Roosevelt's New Deal

This collection of documents was created for the use of my history class. However, any other educational purpose will be gratefully accepted.

Contents

 First Inaugural Address

 Second Inaugural Address

 Third Inaugural Address

 Fourth Inaugural Address

 General Background Information of the New Deal

Roosevelt's first Inaugural address:

1. "I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
2. In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.
3. More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.
4. Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and have abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.
5. True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.
6. The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.
7. Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.
8. Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.
9. Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.
10. Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.
11. Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly.
12. Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order: there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits: and investments, so that there will be an end to speculation with other people's money; and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.
13. These are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress, in special session, detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the several States.
14. Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.
15. The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in and parts of the United States - a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that the recovery will endure.
16. In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor - the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others - the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.
17. If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we cannot merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.
18. With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems.
19. Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.
20. It is to be hoped that the normal balance of Executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.
21. I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken Nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.
22. But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis - broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.
23. For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.
24. We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life.
25. We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.
26. In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come."

General Background Information of the New Deal:

Crisis Measures of the "99 Days"

On March 4, 1933, the radio carried Roosevelt's voice throughout the nation. His inaugural address did much to restore public confidence. He called for courage "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." He attacked business practices "rulers of the exchanges of mankind's goods have failed through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence." He promised constructive steps "action, and action now." He proposed to raise farm prices; reorganize relief work; furnish stricter supervision of banking, credit, and investments; reduce government costs; and hire young men for work on government-sponsored projects.

The heavily Democratic Congress met in special session March 9. Secretary Woodin had an emergency banking bill ready. It was rushed through in four hours, with an almost unanimous vote. All banks were to be closed and put under close government study. Only those in sound condition were to be allowed to reopen. Sound banks were to be strengthened by Federal Reserve notes, issued to them on the basis of their assets. Confidence in banks returned.

Roosevelt then tried to balance the budget. The deficit would reach 4 billion dollars in a few months, and this slowed recovery. Congress quickly passed a bill cutting federal salaries, veterans' benefits, and other government expenses. In time the budget became unbalanced again. Later Roosevelt made a distinction between "normal" spending, which was still held down, and "emergency" spending for relief, recovery, and national defense. For emergencies, the government spent freely too freely, some thought.

With the swift end of the banking crisis and the pledge of government economy, optimism began to return. People stopped hoarding money, and the prices of goods and securities rose slightly. At Roosevelt's request Congress legalized the sale of beer. The prohibition era, with its lawlessness, ended.

Meanwhile the New Deal, the name given Roosevelt's overall plan of action, was taking shape. One part of the program was to promote recovery. Another was to supply relief to the needy. A third part was to furnish permanent reforms, especially in the management of banks and stock exchanges. Congress and the public trusted Roosevelt so completely that a record number of bills were passed in the 99-day session.

The relief laws especially showed Roosevelt's recovery plans. He had a bill passed setting up the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It gave 250,000 young men meals, housing, uniforms, and small wages for working in the national forests and other government properties. Another law set up the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), which made grants to the states for relief activities. The Public Works Administration (PWA) gave people work on roads, dams, public buildings, and other federal projects.

The AAA and the NRA

The most fought-over plans of the early New Deal were bills to raise the prices of farm and manufactured products while regulating farmers, manufacturers, and sellers. These measures made up a planned economy. They veered sharply from the old conservative ways of the American government. The Hoover administration had set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to lend money to hard-pressed banks, railroads, and manufacturers. But Roosevelt's administration went much farther.

The first bill to pass was the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). Its plan was to pay farmers for accepting government controls and was designed to cut down crop surpluses. Farmers growing wheat, corn, cotton, rice, and other staples for foreign trade were to place their farm operations under the secretary of agriculture. He was to reduce the acreage of overproduced staples and to divert part of the land to soil-improving crops or other uses. The president could inflate the currency by free coinage of silver, by printing more paper money, or by reducing the gold content of the dollar. Many Western farmers believed that this cheaper money would raise crop prices. The act also provided for federal loans to farmers at low interest rates.

The AAA was the most drastic law ever passed to help farmers. It controlled most of the 6 million American farms, whose owners had always been very independent. The law made cooperation voluntary. Farmers who disliked the plan might remain outside. However, most growers of export crops accepted it.

The National Industrial Recovery Act was an even more radical plan and affected a larger number of people. It set up a system of self-government by industry under federal supervision. For many years manufacturers had organized trade associations which drew up codes of fair trade practices and tried to enforce them. One object of these codes was to stop cutthroat competition. Many people believed that the depression was partly caused by such competition.

Roosevelt's men worked out a plan in which each branch of industry was to draft a fair business code. The codes were to be amended if necessary by the government. When accepted, they could be enforced in the federal courts. Labor was protected by code provisions abolishing child labor, setting maximum work hours and minimum pay rates, and arranging for collective bargaining. The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was set up to administer the law. At its head Roosevelt put Gen. Hugh S. Johnson, ex-army officer and business executive, famous for his forceful language.

Many people regarded this legislation as a doubtful experiment. Trade associations with their codes could go a long way toward fixing prices. It was sometimes hard to tell their activities from those of the monopolies and trusts which the government had long attacked.

For some months the country gave the NRA loyal support. Roosevelt was full of faith. He said history would probably declare it "the most important, far-reaching legislation ever enacted by an American Congress." In the end it was declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Power and Banking Acts

Another spectacular reform measure was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). During World War I a huge power dam to provide electric power for a nitrates plant was built at Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River. After that, public and private interests held bitter quarrels over the use of the Tennessee's water power. President Hoover favored private control. Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska fought for government ownership of hydroelectric plants on large rivers so that power could be sold cheaply. Now the new law set up a board to apply this idea to the Tennessee River (see Tennessee Valley Authority).

Most bankers were convinced that banking abuses must be stopped. One abuse was the lending of huge sums for stock-market gambling. This helped to bring on the boom of 1928-29 and the crash that followed. The Glass-Steagall Banking Act gave the Federal Reserve Board control over interest rates and loans. Another abuse was the combining of commercial banks with investment banks. Many large commercial banks had investment branches which used depositors' money for speculating in securities. Now banks and investment houses were rigidly separated. The government also guaranteed bank deposits up to $5,000, so that small depositors would never again withdraw savings in a panic.

Millions of Americans had lost their savings in 1930-33 through frauds and misrepresentations in the sale of stocks and bonds. The Securities Act of 1933, which was strengthened a year later, required that important facts on new securities be given to a federal agency and to all buyers.

When Congress ended its 99-day special session, an amazing number of laws had been passed. Time was to prove some good, some bad. Roosevelt said he would be satisfied if he were right 60 per cent of the time.

The World Economic Conference

Roosevelt's program for overcoming the depression emphasized national rather than international steps. While the depression was worldwide, he believed that the main problems had to be solved by the United States alone. One of his goals was to raise American prices and wages. This required delicate international adjustments. If prices soared, foreign goods would pour into American markets. He wanted to increase exports and keep imports down. With advice from experts, Roosevelt decided the best way to do this was to devaluate the dollar that is, reduce the amount of gold a dollar would buy. Britain and other nations had already done this. The United States took this step in March 1933. The dollar dropped to 85 cents in terms of its old gold value.

A world economic conference was held in London from June 12 to August 27. The United States sent a delegation, headed by Secretary Hull. At first Roosevelt thought it might bring great benefits. It should cut down trade barriers, he said, and stabilize world currencies. For a time the conference seemed likely to cut all tariffs and to fix the dollar, pound, and franc at their existing values.

Then Roosevelt suddenly decided that the dollar had not yet dropped to its proper level. If it did not go lower, he thought his domestic program of raising prices would be in danger. Thus he startled the conference by his "bombshell" message of July 3, 1933, which rejected the stabilization program.

Secretary Hull tried to get some last-minute results, but the conference ended in failure. Roosevelt thought that future action to reduce the value of the dollar was more important than an international agreement. Later that year he devaluated the dollar to about three fifths its former gold content. But the expected price rise failed to come. To some Europeans and many Americans, Roosevelt had ruined a good effort to help world recovery.

Tests of the NRA and AAA

In the summer and fall of 1933, industries drafted NRA codes under Johnson's direction. In all, 557 basic codes were drawn up. Of these, 441 had provisions for fixing prices. All the codes banned child labor; many raised wages and reduced hours. The NRA tried to make more jobs; but the public grew hostile to it.

One reason was that the codes which fixed prices and limited production seemed to raise living costs too high. Under the NRA goods were too expensive. Another reason was that the NRA hurt small businesses. Their costs were ordinarily higher than big business units; and some of the new rules increased these costs. Many of the codes were too complicated. It took expert lawyers to know what could be done. Labor leaders claimed that the minimum wages of the codes were usually the maximum wages paid. They also complained that big companies evaded collective bargaining by forming company unions.

The government tried to meet these objections. A board, presided over by Chicago lawyer Clarence Darrow, was set up to review and report on the NRA. Many small businesses were freed from its rules. General Johnson resigned and was replaced by Donald Richberg. The NRA still did not work well. On May 27, 1935, the Supreme Court unanimously declared the NRA unconstitutional.

As an outgrowth of labor provisions in the NRA, the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act was made effective July 5, 1935. It guaranteed labor the right of collective bargaining. Unions grew rapidly. In 1933 the American Federation of Labor, led by William Green, had only 2,317,500 members. Now it expanded. A powerful new organization under John L. Lewis appeared. It was later called the Congress of Industrial Organizations. By 1943 unions had nearly 12 million members.

The AAA under Secretary Wallace reduced surplus crops and raised farm incomes. Enforcement was wisely left to local boards of farmers and to county farm-bureau men. In the South, 1,800,000 cotton growers united to take more than 10 million acres out of production. In the Northwest a wheat acreage reduction program was just as successful. Altogether nearly 36 million acres were taken out of production in 1934 and more than 30 million in 1935. The cash income of farmers rose by a third from 1932 to 1935.

Most farmers liked the AAA. Others were against it. The idea that cotton should be plowed under and baby pigs killed seemed outrageous when some people were hungry and poorly dressed. Other critics pointed out that the chief AAA benefits went to big farms. Tenant farmers and sharecroppers still had hard times. In addition, any rise in cotton, wheat, and pork prices meant a loss of foreign markets, for Europe could buy only when prices were low.

The Supreme Court annulled the AAA on Jan. 6, 1936. The administration had a substitute ready. The Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, signed March 1, 1936, paid farmers for saving and improving their soils. Farmers checked erosion, used fertilizers, and grew clover, alfalfa, soybeans, and other nitrogen-building crops in place of corn and wheat. The new plan paid for itself in the values it added to farms. In 1938 an expanded law was passed which included Secretary Wallace's "ever-normal granary" plan. Moderate surpluses in staple crops would be bought and stored by the government as reserves to meet crop failures in bad years.

Social Security Measures

In 1935 Roosevelt proposed his social security measures. In his annual message he declared that the day of great private fortunes was ended. Instead, wealth must be better distributed. Every citizen must be guaranteed "a proper security, a reasonable leisure, and a decent living throughout life." Unemployment and poverty were still widespread. The depression had lessened, but it was not over yet. People were starting to listen to "crackpot" schemes. The Townsend Plan for paying every old person $200 a month and Huey Long's "share-the-wealth" plan showed that great discontent still existed. It was time for the United States to follow Britain in providing insurance for unemployment and old age.

The Social Security Act was signed August 1935. Under it the unemployed and the aged were to be looked after by combined state and federal action. To build up an unemployment insurance fund, a national tax, running to a high of 3 per cent by 1939, was to be taken out of payrolls. The national government was also to help the states pay pensions to old people. A separate federal annuity system, based on wage earners' contributions, was to give every contributor a pension at 65.

The Roosevelt administration made large loans for slum clearance and new housing. It lent money to sharecroppers and farm hands who wanted to become farm owners. The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) helped bring electricity to farms. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Public Works Administration (PWA) helped the needy by hiring them for work on public projects. The National Youth Administration gave part-time work to high school and college students.

Reelection and the Supreme Court Fight

In 1936 Roosevelt tried for reelection with most big businessmen against him but with most farmers, workmen, and small storekeepers on his side. His opponent, Alfred M. Landon of Kansas, was supported by about two thirds of the nation's larger newspapers. Roosevelt's backers spent a little more than 5 million dollars; Landon's backers spent about 9 million dollars. Yet the result could be predicted long in advance. It was a Roosevelt landslide. The president carried 46 states, leaving Landon only Maine and Vermont. He won by a plurality of 11,078,204 votes.

With this backing for the New Deal, Roosevelt decided to challenge the political makeup of the Supreme Court with what quickly became known as a court-packing scheme. It had done much to block his measures. It had abolished the AAA and the NRA. It had killed the Guffey-Snyder Coal Stabilization Act, designed to help the bituminous coal industry, and the New York Minimum Wage Act. A half dozen important New Deal laws were still up for decision. If the court's attitude did not change, it seemed impossible to make his program effective. Of the nine justices, six were over the permissive retirement age of 70. Four were very conservative and could usually count on a fifth to join them in a majority decision.

Despite public respect for the court, Roosevelt attacked it. In his second inaugural address, he declared that social laws with radical changes were still needed. "I see one third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, and ill-nourished," he said. On Feb. 5, 1937, he sent Congress a message proposing to reorganize the court. For every judge who failed to retire at 70, he asked to be allowed to appoint a new judge until the court had a total of 15.

The plan aroused great criticism. The Senate Judiciary Committee said it was "needless, futile, and utterly dangerous." Conservative and liberal senators alike attacked the plan because it threatened to bring presidential control of the court. Roosevelt appealed to the country in a "fireside chat." The nation remained unconvinced. Even his friend Governor Lehman of New York opposed the change. Then Sen. Joseph T. Robinson, who was in charge of the measure, suddenly died. Hope for its passage vanished.

Yet while the court reorganization struggle was raging in Congress, the court itself began to sustain one New Deal measure after another. Among them were the Wagner Labor Relations Act and a Washington State Minimum Wage Act like the New York law the court had annulled. Several conservative justices resigned and were replaced by Roosevelt men. The court became liberal enough to satisfy the president.

Roosevelt continued to press New Deal measures. In 1938 Congress passed a Federal Crop Insurance bill to insure wheat farmers against losses from hail, drought, tornadoes, floods, and similar disasters. Expansion of the TVA was supported. Roosevelt encouraged the building of other dams, notably the Norris Dam, on the Tennessee, and the Bonneville and Grand Coulee, on the Columbia. In 1938 the Fair Labor Standards Act became law. For all industries in interstate commerce, minimum wages were to begin at 25 cents an hour and in seven years rise to 40 cents an hour. The maximum work week was to begin at 44 hours and in two years become 40 hours. This placed "a floor under wages and a ceiling over hours."

Chief "New Deal" Agencies During Roosevelt's Administrations 1933-45

Agricultural Adjustment Agency (AAA). Created in 1933 to bring farmers' share of nation's income back to level of 1909-14. Sought to provide an "ever-normal granary." Declared unconstitutional in 1936. Most of its duties taken over by Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act. Reconstituted in 1938.

Central Statistical Board (CSB). Created in 1933 to coordinate federal and other statistical services. Duties absorbed by Budget Bureau in 1939.

Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). Created in 1940 to regulate economic aspects of United States air carriers; to help establish foreign air routes and services; to investigate civil air accidents. Succeed Civil Aeronautics Authority (1938).

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Created in 1933 to succeed the agency known as Emergency Conservation Work; to provide employment and vocational training for needy young men through work in the conservation and development of natural resources. In Federal Security Agency until abolished in 1942.

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). Created in 1933 to make loans to producers to finance the carrying and marketing of agricultural commodities. Transferred to Department of Agriculture in 1939.

Electric Home and Farm Authority (EHFA). Created in 1935 to finance consumer purchases of electrical equipment in homes and on farms. Became part of Federal Loan Agency in 1939. Transferred functions to Department of Commerce in 1942; abolished the same year.

Farm Credit Administration (FCA). Created in 1933 to make long-term and short-term credit available to farmers and to farmers' cooperative marketing and purchasing organizations; assumed duties of Federal Farm Board (established in 1929).

Farm Security Administration (FSA). Created in 1937 to aid tenant farmers and to carry on rehabilitation work of Resettlement Administration.

Federal Alcohol Administration (FAA). Created in 1935 to administer the federal liquor laws. Duties absorbed by Bureau of Internal Revenue in 1940.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Created in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communication by telegraph, telephone, cable, and radio.

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC). Created in 1938 to insure wheat producers against loss due to unavoidable causes and extended to growers of other crops. In Department of Agriculture.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Created under the authority of the Federal Reserve Act of 1933 to insure the deposits of approved banks against loss in the event of bank failure.

Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (better known as Public Works Administration) (PWA). Created in 1933 to reduce unemployment and to restore purchasing power through construction and long-range planning of public works. Absorbed by FWA in 1943.

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). Created in 1933 to relieve the hardships caused by unemployment and drought. Abolished in 1938, and its work carried on by WPA until 1942.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Created in 1934 to encourage residential construction, repair, and modernization by insuring loans and mortgages.

Federal Loan Agency (FLA). Created in 1939 to direct all agencies lending federal funds, except those making agricultural loans.

Federal Security Agency (FSA). Created in 1939 to direct all agencies concerned with social and economic security, educational opportunity, and national health; included Office of Education, Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration, Children's Bureau, and Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation (FSCC). Created in 1935 to distribute surplus farm products to state relief agencies for the use of the needy. Merged into Agricultural Marketing Administration in 1942.

Federal Works Agency (FWA). Created in 1939 to coordinate all public construction.

Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC). Created in 1933 to grant long-term mortgage loans on homes.

Maritime Labor Board (MLB). Created in 1938 to improve labor relations among seamen. Expired in 1942.

National Emergency Council (NEC). Created in 1933 to coordinate the work of the federal agencies. Abolished in 1939, and functions transferred to Executive Office of the President.

National Housing Agency (NHA). Created in 1942 to consolidate all housing activities.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Created in 1935 to protect employees in their rights to self-organization and collective bargaining.

National Recovery Administration (NRA). Created in 1933 to draw up trade codes of fair competition. Declared unconstitutional in 1935.

National Resources Planning Board (NRPB). Created in 1939 to advise president on development of national resources; cooperated with state and regional planning boards. Abolished in 1943.

National Youth Administration (NYA). Created in 1935 to furnish part-time employment for needy high-school and college students; to provide part-time employment on work projects for out-of-school youth; to provide vocational guidance. Transferred to Federal Security Agency in 1939. Abolished in 1943.

Resettlement Administration (RA). Created in 1935 to administer rehabilitation and resettlement projects for the relief of farm areas. Abolished in 1937, and remainder of program completed by Farm Security Administration.

Rural Electrification Administration (REA). Created in 1935 to introduce electric service into rural areas not already served. Transferred to Department of Agriculture in 1939.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Created in 1934 to license and regulate stock exchanges and to control public utility holding companies.

Social Security Board (SSB). Created in 1935 to administer the federal old-age retirement funds.

Surplus Marketing Administration (SMA). Created in 1940 by merging FSCC and Division of Marketing and Marketing Agreements. In 1942 merged in Agricultural Marketing Administration.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Created in 1933 to operate government-owned properties at Muscle Shoals, Ala.; to develop water and power resources of the Tennessee River watershed; to plan for the social and economic well-being of the valley.

United States Maritime Commission (USMC). Created in 1936 to develop a merchant marine to carry the domestic and foreign waterborne commerce of the United States on ships built, owned, and operated by United States citizens; succeeded United States Shipping Board and Merchant Fleet Corporation.

Works Progress Administration (WPA). Created in 1935 to relieve unemployment; later called Work Projects Administration. Abolished in 1942.

This web site was intended to be used only for educational purposes in 1997. The web page designer, maintainer, or other affiliated associates are not liable for any misuse, plagiarism or copyright violations.