222 a short history of the united states
tampering with the Constitution. It needs to be remembered that the
document outlines the structure of government and its responsibilities.
It is not meant to reflect each and every passing fancy, many of which
are social fads of limited value or duration.
As the congressional session progressed it became clear that party
leadership had shifted to the White House. Because of the crisis facing
the nation, the need for quick and decisive action, as well as the popu-
larity of the President, Congress willingly abdicated its authority. Roo-
sevelt himself had no strong commitment to a particular economic
program but was willing to experiment to find the means with which
to combat the depression. He quickly established direct contact with
the electorate through regularly held press conferences and especially
through his radio talks, called “fireside chats.” But he was defi cient as
an administrator, frequently dividing authority and responsibility
among subordinates in the hope of maintaining his own control.
And control legislation is exactly what he did. “I have seen the Con-
gress of the United States,” commented one Republican Representative
from Tennessee, “absolutely abdicate its authority to the Executive. I
have seen a dictatorship spring up which must have made the noses of
Herr Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini and Mustapha Kemal of Turkey turn
green with envy.”
During the first Hundred Days an avalanche of legislation descended
on Congress and was immediately enacted. These included the Civil-
ian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Federal Emergency Relief Act
(FERA), the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), the Tennessee Val-
ley Authority (TVA), the Federal Securities Act, the Gold Standard
Repeal Act, the National Employment System Act, the Home Own ers
Refinancing Act, the Banking Act of 1933 , the Farm Credit Act, the
Emergency Railroad Transportation Act, and the National Industrial
Recovery Act (NIRA). These measures provided employment for
250 , 000 jobless male citizens between the ages of eighteen and twenty-
eight (CCC); allowed outright grants to states to initiate work relief
(FERA); created an agency to control surplus crops so as to raise farm
prices (AAA); established an inde pendent public agency to build dams
and power plants and develop rural electrification (TVA); required full
disclosure to investors of information about securities; removed the
United States from the gold standard and made all contracts and public