President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the United States of America. He ascended to power in 1933 and ruled for three terms up to 1945. Roosevelt succeeded the Republican Herbert Hoover in the November 1932 elections and was re-elected two more times as president of the United States (Polenberg 52).
He was the party leader of the Democratic Party and during his tenure as the president of the United States; he influenced a number of policies that laid the foundation for the American liberalism in the 20th century. When he took office, America was undergoing a tough economic meltdown and the entire world was affected.
President Roosevelt made a number of promises before taking office and most of his credits as a good leader are pegged on his ability to keep his word. During his first hundred days in office, Roosevelt had already created the National Recovery Administration,
The Agricultural Adjustment Administration the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Civilian Conservation Corps (Polenberg 39). By September, he had a revolving pension plan functioning to cater for the aging population. Most importantly, Roosevelt ascended into law the spending meant to combat the ‘Roosevelt recession’ (Polenberg 39).
His fifth cousin, President Theodore Roosevelt whom he admired, influenced his political ambitions (Polenberg 39). Nonetheless, he was a good leader and his policies are one of the most evidences that prove is worth. Although his presidency suffered a number of challenges, Roosevelt proposed and supported policies that led the nation to recovery.
In his first hundred days in office for instance, almost every bank was closing up and almost 13 million people were unemployed. His proposal and enactment of the Tennessee valley authority helped the nation to recover the economic depression as well as bringing relief to the unemployed (Polenberg 40).
Although the nation was gradually recovering out of the looming economic depression, some businesspersons and bankers were casting aspersions on the sustainability of Roosevelt’s programs. However, Roosevelt responded by formulating new programs including the social security program.
Taxation was part of Roosevelt’s plan to restructure economic stability in the United States. He placed heavier taxes on the wealthy and introduced controls and regulations in the banking industry as well as in the public utilities (Polenberg 39). In addition, he also introduced a work relief program that was meant to benefit and cater for the unemployed.
In his second re-election, Roosevelt sought to enlarge the Supreme Court but his proposal was defeated (Polenberg 53). He wanted to gain the authority so that the government would legally be mandated to regulate the economy (Polenberg 48). To keep the economy at a recovering speed, Roosevelt worked very hard to maintain neutrality during the war in Europe.
He was instrumental in the planning of a united nation, which was meant to resolve international conflicts. Roosevelt valued peaceful interactions between countries looking at it as the best way to build a better economy.
The decision of President Roosevelt to imprison 100,000 Japanese American civilians led a 2% drop in unemployment (Polenberg 39). This also led to the drop of relief programs causing the industrial economy to rise at a very high rate. Other opportunities arose because of the war centers as a number of Americans joined the military (Polenberg 52).
A record 16 million men and 300, 000 women were engaged in the military as either militants or volunteer. Roosevelt is considered one of the most highly rated presidents in the history of America.
Roosevelt economic plans were very successful in helping the United States of America to recover the economic disaster that had befallen it. On the onset of his first term, he went into office oblivious of the challenges ahead and as the records have shown, he seemed to have been quite prepared for the task. Herbert Hoover was accused of poor leadership and blamed for the economic failure.
By the end of his term, the American people were eager for a new type of leadership and government that would work for them. Roosevelt understood the needs of the people and was fully prepared to fix the problems caused by his predecessor.
This paper has discussed some of the measures taken by the 32nd president of the united states, who is also one of the most celebrate president of all times, to fix the economy. The easy has discussed widely the events that led to his success in helping the United States to recover from the worst economic meltdown in the history of America.
As discussed in the essay, Roosevelt was very practical in dealing with the economy that he championed very unpopular programs that helped to bring the economy back in shape. Although he ascended to power at the depth of the greatest economic downfall, he left office with a good record of having revived the economy to better heights than he found it. This gave him the unique opportunity to rule as president for three consecutive terms an event that has never happened before and ever since.
Works Cited
Polenberg, Richard. The Era of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933-1945: A Brief History with Documents (Bedford Series in History & Culture), New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. Print.