I think it will interest you if I set forth the fundamentals of this planning for national recovery and this I am very certain will make it abundantly clear to you that all of the proposals and all of the legislation since the fourth day of March have not been just a collection of haphazard schemes but rather the orderly component parts of a connected and logical whole. Secondly, I wanted a few weeks in which to set up the new administrative organization and to see the first fruits of our careful planning. PRIMARY SOURCE On the First Hundred DaysĪfter the adjournment of the historical special session of the Congress five weeks ago I purposely refrained from addressing you for two very good reasons.įirst, I think that we all wanted the opportunity of a little quiet thought to examine and assimilate in a mental picture the crowding events of the hundred days which had been devoted to the starting of the wheels of the New Deal. The fireside chats gave his popularity an enormous boost and helped him sell the New Deal. No president had ever before communicated with the public in such a manner.
Roosevelt had a clear, bell-like voice and displayed a good-humored style that endeared him to the country. The talks were relatively brief and informal reports to the American people, delivered in a conversational tone and in simple, unadorned language. He promoted the New Deal in radio speeches known as fireside chats. During his first hundred days in office, he emphasized federally enforced controls on prices, wages, trading practices, and production. Roosevelt, an enormously charismatic man, never had difficulty selling his ideas. However, lacking expertise in political persuasion, he failed to inspire the public. Diagnosing a crisis of confidence that drove down wages and purchasing power, he tried to restore faith in the spiritual and economic strength of the country. Blamed for the Depression's misery, Hoover had never been able to form an effective response to the emergency. The public did not so much support his plan as seek to get rid of President Herbert Hoover. He defended his plan in a radio fireside chat on July 24, 1933.ĭuring his campaign for the presidency, Roosevelt had evoked the idea of the Depression as warlike emergency that required a fundamental change in government's role in domestic affairs.
Upon taking office in March 1933, Roosevelt then enacted the New Deal, a series of government programs and reforms designed to end the Depression. Roosevelt frankly admitted that he had no clear, consistent economic philosophy or program to end the financial crisis because the nation had never experienced anything that bad before. Roosevelt began his campaign for the presidency in 1932, he promised vigorous federal intervention to end the Great Depression. He tackled the Great Depression of the 1930s by offering the New Deal and became the only president to be reelected three times. Roosevelt (1882–1945) served as the thirty-second president of the United States. 1933_0724.htmlĪbout the Author: Franklin D. "On the First Hundred Days," Fireside Chat 3. They were well received by the American people.Source: Roosevelt, Franklin D. These broadcasts became known as “ fireside chats ”. In these speeches he addressed a wide range of subjects, from banking to European politics. He was much more approachable and charismatic than Hoover, and a more confident public speaker.īetween 19, Roosevelt addressed the nation with 30 radio broadcasts. He travelled around America to bring his message to ordinary people, in spite of his disability from polio. In contrast to Hoover, he ran a positive and energetic campaign. In reality, many of his ideas were quite traditional and sometimes they were vague and contradictory, but the electorate was desperate for change and liked the promises of a “New Deal” and “ Action and Action Now ”.