During the first hundred days of his presidency, Roosevelt set forth his plan for national recovery, known as the First New Deal. Designed and administered by Roosevelt's core group of advisors, known as the “Brain Trust” (Leuchtenburg, p.83), the New Deal represented a new era where the government would be able to intervene with the economy. With Democratic majorities in Congress, he was able to push through a large number of measures, making the first hundred days of his presidency an unprecedented period of government action. Roosevelt laid out his strategy for recovery early on, dividing it into three major goals: Banking and Relief for the Jobless, Agricultural Recovery, and Industri

In April of 1935, Congress passed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act. This act granted $5 billion to Roosevelt with which he could do whatever he pleased. The majority of that funding went into the creation of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), headed by Harry Hopkins (Norton, p.736). Roosevelt's fear of a permanent welfare class caused him to demand that the WPA provide jobs rather than simply handouts (Norton, p.736). Lasting for eight years, the WPA issued $11 billion into the economy, supporting the unemployed of all backgrounds, from industrial engineers to artists. Along with the National Youth Association and the Public Works Administration, which focused on employment in construction projects, the WPA was a symbol of the Second New Deal's commitment to controlling unemployment (Leuchtenburg, p.127). In 1935, unemployment was 20.3 percent. By 1937, it had fallen to 14.3 percent thanks in great part to Roosevelt's programs (Leuchtenburg, p.127).

Reassured by the overwhelming Democratic victory in the midterm elections of 1934, Roosevelt laid out his plans for the Second New Deal in the 1935 State of The Union Address (Freedman, p.124). In his address, he outlined six ways in which to renew the efforts started by the New Deal, and a way to stop the criticism that was received during the First New Deal. They included: 1) an enlarged unemployment relief program. 2) Assistance to the rural poor. 3) Support for organized labor. 4) Social welfare benefits for the elderly and disadvantaged. 5) Strict regulation of business and finance. 6) Heavier taxes on the wealthy.

Among many agricultural measures, the creation of the AAA stood out as the most important. Under the leadership of Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace and AAA head Chester Davis, the AAA controlled the production of crops, and thus prices, by offering subsidies to farmers who produced under set quotas (Leuchtenburg, p.121). This funding was financed by a tax on food processors, which transferred to high prices for processed goods

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