1933–1941

Despite his efforts to combat the Great Depression and despite the vote of confidence he received in 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt by no means succeeded in restoring prosperity during his first or, for that matter, his second administration. Millions of Americans who remained poor and insecure concluded that New Deal policies were inadequate. Some turned to socialism or communism, but more supported the proposals of Dr. Francis E. Townsend, Huey Long, and Father Charles E. Coughlin, who promised instant abundance without a radical alteration of the social order. If some complained that the New Deal was proceeding too slowly, conservatives believed it was traveling at breakneck speed. Limited at first to sniping at New Deal policies, Roosevelt’s conservative critics launched a massive offensive after 1937. Faced with mounting hostility in Congress and declining public support, New Dealers went on the defensive. By the end of the decade the Roosevelt administration was devoting most of its attention to national defense and foreign policy, not to domestic reform.