New-Deal

Hatch Act Restricts Federal Workers' Political Activity After Allegations of WPA Election Interference

1939-08-02 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Hatch Act on August 2, 1939, after Senator Carl Hatch (D-NM) introduces legislation prohibiting federal civil service employees from engaging in partisan political activities, following widespread allegations that local Democratic politicians used Works …

Carl Hatch Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Congress Works Progress Administration federal employees political-activity new-deal civil-service conservative-sabotage wpa

Fair Labor Standards Act Passes Over Fierce Business and Southern Opposition to Minimum Wage and Child Labor Ban

1938-06-25 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on June 25, 1938, establishing a federal minimum wage of 25 cents per hour, a maximum 44-hour workweek, and banning oppressive child labor—but only after more than a year of fierce congressional opposition from business …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Frances Perkins Hugo Black U.S. Congress Southern Democrats +1 more labor-rights minimum-wage child-labor new-deal corporate-resistance

Temporary National Economic Committee Launches Comprehensive Investigation of Monopoly and Economic Concentration

1938-06-16 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

Congress authorizes the Temporary National Economic Committee (TNEC) on June 16, 1938, launching the most comprehensive investigation of monopoly power and economic concentration in American history. Chaired by Senator Joseph O’Mahoney of Wyoming, the committee conducts three years of hearings …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Joseph O'Mahoney Thurman Arnold U.S. Congress major corporations antitrust monopoly corporate-concentration new-deal congressional-investigation

Dies Committee (HUAC) Formed by Conservative Democrats to Discredit New Deal as Communist Infiltration

1938-05-26 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

The House of Representatives establishes the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), commonly known as the Dies Committee after its chairman Representative Martin Dies Jr. (D-TX), on May 26, 1938, as a special investigating committee to probe alleged disloyalty and subversive activities by …

Martin Dies Jr. John Garner House of Representatives Franklin D. Roosevelt anti-communism new-deal congressional-investigations political-weaponization red-scare

FDR Warns Congress That Concentrated Corporate Power Threatens American Democracy with Fascism

1938-04-29 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

On April 29, 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sends a special message to Congress warning that concentrated corporate power poses an existential threat to American democracy, using language that explicitly links economic monopoly with the rise of fascism. Roosevelt declares that “the …

Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Congress concentrated corporate interests corporate-power fascism antitrust new-deal democracy +1 more

Senate Defeats FDR Court-Packing Plan 70-22, Handing Roosevelt His Greatest Legislative Defeat

1937-07-22 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

On July 22, 1937, the U.S. Senate votes 70-22 to defeat President Franklin Roosevelt’s Judicial Procedures Reform Bill, rejecting his proposal to expand the Supreme Court by up to six additional justices and handing FDR his greatest legislative defeat. Three-quarters of senators voting to kill …

U.S. Senate Franklin D. Roosevelt Senate Judiciary Committee Joseph Robinson John Nance Garner +1 more judicial-independence new-deal supreme-court separation-of-powers congressional-opposition +1 more

Little Steel Strike - Steel Companies Defy Wagner Act, Refuse Union Recognition Despite Legal Obligation

1937-06-19 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

The “Little Steel” strike begins on May 26, 1937, when 75,000 steelworkers walk off their jobs at Republic Steel, Bethlehem Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and Inland Steel after these companies refuse to sign contracts with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) despite the …

Republic Steel Tom Girdler Bethlehem Steel Youngstown Sheet and Tube Inland Steel +3 more labor-rights corporate-resistance wagner-act strike union-organizing +1 more

Roosevelt Recession Begins After Conservative Treasury Secretary Persuades FDR to Cut Spending 17 Percent

1937-05-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

The American economy enters a severe recession in May 1937, lasting 13 months through June 1938, after President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepts the advice of his conservative Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. to slash government spending by 17% over two years in an effort to balance the federal …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Henry Morgenthau Jr. Federal Reserve U.S. Treasury Department Harry Hopkins +1 more economic-policy new-deal austerity recession conservative-sabotage

NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel - Supreme Court Upholds Wagner Act in Constitutional Revolution

1937-04-12 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

On April 12, 1937, the Supreme Court rules 5-4 in NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation to uphold the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act), reversing years of judicial hostility to federal labor regulation and fundamentally expanding Congress’s commerce …

Supreme Court of the United States Charles Evans Hughes Owen Roberts Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation +1 more supreme-court labor-rights wagner-act constitutional-law new-deal +1 more

West Coast Hotel v. Parrish - "Switch in Time" Supreme Court Upholds State Minimum Wage Law

1937-03-29 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

On March 29, 1937, the Supreme Court rules 5-4 in West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish to uphold Washington State’s minimum wage law for women, explicitly overruling its 1923 Adkins v. Children’s Hospital precedent and marking the beginning of the “Constitutional Revolution of …

Supreme Court of the United States Owen Roberts Charles Evans Hughes Franklin D. Roosevelt Elsie Parrish supreme-court minimum-wage constitutional-law new-deal switch-in-time +1 more

FDR Announces Judicial Reorganization Plan to Add Up to Six Supreme Court Justices, Triggering Court-Packing Crisis

1937-02-05 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

On February 5, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt announces the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill, requesting congressional authority to appoint up to six additional Supreme Court justices—one for each sitting justice over age 70—potentially expanding the Court from nine to fifteen members. Roosevelt …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Supreme Court of the United States John Nance Garner Hatton Sumners Senate Judiciary Committee +1 more judicial-capture new-deal supreme-court separation-of-powers constitutional-crisis +1 more

Mohawk Valley Formula Exposed as Corporate Blueprint for Breaking Unions and Evading Wagner Act

1936-09-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

The La Follette Civil Liberties Committee exposes and names the “Mohawk Valley Formula” in 1936-1937, documenting a systematic corporate strategy for breaking strikes and defeating union organizing campaigns that James Rand Jr., president of Remington Rand, developed during the 1936 …

Remington Rand James Rand Jr. National Association of Manufacturers La Follette Committee corporate management union-busting corporate-resistance labor-suppression propaganda wagner-act +1 more

Former Democratic Presidential Candidate Al Smith Delivers Vitriolic Anti-Roosevelt Speech at Liberty League Dinner

1936-01-25 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

On January 25, 1936, former New York Governor and 1928 Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith delivers the keynote address at the American Liberty League dinner at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel, launching a scathing attack on President Roosevelt that accuses the New Deal of fomenting class …

Al Smith American Liberty League Franklin D. Roosevelt Jouett Shouse Du Pont family corporate-resistance new-deal propaganda red-baiting political-realignment +1 more

Supreme Court Strikes Down Agricultural Adjustment Act in United States v. Butler, Invalidating Key New Deal Farm Program

1936-01-06 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

On January 6, 1936, the Supreme Court decides United States v. Butler in a 6-3 ruling that invalidates the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), striking a devastating blow to Roosevelt’s New Deal farm recovery program just eight months after the Schechter Poultry “Black Monday” …

Supreme Court of the United States Owen J. Roberts Harlan Fiske Stone William M. Butler Hoosac Mills Corporation +2 more judicial-capture new-deal corporate-resistance supreme-court agricultural-policy +1 more

Huey Long Assassinated, Ending "Share Our Wealth" Challenge to Both Corporate Power and New Deal Moderation

1935-09-08 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

Louisiana Senator Huey P. Long dies on September 10, 1935, two days after being shot by Dr. Carl Weiss in the Louisiana State Capitol, ending the most significant populist challenge to both concentrated wealth and New Deal moderation. Long’s “Share Our Wealth” movement, which he …

Huey Long Carl Weiss Franklin D. Roosevelt Share Our Wealth Society Louisiana political machine wealth-redistribution populism political-assassination new-deal economic-inequality

Revenue Act of 1935 Enacts "Wealth Tax" on Highest Incomes

1935-08-30 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Revenue Act of 1935 (49 Stat. 1014) into law on August 30, 1935, over strong opposition from business, the wealthy, and conservatives from both parties, introducing the “Wealth Tax” as the first major New Deal effort to reform federal taxation …

Franklin D. Roosevelt John D. Rockefeller Business Community Democratic Party taxation new-deal wealth-redistribution progressive-taxation regulatory-victory +1 more

Public Utility Holding Company Act Breaks Up Utility Monopolies

1935-08-26 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) into law on August 26, 1935, based on the 1928-1935 Federal Trade Commission investigation of the electric industry that exposes widespread abuses by large multistate utility corporations. The Act addresses …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Federal Trade Commission Electric Utility Industry Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) utility-regulation new-deal anti-monopoly regulatory-victory corporate-restructuring +1 more

Banking Act of 1935 Restructures Federal Reserve, Reduces Wall Street Influence Over Monetary Policy

1935-08-23 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

President Roosevelt signs the Banking Act of 1935 on August 23, 1935, fundamentally restructuring the Federal Reserve System to centralize monetary policy authority in a reformed Board of Governors in Washington rather than the twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, which had been dominated by …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Marriner Eccles Carter Glass U.S. Congress Federal Reserve Board +1 more financial-regulation new-deal federal-reserve banking-reform monetary-policy +1 more

Social Security Act Creates Federal Retirement and Unemployment Insurance System Over Business Opposition

1935-08-14 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935, establishing the first comprehensive federal system for old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid to dependent children and the disabled, creating the foundation of the American social safety net. Labor …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Frances Perkins U.S. Congress American Liberty League National Association of Manufacturers +1 more labor-rights new-deal social-insurance corporate-resistance democratic-reform

Wagner Act Establishes Federal Protection for Union Rights and Collective Bargaining

1935-07-05 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the National Labor Relations Act, known as the Wagner Act after sponsor Senator Robert Wagner (D-NY), establishing federal legal protection for workers’ rights to organize unions, engage in collective bargaining, and strike without employer retaliation. …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Robert Wagner U.S. Congress National Labor Relations Board American workers labor-rights wagner-act nlra new-deal collective-bargaining +1 more

"Black Monday" Supreme Court Unanimously Strikes Down National Industrial Recovery Act in Three Anti-New Deal Rulings

1935-05-27 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

On May 27, 1935—a day Roosevelt administration officials dub “Black Monday”—the Supreme Court delivers three unanimous decisions against the New Deal, with the most devastating being Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, which invalidates the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), …

Supreme Court of the United States Charles Evans Hughes Benjamin Cardozo Harlan Fiske Stone Franklin D. Roosevelt +1 more judicial-capture new-deal corporate-resistance supreme-court constitutional-law +1 more

Rural Electrification Administration Created to Bring Power to Farms Private Utilities Refused to Serve

1935-05-11 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

President Roosevelt creates the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) by executive order on May 11, 1935, establishing a federal program to extend electricity to rural areas that private utility companies had refused to serve. At the time of REA’s creation, only 10 percent of American …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Morris Cooke private utility companies farmer cooperatives Rural Electrification Administration new-deal public-power rural-development utility-regulation cooperatives

National Association of Manufacturers Launches Unprecedented Multi-Million Dollar Anti-New Deal Propaganda Campaign

1935-01-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

In 1935, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) under president Robert Lund launches what Business Week headlines as “The NAM Declares War” (December 14, 1935)—an unprecedented multi-million dollar propaganda campaign to discredit Roosevelt’s New Deal and promote …

National Association of Manufacturers Robert Lund Du Pont General Motors AT&T +3 more corporate-resistance propaganda new-deal institutional-capture media-manipulation +1 more

Marine General Smedley Butler Testifies to Congressional Committee About Wall Street Plot to Overthrow FDR

1934-11-20 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

On November 20, 1934, the U.S. House of Representatives Special Committee on Un-American Activities (McCormack-Dickstein Committee) begins secret testimony from retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, who alleges that wealthy Wall Street financiers plotted to overthrow President Franklin …

Smedley Butler McCormack-Dickstein Committee Gerald MacGuire J.P. Morgan interests Du Pont family +2 more corporate-resistance new-deal institutional-capture coup-attempt military-industrial-complex +1 more

American Liberty League Founded by Du Pont Family and Corporate Elite to Oppose New Deal

1934-08-22 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

On August 22, 1934, the American Liberty League is announced in Washington, D.C., as a purportedly bipartisan organization to defend the U.S. Constitution against “radical” New Deal policies, with Jouett Shouse appointed as president. The League’s formation represents the first …

Irénée du Pont John Jacob Raskob Jouett Shouse Al Smith John W. Davis +4 more corporate-resistance new-deal propaganda institutional-capture think-tanks +2 more

Joseph Kennedy Appointed First SEC Chairman - Wall Street Insider to Police Wall Street

1934-07-02 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

President Roosevelt appoints Joseph P. Kennedy, a wealthy Wall Street speculator known for stock manipulation and insider trading, as the first chairman of the newly-created Securities and Exchange Commission on July 2, 1934. The appointment shocks New Deal reformers and delights Wall Street, …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Joseph P. Kennedy Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Wall Street regulatory-capture new-deal sec financial-regulation revolving-door

Communications Act of 1934 Creates FCC and Consolidates Federal Media Regulation Under Public Interest Standard

1934-06-19 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Communications Act of 1934 (Chapter 5 of Title 47 U.S. Code), replacing the Federal Radio Commission with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and consolidating federal regulation of all interstate and foreign communications including radio, …

Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Congress Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Federal Radio Commission media-regulation fcc public-interest-standard new-deal communications-policy +1 more

Securities Exchange Act Creates SEC, Regulates Secondary Markets

1934-06-06 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 into law on June 6, 1934, establishing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and comprehensive federal regulation of secondary securities trading (stocks, bonds, and debentures). FDR’s compromise approach attempts …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Joseph P. Kennedy Ferdinand Pecora Richard Whitney New York Stock Exchange +3 more financial-regulation new-deal sec-creation securities-law regulatory-victory +1 more

Gold Reserve Act Nationalizes Gold Holdings and Devalues Dollar Over Wall Street Opposition

1934-01-30 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

President Roosevelt signs the Gold Reserve Act on January 30, 1934, nationalizing all gold holdings in the United States, transferring ownership of Federal Reserve gold to the U.S. Treasury, and authorizing the President to set the gold value of the dollar between 50 and 60 percent of its previous …

Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Congress Federal Reserve Wall Street banking industry +1 more new-deal monetary-policy gold-standard financial-regulation corporate-resistance

National Industrial Recovery Act Creates NRA Blue Eagle Program, Enabling Corporate Self-Regulation

1933-06-16 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

President Roosevelt signs the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) on June 16, 1933, creating the National Recovery Administration (NRA) to oversee the development of industry-wide “codes of fair competition” establishing minimum wages, maximum hours, collective bargaining rights, and …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Hugh Johnson U.S. Congress National Recovery Administration U.S. Chamber of Commerce +2 more new-deal corporate-capture regulatory-capture labor-rights industrial-policy

Securities Act of 1933 Establishes Federal Securities Regulation

1933-05-27 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Act of 1933 into law on May 27, 1933, establishing the first major federal regulation of securities markets and requiring that investors receive financial and material information about securities offered for public sale. Often called the …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Huston Thompson Federal Trade Commission Wall Street Securities Industry financial-regulation new-deal securities-law investor-protection regulatory-victory +1 more

Tennessee Valley Authority Created as Public Power Alternative to Private Utility Monopolies

1933-05-18 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

President Roosevelt signs the Tennessee Valley Authority Act on May 18, 1933, creating a federally-owned corporation to provide electricity, flood control, navigation improvements, and economic development across seven Southern states in the Tennessee River watershed. The TVA represents the most …

Franklin D. Roosevelt George Norris U.S. Congress Tennessee Valley Authority private utility companies +2 more new-deal public-power utility-regulation corporate-resistance regional-development

Civilian Conservation Corps Created as First Federal Youth Employment Program

1933-03-31 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

President Roosevelt signs the Emergency Conservation Work Act on March 31, 1933, creating the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a public work relief program providing employment to young men aged 18-25 from unemployed families. The CCC becomes one of the most popular New Deal programs, eventually …

Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Congress Robert Fechner U.S. Army Department of Labor new-deal employment conservation youth-programs public-works

Emergency Banking Act Passes in Eight Hours to Stabilize Collapsing Banking System

1933-03-09 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

On March 9, 1933, just five days after Franklin Roosevelt’s inauguration and three days after his declaration of a national bank holiday, Congress passes the Emergency Banking Act in a mere eight hours—many members voting without even reading the legislation. The act grants the President …

Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Congress Federal Reserve William Woodin banking industry new-deal banking-crisis financial-regulation emergency-powers

FDR Declares National Bank Holiday, Closing All Banks to Stop Collapse of Financial System

1933-03-06 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

On March 6, 1933, two days after his inauguration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt invokes emergency powers to declare a nationwide “bank holiday,” closing all banks in the United States and suspending all banking transactions. The unprecedented action aims to stop the complete collapse …

Franklin D. Roosevelt banking industry Federal Reserve American depositors banking-crisis new-deal financial-regulation emergency-powers great-depression