That was what FDR was good at: spending money. The U.S. economy was in a drastic tailspin from 1939 on (Roosevelt's Depression) and if WWII hadn't saved him, he would have been known as the worst President in history. By moving the Pacific Fleet Headquarters from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, he eliminated the depression that we were sinking into.
@Don Alaska We have read many accounts of the strategic meeting between Japanese reprepresentatives and FDR held in late Summer or early Fall, 1941. It seems generally believed that what ensued was a set-up. Whether Japan could adequately prepare the bombing in only a few months, or whether they were already well-prepared after years of arming, has not been decided. The question remains: Why would any leader of such high position, knowing serious war-mongering was going on, place his ENTIRE FLEET of the Pacific in ONE PLACE at the same time? Looks pretty fishy. Frank
Correction: The US Economy was in a drastic tailspin from 1929 on! We started emerging from it from Pearl Harbor on. Hal
@Hal Pollner I must insert here that the tailspin also had it's ups and downs, like any market. By the mid to late thirties, it appeared the worst was over, but then downturn repeated. I cannot speak about hw the Pearl Harbor attack affected the markets for I simply don't know. Frank
Sorry, Hal. That is not the complete story. FDR took over the Presidency in the midst of the Depression, but his New Deal programs had course and really hadn't fixed anything. He had spent a lot of money, and created a false economy based on government spending. The spending was losing its impact. Some historians call it "Roosevelt's Depression" as the economic recovery wa prevented by Roosevelt's New Deal policies. He was saved by WWII; otherwise, the Dpression would have gone even deeper. If you have the time: http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/FDR-s-Policies-Prolonged-Depression-5409
@Don Alaska The article you cited was indeed published, but has been largely debunked in several areas. The NIRA did have an impact as described, but was passed in June, 1933 for a period of 2 years and was overturned by a unanimous Supreme Court ruling prior to the end of the 2 year period. (Many new deal programs were overturned, which led Roosevelt to attempt packing the court.) Industrial productivity did indeed fall during that period, but immediately jumped at its demise. The claim that the recovery began during a period of deflation (summer, 1932) is false as deflation did not bottom until early 1933 and coincided with the U.S. coming off the gold standard. (note: if you can have deflation on a gold standard, you can also have inflation.) Roosevelt did issue an executive order to confiscate gold and effectively freed the Federal Reserve from the 40% rule, which allowed the money supply to be increased, which is inflationary. While the assertion that the economy bottomed in summer of 1932, it conveniently overlooked the double dip, which had the economy in retracing its gains to March, 1933... when it was barely above the summer of 1932 levels. Peak unemployment was also in early 1933. Unemployment fell to around 14% by 1937 and then rose again to 18% by 1938, then falling to 15% by 1940. The bulk of new deal programs were ended in 1937 as deficit fears were a large concern, which is widely considered the culprit in a severe secondary recession. The impact of the banking crisis had reached fever pitch by early 1933, as states began having intermittent banking holidays, which created bank runs in non holiday states, forcing more states to adopt banking holidays. This did not end until the national banking holiday and passage of the Glass-Steagall act in June, 1933. As to WWII, Roosevelt had lost considerable support due to the attempt at supreme court packing and the growing concern over deficits, constitutionality of some of his programs and by 1938 was effectively running for re-election. Hence many of the programs that were widely viewed as socialist such as Social Security had implementation dates pulled forward. In 1939, the OA (Old Age) pension/trust fund was changed to OAS (Old Age, Survivors) and payment dates were moved from 1-1-1941, to 1-1-1940. A pure political move. His geopolicital aims were also widely dismissed by the electorate, but the actual war in Europe made the electorate loathe to install a new president. Peace is a nice political platform, but wars get you elected, imo. That seems to be the lesson learned. While there was a certain euphoria over the end of WWII, the lingering effects of the depression lasted until the early 50s, imo.
WHEW! You people really know your history of the Depression Era even better then myself, and I'm older! Hal
@Frank Sanoica , it is hard to interpret Roosevelt's actions. What was done out of ignorance, arrogance, naivety, or deceit is difficult to determine. His transfer of the fleet to Pearl Harbor was allegedly to be closer to the action in the case of hostilities, but if that were truly the case, there would have been much more vigilance. Some analysts have said that the Americans did not believe the Japanese could strike Hawaii (naivety, ignorance or deceit?). Some people (me included) think that Roosevelt wanted to join the war while Britain still stood but didn't have an excuse sufficient to justify a declaration. He didn't want to be left to fight a two-front war alone, which would have been the case had Britain fallen and both Pacific and Atlantic wars converged on the U.S. He dangled a carrot in the Pacific hoping that the Japanese would bite but not do so much damage that we couldn't quickly recover. He was not fully aware of how much damage to be done by carrier fleet attack. Most people at the time still thought battleships were invulnerable to small aircraft such as fighters.
@Hal Pollner , the people I have spoken to who lived through the Roosevelt years either loved him or hated him. The people who realized exactly what he was doing to the country hated him, but those who were benefitting from government largesse largely loved the man. He changed the government of the U.S. forever and destroyed much of the Constitution as it was intended. As Harry noted above, he attempted to pack the Supreme Court to get his way and succeeded in "starving" the Court into submission on many points.
From what my folks told me about the Depression as a young kid, since they lived through it as young adults (my sister was born in 1930), around the Chicago area unemployment was exceedingly high. Certainly far higher than the 18% claimed officially. My Dad always believed it was closer to 40%. Of course, were the official figures truthful, more harm than good might have prevailed. My Dad, a skilled Tool & Die Maker, sought work constantly, rarely finding it. His father owned a 3-flat, living in one of the apartments, and "put up" my folks and sister in one, and my Dad's married sister and their son in the 3rd, rent-free. During that time, the Berwyn First National Bank was being built, and my Dad convinced a contractor building the big vault with safety deposit boxes, to allow him to make the customer keys, all different of course, which he did by hand, for all those boxes! This must have taken some months, but it brought food to the table. One year, the most meager, he earned no more than $150 he said. Frank
The story here in Millinocket is that no one lost their job at the Great Northern Paper Mill during the Great Depression. Orders were slow but rather than laying off, the unions agreed to reduced hours so everyone worked part-time. Times were tough but no one lost their homes or their jobs.