank holidays to close banks and stop bank runs

20. 1 in 4 unemployed – economy frozen • In his inaugural speech… “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”