Franklin Delano Roosevelt Essays (Examples)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Came to Lead the

Franklin Delano Roosevelt came to lead the U.S. during a difficult period in the country's history. The Great Depression ruined many individuals in the U.S. And this influenced the authorities in expressing interest in strategies that it could use with the purpose of improving conditions in the country. Both FDR and the Congress acknowledged that adopting an isolationist policy was one of the most effective methods of satisfying people at home. Although it is difficult and almost impossible to demonstrate this, many historians believe that an earlier U.S. involvement in the Second World War would have prevented a great deal of suffering in Europe. Another theory relates to how FDR was aware that the U.S. could not avoid the conflict, but that he wanted to keep Americans out of the war for as long as he could.

The world was going through horrible moments during the early years of the Second World War. Individuals across the U.S. feared that the Axis powers would come to rule over Europe, Asia, and Eastern Asia, and that meant that the U.S. would be next on their list. Although there was much controversy in the U.S. during 1940, most people were hesitant about supporting…… [Read More]

Life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The New Deal also created various social programs aimed at helping people get back to work, but also to ensure all those in society were taken care of. Roosevelt created the Social Security Act in 1935 that would provide monthly payments to everyone over the age of 65, and would provide benefits to surviving spouses and disabled people, as well. The Social Security Act is still in existence today and still provides income and assistance for millions of Americans. One writer calls Social Security one of Roosevelt's most enduring legacies. He writes, "Roosevelt's other profound legacy, the transformation of the federal government into an instrument of income redistribution through Social Security, which established the responsibility of the state for the welfare of its elderly citizens" (Walker). It was relatively unheard of at the time, and it is only one of Roosevelt's enduring legacies.

Many of these programs were initiated by Roosevelt and his advisors and then sent to Congress, while Congress passed and modified several acts on their own. Much of this depended on Roosevelt closely working with Congress and selling his policies to the American people, which he did with weekly radio broadcasts that he called "Fireside Chats." Many…… [Read More]

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and

In addition, the New Deal created many agencies to ensure something like the Great Depression could not happen again. Later in the New Deal Roosevelt created Social Security, and program that continues today. In addition, the New Deal also created the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). All of these government agencies still exist to ensure safety and security at work, on the farm, and in the stock exchange and financial institutions. These agencies are insurance for the public and for business, and they are some of the most important agencies Roosevelt created.

Many critics felt these programs created too much of a dependence on American government, a criticism which lingers today as the government has become even more involved in the health and welfare of the people. However, these programs reassured the people at the time, and gave them hope some tragedy like the Great Depression could not cripple the country again. In fact, the economy was not adversely affected by these programs, and around the globe, American gained strength as the programs began to take effect and turn the country's workforce around.

Another writer notes, "The depression brought…… [Read More]

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Prsident Franklin

It did not actually instigate the Civil Rights Act, which was already under deliberation and passed the year following the march, but it definitely demonstrated the will of the people in regards to the Act. At the same time, the successes of the march were largely symbolic, which has been interpreted by some as meaning that the march was not truly successful.

A determination of the March on Washington's success, then, depends upon one's definition of success. The march itself did not eradicate the Jim Crow laws or establish political and economic equality -- two things which remain sought for today, though the disparity and inequalities have lessened a great deal -- but it did provide a major touchstone in the lives, hearts, and minds of the people involved in the struggle. It remains a large part of the collective consciousness of those for whom the struggle for Civil Rights is a visceral matter, coalescing will and passion in a way that a piece of legislation simply cannot.

The fight for true equality still continues nearly fifty years after the March on Washington, but that does not make the march a failure. The march was successful as a symbol of…… [Read More]

Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Roy Jenkins Roy

Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Roy Jenkins

Roy Jenkins, the author of Franklin Delano Roosevelt has had an illustrious career as a politician, academic, and writer which has spanned more than sixty years. He was British, born in Wales, served as a liberal member of parliament, performed service during World War II with distinction, was the Chancellor of Oxford University, and the President of the Royal Society of Literature. His works include a famous biography of Winston Churchill, as well as on Truman, Gladstone, Baldwin, and many others. Shortly before his death in 2003, Jenkins undertook to write a biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt for the publishing company Times Books' "American Presidents Series." With his usual excellence, he went to work on this brief book; however, he died before it's completion; and the book had to be finished by another historian Richard Neustadt. Like Jenkins, Neustadt was involved in politics as well being an academic. Despite this, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is an easily read portrait of Roosevelt which gives a unique perspective.

As a British subject, Jenkins was well versed in the system of different social classes, which was strictly enforced by certain American families as well; one of which was…… [Read More]

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal

"

But, was that what the New Deal promised - to solve all America's social problems? Not at all; in fact, the New Deal was initiated to a) help pull America out of the Great Depression, which it did; b) to put people back to work, some kind of temporary work at least, to give them dignity and food on the table, which it did; c) to help rebuild infrastructure, roads, parks, etc., which it did; and d) to reform the economy to the point where investors, banks, citizens, and businesses felt more secure, which it did.

Auerbach is clearly not in the "New Left" camp, and he makes good arguments to counter the criticisms of the "New Left," but that was a long time ago, and the New Deal looks pretty good from the perspective of 2005, when one considers what any alternatives might have been able to accomplish.… [Read More]

Franklin D Roosevelt the United

More precisely even, in order to reach the highest position in the United States, he used his conceptions regarding the reorganization of the United States in order to defeat Hoover. In this sense, "the Hoover administration was accused of being the "greatest spending Administration in peace times in all of our history." It had "piled bureau on bureau, commission on commission..." At the same time Hoover was condemned for the modesty of his relief efforts" (Abbot, 1990, 22). Still, once he reached the President's office he dwelt on the need for the U.S. To recover and created the New Deal, a program that would ensure the recovery of the economy as well as that of the population. These discussions however made him one of the most popular presidents of the history of the U.S. especially taking into account the fact that at the moment of Roosevelt's election, there were over 13 million unemployed (Abbot, 1990, 4).

Concerning the reconstruction of the country, he introduced measures which were considered at the time to be of socialist nature. However, despite the general opposition he went forward with them because he believed in the power of his conviction and in the benefits the…… [Read More]

Franklin D Roosevelt

William Leuchtenburg's Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal is a text that combines recent American history with a political and sociological analysis of American policy and government, and adds a healthy dose of biography of the president to give the mixture human drama. Leuchtenburg is able to accomplish this literary feat not simply because he is such a skilled historian, but because Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his cabinet exercised a unique degree of power over the American economy of his day. America was in an economic crisis when Roosevelt came to be elected the presidency. To remedy this crisis, Roosevelt essentially had to overhaul the American system of government and the relationship of the federal government to the citizenry. He created the modern social welfare system, the concept of the 'safety net' for the needy, and a sense of government's social obligations as well as a citizen's obligations to the nation.

Thus, from an earlier area of lasses-faire, the architecture of the social welfare state still in existence today came into fullest being under Roosevelt's command. Thus, the book is not merely a tale of the man who shaped the economic policies that began to give America hope and…… [Read More]

Franklin D Roosevelt American Icon

Era Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933-1945: A Brief History With Documents Richard Polenberg -- 4 Polenberg quotes, brackets quote i.e [polenberg, page number] 2.Franklin Delano Roosevelt Alan Brinkley- 4 quotes brackets [Brinkley, page number] 3.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt has had a strong impact on U.S. politics for several decades during the twentieth century. The fact that he had influential roles throughout some of the era's most significant events made it possible for him to develop attitudes that put him in an advantage. Even with this, his leadership abilities are also remarkable when considering his background without taking into account events like the Second World War or the Great Depression.

One Roosevelt's most impressive early achievements involved the founding of the United States Navy Reserve. As a person in charge of this institution, he got actively involved in a series of dealings involving influential individuals and communities in U.S. politics. In spite of being defeated on several occasions as he tried to gain a more active role in politics, he cemented his position in the domain and made it possible for people to get a more complex understanding of his qualities.

By observing how Roosevelt reacted to the Great Depression, one can…… [Read More]

Roosevelt Theodore

American Morality

The Rooseveltian Nation was initially envisioned by Theodore Roosevelt during the epoch in which the U.S. triumphed in the Spanish American war and heralded its largely Anglo-Saxon nation of limited diversity as the most dominant race of a particular nation on the face of the earth. This concept was further solidified by the efforts of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who strove to reinforce the notion of such a national consciousness, character, and racial makeup with his New Deal efforts. However, the Rooseveltian Nation ultimately crumbled due to a plethora of developments near the midway point of the 20th century. A close examination of those factors reveals that they were ultimately linked to the Cold War and to what many Americans believed was an inherent hypocrisy evinced by their country -- which left a number of new ideologies among them in their wake.

The Rooseveltian Nation was able to withstand the throes of the Civil Rights movement, yet it could not endure the backlash of the Vietnam War. Both of these disturbances as evinced in the domestic state of affairs of the country were inevitably linked to the Cold War. Despite the grumblings of segregated African-American ranks during World War…… [Read More]

Roosevelt S Impact on America

New Deal's Consequences

There are some truly poignant ways in which the New Deal profoundly changed American life. The vast majority of these changes had ramifications in political, social, and economic spheres of life. Perhaps even more importantly, many of these changes created by the New Deal were able to effect American life across these different spheres, creating cumulative effects that eventually resounded through all of three facets of life.

In terms of economics, it is notable that despite its intention to produce the opposite effect, the New Deal actually begat the trend towards economic conservatism and laissez fare economics that still typifies the country to this day. Ironically, the New Deal programs -- which were based on the simple notion that the government was responsible for generating spending and business to stimulate the economy during the Great Depression -- had the immediate impact of producing a heavily regulated economy. National programs in various walks of life including the arts, writing, farming, and others ensured that the government was involved in most areas of economic production during the depression. From that point on, numerous conservatives made dedicated efforts to reverse the government's influence on the economy. Once the U.S. economy…… [Read More]

Eleanor Roosevelt Served Effectively as the First

Eleanor Roosevelt served effectively as the First Lady in the administrations of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but her legacy goes far deeper than her advocacy activities as First Lady. This paper briefly reviews Eleanor Roosevelt's career, her advocacy as First Lady, and more fully her profoundly important involvement in the creation and adoption of the United Nations' Declaration of Human Rights.

Eleanor Roosevelt's Brief Biography -- and Involvement as First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 11, 1884 (she died November 7, 1962). Her father was Elliott Roosevelt (brother of President Theodore Roosevelt) and her mother was Anna Hall. She lost both her parents when she was a child and lived with her grandmother, Mrs. Valentine G. Hall; she was tutored privately until the age of 15 when she attended a boarding school for girls in England, according to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Eleanor and Franklin were married in 1905 and parented six children; when Franklin was stricken with polio (in 1921) Eleanor -- who had already become heavily involved in volunteer work for the American Red Cross during WWI -- she became "…increasingly active in politics" to help her husband cover…… [Read More]

Judicial Agenda of President Franklin

If Chief Justice Hughes and his five aged associates had chosen to remain, the membership of the court would have been enlarged from nine to fifteen" (Pusey 1995).

A small group of constitutional lawyers advised Roosevelt in the construction of the bill, assuring him that the Democratic majority in both Houses of Congress would pass it. When Roosevelt introduced the bill, Roosevelt used the euphemism of judicial 'reform' rather than said it was an attempt to circumvent the recent rulings of the Supreme Court. He framed his plan as a way of relieving the pressures of overcrowded court dockets. However, some of the phrases he used made his feelings clear, namely his reference to the problems of lifetime appointments, or "aged or infirm judges," (Menaker 2008).

When he spoke of justices of advanced ages, the President was obviously speaking of his opponents on the Court, the so-called anti-government Four Horsemen of the New Deal Apocalypse, all over the age of seventy: Justices Butler, McReynolds, Sutherland and Van Devanter. Roosevelt said older men often lack "mental or physical vigor" which "leads men to avoid an examination of complicated and changed conditions" (Menaker 2008). He added: "older men, assuming that the scene…… [Read More]

Imperialism Roosevelt Gentlemen We Have

Napoleon: The United States stands as a perfect example of the benefits of Imperialism, as it is one of the most successful colonies that ever existed and given that it supplied the British Empire with resources for a long period of time.

Roosevelt: Matters have changed ever since the colonial era, as the U.S. is known solely interested in promoting the concept of freedom and in emphasizing the wrongness related to imperialism. We currently want to spread our ideology, not our influence.

Kipling: This sounds strange coming from someone who lived most of his life trying to protect the interests of his country instead of looking into the well-being of nations who experienced suffering.

Bismark: You are essentially not very different from us, Mr. Roosevelt. While our perspective in regard to Imperialism relates to physical aspects of the act, you and your people have simply advanced this concept and have made it possible for countries to feel that they are being assisted when they are actually being tricked into serving the U.S. I, for one, am not ashamed to admit that I perform many acts of decadence at the time when I focused on exploiting other nations. However, I was…… [Read More]

Succeeding Presidencies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin

succeeding presidencies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt seem to be categorically and diametrically antithetical from every conceivable angle. Entering the office in 1929, Herbert Hoover's administration marked the end of America's most prosperous period to date. Within nine months of his assumption of office, the country began its tumble into the Great Depression. Clearly, the nation was paying for the good times of the Roaring Twenties. Roosevelt, however, took on the unenviable responsibilities of the president in 1933, and with them, he received a nation ravaged by unemployment, homelessness and starvation. During the worst economic times in recorded American history, he would become the warm, fatherly figure ordained to comfort the citizens. Where Hoover was reserved and conservative, Roosevelt was engaging and progressive. Hoover's reaction to the initial blow of the Depression was one of patience and calculated inaction. He was confident that the problem would right itself. Roosevelt's administration began with a blitzkrieg of policy ratifications and medicinal initiatives. His actions were quick and resourceful as he adopted a troubleshooting approach to ending the economic crisis. Hoover, a businessman at heart, left office as anathema. Shouldering the blame for the Depression, he entered history a perpetual goat,…… [Read More]

President Roosevelt's New Deal and

The plan also calls for contributions to improve public education, to modernize schools and to improve Pell Grants. There is also money for research in science in technology to improve the broad band capabilities of the Internet infrastructure. Money has also been allocated for small business owners.

This infusion will be over several years. Critics of this plan concur that the amounts of money spread out over several years will not be sufficient to achieve the results the plan puts forth. Also, a lot of money has been given to banks, financial institutions and lending agencies. Money has also been given to the auto industry so that they can be more competitive with foreign auto manufacturers. But soon after, what the critics feared happened. The President asked the CEO of General Motors Rick Wagoner to resign. Critics believe that such an unprecedented rise of the power of the Federal government goes against everything that a successful capitalist system has achieved.

The first salvo against federal intervention has been fired by the state of Texas. On April 14, 2009, Governor of Texas, Rick Perry in a press conference invoked the 10th Amendment of the United State Constitution, declaring that Texas was…… [Read More]

Dinner With Leaders Set the

They each impacted the world in unique yet powerful ways and therefore I chose to invite these three leaders to dinner.

Hitler was of course one of the most nefarious men in history. I did not invite him to dinner to hear him rant about enemies to the Aryan people. Rather, I wanted to understand who Hitler was, to recognize what qualities could turn a human being into such a monster. Hitler was enormously successful at his military campaigns too, and I thought it would be interesting to pit him and his foe, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, together. Both impacted the course of World War Two. To Roosevelt I would like to ask more about his disability and about how he felt about the current state of affairs in America.

Similarly, I would like to ask Dr. King what he thought about America today. He would probably be proud of his legacy but would also be dismayed to learn that African-Americans still suffered from poverty and discrimination. He might not have much to say to Roosevelt and Hitler, who would likely be arguing with each other enough so that I could spend more time with the eminent Dr. King.… [Read More]

Disability the Americans With Disabilities

Disability1 Rights Activists Demand that MDA. Retrieved September 16, 2005 from http://www.cripcommentary.com/demands.html

This page lists the demands from the Disability Rights Activists upon the MDA concerning the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon.

Disability Rights Movement. Retrieved September 16, 2005 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_rights_movement

This Web site describes a brief history of the disability rights movement within the United States.

Facts About the Americans with Disabilities Act. Retrieved September 16, 2005 from The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission web site: http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-ada.html

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Web site provides a wealth of information regarding employment practices, as well as information not only on the ADA, but also on any Act regarding employment, such as age discrimination, civil rights, and equal pay.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. Retrieved September 16, 2005 at http://www.nps.gov/fdrm/fdr/struggle.htm… [Read More]

Rhetoric in Great Speeches

Rhetoric in Great Speeches

Cultural / Ideological Analysis

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) is credited by objective scholars and historians as having brought the United States out of the Great Depression, and as having guided the United States through the difficult and dangerous period during World War II. FDR was fiercely challenged by members of Congress when he was working to dig the country out of the Great Depression with his "New Deal." Members of Congress attacked FDR's programs as "socialism" -- these attacks -- using "socialism" as a hot-button word to stir up the population -- were quite similar to what the current U.S. president, Barack Obama was accused of as he battled to win legislative approval of his signature healthcare reforms, the Affordable Healthcare Act. Along the way to achieving his goals to get the country on a financially even keel and to defeat Hitler and the Japanese, FDR's leadership was bolstered by his well-crafted speeches to the country.

Thesis

Many historians and scholars have posited that FDR's performance as president during the Great Depression and throughout most of World War II achieved levels of success beyond what any president ever faced before or after. One of the pivotal…… [Read More]

Dinner With 3 Leaders the

King might be one of the only persons in history with the rhetoric powerful enough to chip away at Hitler's cold heart, to find out why Hitler believed what he did and just possibly persuade him to think differently. Even if King could not get through to Hitler, it would be a fascinating conversation. The only direct question I might ask to Hitler might be about his interest in the occult. I have heard rumors that his dabbling in the occult led to his distorted ideas about the Aryan race.

Over dessert, I would try to find some common ground between the four of us. That common ground, if anything, would be a defining feature of human nature. Dr. King helped awaken America to the reality of racism. President Roosevelt introduced New Deal legislation that left a long legacy of social services in America. Hitler left a trail of blood, but his murderous campaigns resulted in the eventual creation of a homeland for the Jewish people and a backlash against the Antisemitism that had prevailed throughout Europe. Whether we argued or not, this would make for a memorable…… [Read More]

Voter Through Congressional District Research the Bipartisan

Voter Through Congressional District Research

The bipartisan structure which defines the American system of democratic governance is premised on the notion that informed voters, when provided with an opportunity to select their own leadership, will invariably alternate between candidates with whom they identify closely, and members of the opposing party who offer meaningful reform. This maxim of American politics has resulted in a pattern of Presidential ascendency whereby neither party has captured the White House in three consecutive elections since the four consecutive campaign victories notched by Franklin Delano Roosevelt more than a half-century ago. Nonetheless, there are still pockets of provincial loyalty which still exist throughout the national electorate, with family histories and cultural touchstones serving to elevate one party above its competition in the hearts and minds of voters. In the second congressional district of Tennessee -- an area which spans the metropolitan borders of Knoxville, as well as the surrounding suburbs of Farragut, Maryville and Powell -- this curious phenomenon of local politics has become engrained in the societal structure, forming a continuous chain of leadership from the district's current representative to his Republican predecessors in 1855. With the election of John James "Jimmy" Duncan, Jr. (R-Knoxville)…… [Read More]

New Deal

New Deal

Politically-motived objections to President Roosevelt's "New Deal" would long outlive FDR himself. In 2003, when Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman was looking for a term to describe the ideologically-driven motivations of President George W. Bush and his administration, the phrase he selected was "the great unraveling" -- Krugman's image saw Roosevelt's New Deal programs (above all Social Security) as having become the very fabric of the society in which we live, and the simpleminded libertarianism of the GOP attitude toward the social programs of the New Deal was a mistaken . Yet I think it would be easiest to answer the question of whether Republicans' libertarian objections to the New Deal are genuinely based on the New Deal's curtailment of actual liberty. I hope an examination of campaign speeches by both FDR and Roosevelt from the 1932 Presidential election will elucidate the relationship between individual freedom and the government that would be offered by the New Deal.

Certainly it was a form of libertarian ideology on Herbert Hoover's part that marked his unwillingness to invervene effectively in the wake of the Great Depression. One of the tremendous ironies of Hoover's long life (he would outlive JFK) and ideological…… [Read More]

President's Reforms and Era of

The President intended to implement safeguards to prevent another series of depression from occurrence. The President was convinced that the second series of reforms will provide assistance to the American people. The President introduced different programs; Works Progress Administration and the National Youth Administration. The government hired people, particularly men for the vacancies available in government departments. The President also introduced the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, the Rural Electrification Act, the Social Security Act, the Wagner-Connery Act, the Resettlement Administration, and the Federal Housing Act. Both the houses of the government adopted the resolution, and supported with minor amendments.

The first and second series of reforms introduced by the Roosevelt's administration provided relief and assistance to the American people, particularly the backward people of Ohio State. The resident of Ohio State received grants from government through one or more of these programs or agencies.

CONSEQUENCES AND CRITICAL EVALUATION

Unfortunately for the American people, all of Roosevelt's efforts came to naught' (William (EDT) Dudley. The Great Depression: Opposing Viewpoints). The reforms did not successfully end the period of Great Depression. However it is important to observe that the efforts and reforms of the Roosevelt…… [Read More]

Explicit Content

War Address" by F.D. Roosevelt

Discussion analysis on Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Infamy Speech"

The Second World War had been noted as the most destructive conflict in the history of humanity, mainly because it involved and separated nations of the world into two factions: the Axis and Alliance powers. These factions reflect the kind of conflict that led to the declaration of the world war, wherein the Axis group was composed primarily of Germany, Italy, and Japan, while the Grand Alliance involved the United States, Britain, and France. The Grand Alliance was formed as a protest against the Nazi government, led by Adolf Hitler, implemented its anti-Semitism propaganda across Europe, and it moved on to include the Asian region as well (with the participation of Japan).

The Pearl Harbor attack against the United States served as the catalyst that led to its participation as member of the Grand Alliance and involvement in fighting the world war. With its war efforts focused on fighting the Japanese forces, the U.S. had radically shifted from being a neutral nation towards being antagonistic not only against Japan's offensive attacks, but to the world war in general. Thus, after Japan's offensive action against the U.S. In…… [Read More]

Plato Political Science American Executive

Presidential power is thus a matter of persuasion of the public and the other branches and actors within the government. Today in particular, because of the ability of the President to invoke the information of the intelligence agencies, information which the President has special authority over, he can persuade members Congress that if they do not do his bidding, they are jeopardizing America. When the presidential office was first created, the federal army and navy were far smaller than today -- and only Congress has the power to declare war. Yet many undeclared wars have been waged subsequently, and Congress has ceded some of its powers of controlling these institutions, from the Gulf of Tonkin resolution during Vietnam, to being persuaded by faulty intelligence it is assured it is true, as in Iraq. Presidents like Gerald Ford have limited the prosecutorial abilities of the nation by bestowing pardons, even changed the nature of American civil liberties through appointing justices to the Supreme Court. But to ensure reelection, to ensure continued support for wars and other ventures, to even ensure that appointees are approved by Congress, the President must have some persuasive capital, with the public, the congress, his own administration,…… [Read More]

Saw an Unprecedented Wave of European Immigration

saw an unprecedented wave of European immigration during the late nineteenth century and this reflected positively on fields like industry and agriculture, taking into account that it provided a significant labor base and that it seriously increased the number of people in the urban environment. Cities rapidly enlarged as a consequence and it became obvious that technology was going to progress quickly in the era. One can actually claim that immigration, industrial progress, and agricultural progress created a vicious chain. People came into the U.S. because it provided them with jobs and with the opportunity to improve their condition while the agriculture and the industry grew and thus demanded more working hands.

The railroad network expanded rapidly during these years and provided individuals with the opportunity to travel farther to the West and settle in areas previously considered unattractive. Although it is somewhat difficult to claim this, it is only safe to assume that immigration, industrial progress, and agricultural progress made it possible for the U.S. To become one of the most powerful nations in the world at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The fact that European immigrants were coming from areas that previously had little to do with…… [Read More]

Courage Means Words Cross Threshold 2 Identify

courage means words cross threshold. 2. Identify historical figure courage. Explain embodies definition courage. Use specific examples details illustrate point.

The hero: Crossing the threshold

According to the historian of mythology Joseph Campbell, a true hero is a man or woman who 'crosses the threshold' by undertaking a courageous action that enables him or her to be reborn into a new identity. A hero might not seem to be an extraordinary person initially, but through the willingness to reinvent him or herself, he or she is revealed to be a heroic person. This was the case with Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born to privilege. He lived a luxurious existence of wealth few Americans could dream of experiencing in Hyde Park, New York. He was descended from a line of prominent figures, the most famous of who was Theodore Roosevelt, the former Republican president. Franklin was educated by governesses as a young man, attended prep school, and graduated from Harvard University and Columbia Law School. However, he was bored with corporate law and decided to enter politics: "breaking from family tradition, he ran as a Democrat in a district that had voted…… [Read More]

Society & the Elderly the

It is also wise to have it reviewed by a doctor or attorney, the Family Doctor Web site suggests; that way you can be assured that what you wish to have done with you and to you if you become incapacitated is "understood exactly as you intended" (Family Doctor).

The advance directives are sensitive and private, and they are very important for seniors. But the advance directives can be controversial, so it is wise for older people to know the law and understand the facts. To wit, there have been rumors and falsehoods spread on the World Wide Web and elsewhere about the advance directives that are spelled out in the recent overhaul of the healthcare system. Former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin made news in the summer of 2009 by asserting that the advance directives in the healthcare overhaul created a "death panel" of bureaucrats who will "decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society' whether [certain older people] are worthy of health care" -- or should just be allowed to die (Malcolm, 2009).

In fact there are no death panels, and for her politically motivated smear of the Obama healthcare reform Palin's assertion…… [Read More]

John F Kennedy

John F. Kennedy

In contemporary times, John F. Kennedy is known for many things; winning a Pulitzer Prize, however, is not one of them (Coleman). Kennedy's awarding of the Pulitzer in 1957 -- a full four years before he was elected president of the United States -- for the biographical Profiles in Courage was one of his few achievements that he made prior to his election that did not directly involve his equally famous and influential family, including two brothers who also ran for president (Miller Center). Such a statement in no way detracts from Kennedy's prowess as a politician or as a leader. Yet it is highly difficult to extract his success as president from the intrinsic relationship between his family and his political life. In fact, there is a good deal of evidence that indicates that Kennedy's ensuing success as the commander-in-chief (for which he, of course, is chiefly responsible) has a lot to do with the efforts of his father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. Kennedy's father was also a politician, and had a good deal of ambition for his children and for Jack Kennedy in particular. As such, the success of John F. Kennedy as president was…… [Read More]

Presidential Term Limits Allowing Greater

Finally, proponents of term limits point out that the aforementioned second-term problems were due to personality, leadership, and policy problems, not clout in Congress alone. In terms of change, the presence of term limits can 'cut' both ways: "On the one hand it is said that not having term limits makes needed change more difficult because of the power that long-time office holders amass. On the other hand, term limits can also be seen as an obstacle to long-term needed political change because it forces a change of leadership at a time when the leader's project might not be ready for such change" (Wilpert 2009).

However, the system of checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution suggests that the Founding Fathers envisioned a limited form of government, without a powerful ruling political class, particularly at the executive level. Above all, Washington and his fellow Founding Fathers feared the establishment of a king, or central figure with great authority and power. Without term limits, the extraordinary wealth and public support required to run for office makes participation in the system more difficult than before. We have come a long way from the ideal of the gentleman farmer, giving back to his…… [Read More]

How to Save Social Security

SSA Status Report

The author of this report has been asked to do an analysis of the Social Security program as it exists in the United States. First, there will be a look at how Social Security was initially envisioned and planned by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Second, there will be an analysis done of what is projected to happen with Social Security over the next twenty to thirty years. Third, the author of this report will provide two recommendations that will help improve the viability and existence of Social Security over the next generation. Finally, there will be an evaluation of how these recommendations can be implemented given the contentious political environment that exists right now. While petty fights and demagoguery will surely get in the way, the Social Security system is in bad long-term shape and needs to be properly fixed and adjusted immediately.

Analysis

According to a review of the event by History.com, the enactment of Social Security was done as a means to prevent the unemployed and the elderly from becoming impoverished and destitute. Indeed, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) took the helm of the country in 1932 when it was in the depths of the Great…… [Read More]

Delegation of Authority to Other Branches of Government

Schechter v United States: What is the constitutional doctrine of the non-Delegation of legislative powers?

Over the course of his first terms in office, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt enacted a series of measures designed to extricate the nation from the Great Depression. A number of these actions, including his attempts to create a series of new federal agencies, caused him to engage in open conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court, to the point that Roosevelt even considered increasing the number of Supreme Court justices to ensure his legislation stood unchallenged. Although ultimately he was dissuaded from this plan, the question of when it was legal for Congress to delegate its powers to some of the other branches of government was at the heart of the conflict.

The doctrine of non-delegation of legislative powers holds that even if Congress wishes to delegate its legislative authority to another entity it cannot do so under the constitution. The specific law at stake in Schechter v United States was the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) "a law passed by Congress to regulate companies as a means to combat the Great Depression" (McBride). As part of its provisions, the law limited the number of hours…… [Read More]

Economics the Great Depression Origins

The downward spiral of deflation, the collapse of countless banks and other financial institutions, and the unprecedented levels of unemployment all demanded that something be done.

The programs that constituted President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal were not entirely unknown in the pre-Depression world. Various European countries already possessed social welfare schemes to some extent, but in the United States this was largely new thinking. The changes wrought by the New Deal reflected as much the uniqueness of conditions during the Great Depression as they did the undercurrent of new attitudes and ideas that had gradually been taking hold among America's intellectuals.

FDR's planners acted in the context of changing values, an evolving set of institutions, shifting political and economic circumstances, and the ebb and flow of planning opportunities to create a distinctly national, American form of planning.... They were part of a wide-ranging national debate over how to create a new society based on modern institutions that grew out of developments in the business community, the urban environment, the rise of professionalism and its attendant associations in the social sciences, the recognition of the need for a new kind of twentieth-century liberalism, and the building of new interconnections among…… [Read More]

American History Slave Revolts Although

Alexander Hamilton carried on an affair with the wife of "a notorious political schemer," Maria Reynolds. Andrew Jackson married Rachel Jackson before her divorce from Lewis Robards was finalized and therefore was accused of marrying a married woman. Jackson's opponent in 1828, John Quincy Adams, was in turn accused of "corrupt bargaining" during his term. Jackson also championed Margaret O'Neill Timberlake, who married his secretary of war, John Eaton. "Peggy O'Neill" was considered a woman of "questionable virtue," and as a result Martin Van Buren became Jackson's successor in the presidency. After the death of Jackson and Eaton, Peggy married a 19-year-old dance teacher (which raised eyebrows, as she was 59), who embezzled her money and ran off to Europe with her 17-year-old granddaughter.

Other scandals concerned Richard Mentor Johnson, who ran for vice president in 1836 with Martin Van Buren. He supposedly shot Tecumseh during the War of 1812, which was considered positive, but he married a mulatto, Julia Chinn, which was a negative. Despite this, Van Buren and Johnson were elected to office. John Tyler, who became president upon the death of Harrison, soon began "dating" when his paralyzed wife died during his term, courting the beautiful Julia…… [Read More]

Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns

Her son was far more democratic in spirit, and he would even allow his personal secretary "Missy" to act as hostess when Eleanor was away (120). Of course, this raises the question if Missy and Roosevelt were lovers, especially as Missy would occasionally wear nightgowns as evening gowns to these affairs -- out of poverty or another motive, one wonders?

However, it was Eleanor who took Franklin's place at the Democratic National Convention, when Democrats balked at granting her husband a third chance at the White House, even though Eleanor, for all of her popularity and political acumen was looking forward to a quieter life. Chapter 5 paints a picture of a nation, a White House, and a couple coming to terms with the extraordinary demands of the first half of the 20th century. But although war was on the horizon, ultimately…… [Read More]

War Studs Terkel's The Good War in

War

"Studs Terkel's: The Good War

In The Good War Terkel presents the compelling, the bad, and the ugly memories of World War II from a view of forty years of after the events. No matter how horrendous the recollections are, comparatively only a few of the interviewees said that if the adventure never happened that they would be better off. It was a lively and determinative involvement in their lives. Even though 400,000 Americans died, the United States itself was not assaulted again after Pearl Harbor, the economy did begin to develop and there was a fresh contemporary feeling of humanity power that revitalized the nation.

A lot of women and Black Americans faced new liberties in the post war nation, but happy life following World War II was stained by the danger of the could be nuclear. Studs Terkel interviewed over 120 people by inquiring them to tell him about their experiences during the Second World War. Those interviews are the stories included in his book, "The Good War." This book is for those that are looking for a series of "war stories" by war veterans communicating their threads of courage under fire, look elsewhere; while there are…… [Read More]

Industrial Development in Europe and

But he failed and started cooperating with real leaders - owners of huge industrial monopolies. To get rid of small businessmen organization (SA) Hitler murdered their leader Ernst Rem and some other leaders.

That's why fascists changed their political program.

Any national property was controlled by state, but in fact - rich monopolists. Hitler created extremely effective General department of property (head - Krupp and Siemens).

The largest corporation in the country belonged to German Gering. It was that huge because it received Jews' property and later - property which was captured in states- victims of German foreign policy. German leaders started regulating prices as it was in USSR or USA during New Line.

Agriculture was also controlled by the state. Agricultural production was controlled and every farmer had to sell it to the state (by the way, prices were also regulated by state).

So, all German private property got under state's control and there were very necessary reasons to do so. Hitler planned great war and knew that he had to strengthen and centralize his state to win it. Only under the condition of centralized economics and the main component - industry no state can win any war. Hitler…… [Read More]

United Negro College Fund

United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is the largest, oldest, most comprehensive, and most successful minority higher education assistance organization in America. They provide assistance in a variety of manners, including: operating funds and technology enhancement services its 38-member, historically black, universities and colleges, internships and scholarships for minority students at nearly 1,000 institutions, as well as faculty and administrative professional training ("About UNCF," 2004).

The United Negro College Fund has been in existence for more than 60 years. In this time, it has raised more than $2 billion that has assisted more than 300,000 students to attend college. They have distributed more money, in the assistance of minorities attending school, than any other organization, other than the United States government ("About UNCF," 2004).

Today, UNCF supports approximately 65,000 students at nearly 1,000 colleges and universities. 60%, of these students, are the first in their families to attend college. 62%, of these students, have family incomes of less than $25,000 per year. Their 450 scholarships and fellowships assist minority students at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels of study ("About UNCF," 2004).

In addition, UNCF's support of its 38-member historically black universities and colleges helps these schools keep their tuition rates…… [Read More]

1 Question 2 In Rebutting the Words

1

QUESTION 2: In rebutting the words of the historian in Question 1, an equally perceptive scholar argued, "The most damning force in America, 1900-1940, was the rise of business. Corporations produced little but hardship and despair, and gave us nothing. Indeed, this period was marked by the rise of large corporations, but it was the growth of the large corporation instead that doomed American society and destroyed democracy."

In the years prior to Theodore Roosevelt's presidency, two of the greatest social/political problems facing America were based on the continuing warfare between the poor and wealthy classes and the expansion of "Manifest Destiny" in foreign lands. Domestically, the country was burdened by a financial panic in the 1890's which complicated the lives of the urban poor and made the wealthy even more prosperous. In the cities, people demanded democratic change in many areas, such as the twelve hour work day, the dangerous conditions in American factories, the exploitation of immigrant laborers, corporate resistance to the formation of labor unions, political corruption in the leaders of the great cities, child labor, inadequate wages and most importantly the on-going concentration of wealth by such "Robber Barons" as J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilts.…… [Read More]

Tva Tapping Water Power the

TVA Company Profile

The TVA is a self-financed government agency with approximately 13,000 employees, as of 2002 estimates.

It realized a $6.99 billion sales from hydroelectric power generation, fossil fuel, electric power generation, nuclear power generation, other electric power generation, electric bulk power transmission and control and electric power distribution. Its mission is to bring prosperity to the Tennessee Valley through excellent business performance and public service. These are to be achieved by supplying low-cost but reliable power, maintaining a thriving River, and fostering economic growth throughout the southeaster region, traversing 7 States. At the peak of its growth, TVA was serving more than 8 million users in more than 80,000 square miles of region

The TVA's integrated management of water resources, combined with its exceptional institutional capacity enabled it to lift one of the poorest regions in the U.S. into a strong economy and healthy environment today.

It accomplished this through its broad-based local programs and extensive physical infrastructure. In its early years, TVA set up a healthy natural resource base, a strong infrastructure and the human pool to work for the social and economic development of the region. As it was envisioned by President Roosevelt, TVA was a…… [Read More]

Age of Segregation White Supremacy

Indeed, Billingsley asserts, the black church has been "and is" for blacks in America "the mother of our culture, the champion of our freedom," and the "hallmark" of blacks' "civilization" (Billingsley, 1992, p. 223).

Resistance to racism and segregation also came in many small acts through bold and courageous moves by individuals. In Farmville, Virginia, for example, in 1935, Barbara Johns organized students in Robert Russa Moton High School to go on strike to protest terrible school facilities for black students (Wormser, p. 178). She was a tobacco worker in the fields, a minister's niece, a good speaker and she was seemingly very influenced by her uncle Vernon Johns' preaching. This is how enthusiasm for change is passed from one person to the next - Reverend Johns was known for "exhorting and chastising" his congregation for their "complacency and docility" (Wormser, 178). Barbara Johns was moved by her uncle's rousing rhetoric, and she organized a strike - bringing in the NAACP to back up the students - and in the end a lawsuit was launched based on the need for integration and equal school facilities. That litigation, in concert with other integration lawsuits, ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court…… [Read More]

Lyndon Johnson We Know Lyndon

Dallek used traditional methods of research and structure making his book a true "history" from a collegiate-academic point-of-view. But this does not invalidate Caro's work. The problem, then, in looking at both of these books to be authorities is to figure out if it really matters if Caro's lack of credentials and traditional (meaning library) method of information gathering actually denote a lesser effect on the overall impact of the work. The problem, then, that Caro faces is the determination if his work actually is quote worthy of other historians quoting / referencing him.

For Dallek, his unwavering adherence to strict academic research leaves the punch out of the story of Johnson. It is one thing to have a series of supported and peer-reviewed facts lined up chapter by chapter, and it is yet another to make those facts sing in an engaging story format. Caro's book is by far the more interesting to read, but Dallek's is the more reliable in terms of historical accuracy. What, then, Caro has created is more akin to a collected and combined oral history of Lyndon Johnson and Dallek's a detailed record of his career. The other problem with Dallek's approach, and even…… [Read More]

Leadership of Former President Ronald

He learned quickly, showed political prowess, was not afraid to lead his followers in troubled times (like the Screen Actors' strike), and he could think on his feet, develop his own very moving speeches, and he had very strong beliefs which he was not afraid to voice. All of these are qualities of a leader, and they developed as he made his way thorough life.

Reagan, with support of some friends and political leaders, began toying with the notion of running for governor in California. Cannon notes,

Reagan, despite never having spent a day in public office, had political assets that his opponents failed to recognize. Foremost among these was that he was widely known and liked [...] He was an effective speaker -- in person, on radio, and on television -- with an intangible quality of identifying with his audiences and reflecting their values (Cannon 38).

In 1966, Reagan ran for governor against three-term incumbent Pat Brown, and he won, he was sworn in as Governor of California in January 1967. He was not worried about his lack of his political experience; he knew he could learn what he needed to do to run the government on the job.…… [Read More]

Presidents & Legislation Presidents Who

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) created jobs for laborers who were unemployed, but it wasn't just "make work" labor, it actually helped the nation build roads and bridges along with needed public buildings. The Public Works Administration (PWA) helped build dams and other reclamation projects; this served to create jobs and at the same time provide "less expensive electricity, flood control, and irrigation water for farmers" (Etulain 324). The Hoover Dam on the Colorado River and Grand Coulee and Bonneville Dams on the Columbia River, were extraordinarily helpful in many practical ways in the western U.S.

Whereas Hoover was unable to see the need to put the federal government's full power of assets to work for the citizens - his conservative background kept him from doing what needed to be done in an urgent way - FDR did see the need; and by using his office as a bully pulpit, and having "fireside chats" with the American people listening on their radios, he showed leadership. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) put people to work clearing brush, building roads and trails, conserving forests and croplands, the author explains.

Another president who was very effective when it came to passing legislation was…… [Read More]

U S Policy Towards the Dominican

S. Marines departed, after in effect being an occupying force on foreign soil, they left "a tender wound, making the Dominicans extremely sensitive to any hint of U.S. interference in Dominican affairs and quick 'to resent any slight, any tactlessness' on the part of the U.S. representatives."

To conclude this portion of the paper, the question is pertinent: why was the U.S. so embarrassingly unprepared for the power grab by Trujillo in February, 1930? Roorda explains that the envoy to the Dominican Republic, John Moors Cabot, only 28 years old, misjudged "the distribution of power between the civilian chief of state and the military commander, a mistake repeatedly frequently" by American diplomats, while a nationalism fueled by militarist dictators "swept across the region" in the early 1930s. Meantime, the U.S. backed Trujillo, and even assisted him. It was all part of the American "Good Neighbor" policy: nonintervention, and support for dictators.

And the additional folly of the American "leadership" in the Dominican had an exclamation point added to it (59-60) when investigative reporter Drew Pearson published a series of articles which detailed the brutal repression administered by Trujillo in the first six months of his dictatorship, the State Department was…… [Read More]

William J Donovan and the

Y. National Guard, which had been conducting a vigorous recruiting campaign (Troy 24). According to this author, "The Sixty-ninth was drafted into the Regular Army and was proud to be selected New York's representative in the newly formed Forty-second Division, the 'Rainbow Division,' where it was redesignated the 165th Regiment" (Troy 24). These events as much as any other were responsible for providing Donovan with both the experience as well as the recognition that would help propel him into future leadership positions. In this regard, Troy reports that, "It remained 'the old Sixty-ninth,' however, and for the better part of his twenty-two months of service Donovan was the commander of its First Battalion. It was in that capacity, a lieutenant colonel, that he saw combat, was several times wounded, and demonstrated such outstanding qualities of leadership and moral courage that he emerged from the war with 'more medals than any other 42nd officer'" (emphasis added) (Troy 24).

Donovan also received the Distinguished Service Cross (1918), the Distinguished Service Medal (1922), and the Medal of Honor (1923). At the end of World War II, Donovan had attained the rank of colonel in command of the 165th. During the unit's ticker-tape parade…… [Read More]

Job Creation and Other Economic Myths

Economics

There is a belief, common to economists, that government intervention is necessary to assist economic growth. The current belief that the reason that the economy is faltering is that job growth has faltered, has not altered this perception, even though it probably should have. Recently both the Bush and Obama administrations have tried many different means of stimulating the economy (much as Franklin Delano Roosevelt did during the "Great Depression"), and these means have had varying levels if success. However, despite some small amount of relief and a stronger stock market, job growth remains stagnant and the economy slugs along with it. The efforts of the current administration toward job growth and creation, whether that be in State of the Union speeches or actually policies, have not produced the desired effects. Why is this? Could it be that the Keynesian methods of economic growth and job production are faulty? This paper looks at the problem from the point-of-view of some of the greatest economic thinkers of the past, examines the fallacies that have been foisted on the public in the past century, and attempts to inject reason in the place of myths.

Keynesian Economics: A Conservative Perspective

One of…… [Read More]

Michael Kammen's a Machine That

Americans have even been moved to call the document divinely inspired, in another irony, as Constitution gives the right to every American to worship as he or she chooses, free of state influences.

Kammen convincingly shows that how Americans feel about the Constitution is often very different from what lies within the document. In doing so, he encourages the reader to take a more critical view of his or her own conception of the Constitution and to question assumptions that we have somehow always known what the Founders envisioned. We are neglectful of our duties as citizens, says Kammen, if we do not read the Constitution in light of its cultural history and grow more reflexive and self-critical as a nation about the way we view it. The Constitution is malleable in our elected and unelected officials' hands and minds, and in our own collective mind as a culture.… [Read More]

Gold Standard the Federal Reserve's

The economy began to contract still further immediately after the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Fears that Roosevelt would devalue the dollar or even abolish the Gold Standard caused both domestic and foreign investors to once again to "convert dollars to gold, putting pressure on both the banking system and the gold reserves of the Federal Reserve System. Bank failures and the Fed's defensive measures against the gold drain further reduced the stock of money. The economy took its deepest plunge between November 1932 and March 1933, once more confirming the temporal sequence predicted by the monetary hypothesis. Once Roosevelt was sworn in, his declaration of a national bank holiday and, subsequently, his cutting the link between the dollar and gold initiated the expansion of money, prices, and output" (Bernanke 2002).

Roosevelt did not abandon the gold standard wholesale. However, he did devalue the dollar, nationalize gold owned by private citizens, and declared contracts in which payment was specified in gold to be invalid as part of his stabilization policies (Bordo 2002). "It is an interesting but not uncommon phenomenon in economics that the expectation of a devaluation can be highly destabilizing but that the devaluation itself can be beneficial,"…… [Read More]

Nineteenth Century and the Early Part of

nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century was a time of hardship for many Americans, and a time of extreme injustice for several groups, as well. African-Americans were strictly segregated and subjected to institutional racism by the state and local governments in the South and by cultural sentiments, and Native Americans continued to be pushed into ever-smaller reservations and subjected to a host of other injustices, as well. The former group was being ostracized from mainstream American society, while the latter group was forced to assimilate or to live in squalor, and leadership in both groups was split, as well. Meanwhile, expansion into areas of the continent that had been unsettled increased due to mining efforts and for other reasons, as well, though by the early twentieth century the frontier had largely been closed and the first phase of America's history, at least according to some observers, had come to a close.

Chapter 20

After the Civil War, a second industrial revolution occurred marked by the growth in transportation (primarily railroad) and communications (telegraph and telephone) technologies. As business expanded and production and distribution methods grew more efficient, certain entrepreneurs were able to become incredibly wealthy by…… [Read More]