New Deal America

This chapter analyzes the politics of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as they worked with the American people to forge a New Deal during the Great Depression. Capturing the excitement and energy of the Roosevelts as they entered the White House in 1933, it explains the first Hundred Days, the second burst of reform in 1935, and the progress of the New Deal after President Roosevelt’s re-election in 1936. Outlining the emergence of a new social contract between the people and the government, it reveals the growing presence of the federal government in the lives of ordinary Americans. It also probes the limits of reform as well as the efforts of Black Americans and women to make the new social contract more inclusive. By focusing on both policy and structural changes in the American state, the chapter highlights the ways in which the public sphere and the concept of public goods broadened, albeit imperfectly, during the Great Depression.