In the aftermath of America's most horrific economic crisis, a strong new leader came about and forever changed the ways of our country. He redefined old terms, such as liberalism, and generated new ideas and policies, such as the Four Freedoms and the New Deal. This man, the thirty-second president of the United States of America, was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR's predecessor was former President Herbert Hoover, a rich conservative Republican who feared policies with any resemblance of socialism, and who believed that government should not get involved in industry or in people's financial lives. With no bias to make the rich richer, and no fear that America would become a socialist state, President Roosevelt realized the unstable economic conditions of the country, and he faced them brilliantly. He noticed that middle-class Americans were the heart of the economy, as consumer spending is approximately seventy-percent of the country's gross domestic product. With a diminishing middle-class, and an ever-growing population of destitute Americans, the President created programs in his New Deals to increase consumer spending. In which, he improved working conditions, created public works, and set up a bright future for America. Although President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal policies were considered controversial and socialist for it's time, it was actually a brilliant solution to save American capitalism.
In years directly after the Great Depression, a majority of the population was left broke and desperate for work. With Franklin Delano Roosevelt as president, average American citizens began to gain hope that the economy would grow and families would start to see better financial times. FDR looked at the Progressive Era for inspiration on how to run the country. He established many economic policies through his New Deal, which gave government power over industry. He even appointed a progressive to the position of Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins ("Letter to Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins," (1776), in Foner, Voices of Freedom.
