Ro osevelt helpedindustrialworkersin o rhcr ways.
In 1935 he p ersu ad edCongressto passa lawto
proteJ: t th eirrig httojoin laborunio ns. He h o ped this
wo u ld giveworkersJbcrrerchan cetobargain w ith
emplo yers.
But so mebigcmplovc rsc-Hcn ry Fo rdw asone-
hated labo ru nio ns.Theydismisse danyworke r who
joinedone.St rikcsandfigbringb ro ke om in
ind ust rial areaso fthecoun t ryasuruonsstruggled to
w inreco gniti on .TostOp th etr oubleanothe r union
lawwas passed. This was called the Wagne rAct.
afte r th e m anw h og u idedit th rou ghCong ress.T he
Wagn er Actgaveeveryworke r th e rightto joi n a
union , an dit set u p abodycalledth eNational Labor
Boardto protect thisright.
Bur despiteN ewD eal refo r m s like these ,m illio n s of
Americans stilllivedin fear.Whatifth eir job s
disappearedagain?Would o nlya b readline stand
bet ween the man dstarva tion oncemore?" N o,,.
Roo seveltto ldthem.In 1935h e bro ug ht i n a law
calledthe SocialSecurityAct.Onepartga\T
go ve rn me ntpen sion stopeople u n abletoprovidefor
rhcmsclvesc-o ldpeople,w idowsand the bli nd. f o r
example. Anot herpartgave the Un ite d Statesits first
syst emofunemploymc nt in sur ance .The m on eyto
pay fo r thesebenefitscamefromspecialtaxespaid by
bot h workers and e m ploye rs.T he unemployment
sche medid no tco ve rallwork ersat first. But inlater
yearsmore and mo re w ere p ro tected by it.
NotallAmerican s su p po rted Ro osevelt 'sN ewDeal
policies. So me said rharth e cou nt rycould not affor d
themoneythathewas spending .Otherssaidthat
mucho f rhc m oncyw asbeingwasted anyway.They
feared.roo,thatRo o sevelt'spolicieswould m ake
peo pleidleandsto p th emstand in g onth eirown feet.
" Youcan' tm ak eth eworldall p lan ned andsoft. "
complainedo ne b usinessman. "Thestro n gest and
bestsu r vive- that'sthelawo f nature afterall."
Butsuch criticism smade lit tle difference to
Ro o sev elt' spopularityw it h th e voters. T o millions
ofAmericans h e w asth e m anwho had give nthem
Jobs andsave dth eirhomesand far ms. In 1936they
re-elect ed hi mP res id entbythe larg est m aj o rityof
vo tes inthecouu erv'shisto ry.As one wit p mit.
" Every o ne was agains tth e N ewDea l butth e
voters. "Thirtyyearslatera N ewYork taxid ri ver
still rem em ber edhowm an yAmericans felt ab out
Roo seveltIIItho seyears." Roosevelt?"h e saidIIIa
24 HU U5lV EI.-I\ NEWDEAl.-televisionintcrvicvv ," l iew asGod in thi s co un tr y. "
Evenso. itw asn otRoo sevelt' s N ew Deal t hat en ded
u nempl o ym ent in the U n itedStates.T heGerman
dictator, Adolfllitler ,didtha t.
Hy 1939 , d es pite the N ewDeal.tenm illion
Am erican workers again hadnojobs .Then. in
September1939. Hitler's arm ies march edint o
Po l and .The SecondWorldWar began. TheUnited
Stat esquick ly becamethe m ain su pp liero f \·veapo ns
toth e countriesfig htin gH itl er - whatRoo sevelt
d escri bedas " thearsenal o f dem ocracy. "A merican
facto riesbeganwork ingall dayandall nig ht.The
n umberofpeop lew ithoutjobsfell.In 1941 th e
UnitedStatesjoined th e w aritselfand
unemploymentd isappeared .PresidentRoo sevelt
w asnowtOOb usyto g iveatte nt ionto further
refor ms at home." O ldD r .NewD ea l hasto be
repla ced b y Dr. Win-thc- War."hesaid.HisNew
D eal was over.
Roo sevelt'seffo rtsas "D r. Will-th e-War"wore him
out. By 1945h e w as a sickm an. Afewwee ksbefo re
th e endo f thewar,O ilth e mornin g of April12,he
suffered astroke.Withi nho ur she wasdead. H is Vice
Pr esiden t. H ar ry T ru m an .took over asPr esidento f
theU n itedScares.
By this ti m e nearly all Ameri canswere bettero ff than
they hadb een in the dark d aysofthe Depr ession.
Some arg ued that this was duem ainly to the comi n g
ofwar. tintm an yth o ughtth e main causewasthe
NewD eal.People stillarg ueabout this.Butthereis
noar gumentab ou tthe impo rtance o f th eNl'\VD eal
in otherw ays.
T heN ewDeal alteredAmericans'id easaboutthe
righ t fulworkoftheirnationalg o vcnunen r.Befo re
th e N ewDealmost thought o f thegove rn m entasa
kin dofpolicema n.Itw as there just tokee p order,
whilefactor y owners andb usinessmeng ot 011 with
making thecountry richer. T heD ep ressio n
weakened thisbelief Roo sevelttau ght Am er icans to
lookto th e gO'it"rn me lltto sec th atevery o nehad a
faircha ncetoob tainwhat he called" thego od tlungs
oflife. " M an y Ameri cans sti llrememberhimwith
respectandaffection.103