LAD #33

When FDR took office in 1933 the economy was in shambles. Businesses were failing left and right, banks were closing, and Hoovervilles were being constructed outside major cities in search of work. FDR boosted the spirits of the American people right when he stepped into office when he delivered his inaugural address.  He begins his speech stating that "our distress comes from no failure of substances." The new president claims that this is to show the people that the failures of the past years is not something they could control. "We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep." He continues to say that the money changers that were the sole reason for the failure of the banks had fled, but people can work together to restore economic order. This implies that F.D.R. has faith in the country to overcome the greed that had once consumed it to become stable once again. He also calls for action at that very moment in order to help the struggling economy. The president exclaims that the American people must recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and shift their focus from the spoils of industry to the promise and growth of agriculture. Instead of Wilson's ideas of letting the people solve the problems of the nation through hands off policies, F.D.R. decides to take initiative and offer solutions to the people of the nation.