Applying Knowledge: Please read the following excerpt about FDR and the New Deal independently.
"Roosevelt’s plan to alleviate problems of the Great Depression was called the New Deal. New Deal policies focused on three general goals: relief for the needy, economic recovery, and financial reform. Many historians distinguish between a First New Deal (1933–1934) and a Second New Deal (1935–1936), with the second one more liberal and more controversial. When a new President and administration take office, they often try to pass a lot of legislation in the beginning to prove their capability and earn the nations trust. During this period, called the Hundred Days, Roosevelt let loose a flood of legislation designed to rescue banks, industry, and agriculture and provide jobs for the unemployed. He sent bill after bill to Congress. Between March 9 and June 16, 1933—Congress passed 15 major acts to resolve the economic crisis, setting a pace for new legislation that has never been equaled.
Together, these programs made up what would later be called the First New Deal. These laws, and others that followed, significantly expanded the federal government’s role in the nation’s recovery. Roosevelt’s first major step was declaring a bank holiday. On his very first night in office, Roosevelt told Secretary of the Treasury William H. Woodin that he wanted an emergency banking bill ready for Congress in less than five days. The following afternoon, Roosevelt declared a national bank holiday, temporarily closing all banks, and called Congress into a special session scheduled to begin on March 9, 1933. When Congress convened, the House of Representatives unanimously passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act after only 38 minutes of debate. The Senate approved the bill that evening, and Roosevelt signed it into law shortly afterward. The new law required federal examiners to survey the nation’s banks and issue Treasury Department licenses to those that were financially sound. Under this act, the government would decide which banks were fit to stay open, which should receive government loans, and which should be closed. On March 12 President Roosevelt gave his first, of many, fireside chats.
These were radio talks that would explain in simple language his plans to help the country. Sometimes beginning his talks with "Good evening, friends", Roosevelt urged listeners to have faith in the bank and to support this New Deal measures saying, “I assure you that it is safer to keep your money in a reopened bank than under the mattress.” When banks opened the day after the speech, deposits far outweighed withdrawals. FDR’s reassurance to the American people helped to quell public fears and helped the banks become successful again. The "fireside chats" were considered enormously successful and attracted more listeners than the most popular radio shows during the "Golden Age of Radio." Roosevelt continued his broadcasts into the 1940s, as Americans turned their attention to World War II.
