Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States of America, was one of the most influential and greatest American presidents. Hated by his critics, and loved by his supporters, Roosevelt served a record 4 terms in office from 1933-1945. In that time, his importance was shown in guiding America through arguably it’s two worst epidemics, World War Two and the Great Depression. Despite guiding America out of the ravages of the Great Depression, many opponents accused Roosevelt of being socialist, the enemy of American capitalism. While there is some truth in it, to accuse a great American president of this would be absurd. However, it is true that, Franklin D. Roosevelt was USA’s most socialist and left-wing president in history.

Roosevelt’s famous plan for America, also known as the ‘New Deal’, introduced several socialist reforms to America. Roosevelt first proposed this in a speech before the 1933 election. It called for drastic measures to heal the weak economy and bring America out of the depression. However, this deal was harshly criticized by its opponents who deemed it un-American because of its unprecedented ideas. In fact, the Supreme Court rejected many of the legislatures because it violated the constitution. It brought intense government control and regulation to most of the country’s economy. Numerous programs such as the National Recovery Administration (NRA), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) promoted agricultural and business regulation, price stabilization, and public works. Most of the land became owned by the government which was extremely left-wing. The United States had never experienced such a thing. To raise more money for public works, Franklin Roosevelt also had to raise taxes. As a left-wing politician, he believed that America needed higher taxes to get out of the depression.

Throughout all of his terms, Franklin Roosevelt would always try to gain as much power as possible for him and the government. To Roosevelt, America needed the government to control many aspects in order for it to get out of the Great Depression. Consequently, the government took over the banks, social welfare, utilities, securities, and other economical factors. In his Emergency Banking Bill, Roosevelt received control over banks, currency, and foreign exchange. Furthermore, Roosevelt’s Industry Recovery Act let the government intrude on businesses the much higher levels. Other bills such as the Executive Reorganization Act only gave more power on his stronghold on America. It is very obvious that Roosevelt did not believe Americans could not get out of the depression by themselves. Instead they needed strict rules and control from the executive branch and himself.

No matter what Franklin Roosevelt did, he would always look out for the working class. This was largely what helped him rise to a landslide victory in 1933 and in his following elections. The working class devastated the most during the Great Depression and they looked towards Roosevelt as a saviour. In speeches, he would call out the “forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid” and promise economic relief. In fact, the second part of his New Deal was solely dedicated to social and economic legislation to benefit the mass of working people. After he was elected president, Roosevelt began establishing many relief programs such as the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). These programs greatly lowered unemployment in the nation by employing thousands of workers for building and construction. In fact, the CCC alone employed over 2.5 million out-of-work men to help and preserve the environment. This showed that not only was Roosevelt concerned with the economy, but he also wanted to help the environment. Another crucial part of his New Deal proposed programs to aid tenant farmers and migrant workers, other groups that were hit the hardest by the depression. This all followed Roosevelt’s socialist views of equal rights for the whole public, giving no preference to the upper-class.

There’s no doubt that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a great American president. Whether he did it with traditional American ways is still in question. Roosevelt himself even said, “Let it be symbolic that in so doing I broke tradition” Roosevelt was assigned the tough task of getting America out of the depression and that’s exactly what he did it. By giving the government total control over many aspects of the economy, he slowly eased it back to strength. The workingman also got a well-deserved hand, by providing them jobs, and better services. Even if it meant raising taxes, which primarily affected the upper class. Ironically, in America’s darkest times, their most socialist president helped them regain strength in their capitalist system. Never one that was afraid to stray away from capitalism, Roosevelt may be the most socialist president America will ever have.