The Three R's: Relief, Recovery, and Reform

America is in turmoil. The country is in the midst of the worst tragedy it has ever

faced, The Great Depression. The American people are sick and tired of hearing the old

hands off, the country will heal itself crap. They were in desperate need of a true leader.

One who would lead them through these horrible times and set the country right again.

How ironic that the man who stepped up was handicapped, and would have been viewed

as nothing more than a gimp if the press ever found out. That man was Franklin Delano

Roosevelt. His ability to lead this nation is what led us through those difficult times.

Unlike his predecessors Franklin Roosevelt was a man off action who was willing

to risk his own neck in order to bring the nation back up to par. Shortly after his

inauguration, FDR began his work. He aimed his new deal policies at three areas: relief,

recovery, and reform (the three R's). His policy became known as the New Deal and was

quite radical. His early actions alone put him in a class above the presidents of past.

The Emergency Banking Act gave banks much needed relief from the Great

Depression and some time to figure out ways to recover back to their former glory. It

also gave FDR and the national government a chance to assess the damage done to the

banks and figure the best way to emend these damages.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was established to aid in providing

employment as well as train unemployed young men. In other words the agency helped to

recover the jobs of the newly unemployed. It also served as a type of reform for the

nation's natural resources.

The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) gave farmers money so they would

decrease the production of wheat, cotton, rice, tobacco, corn, hogs, and dairy products.

This was an attempt to recover the now severely lowered prices of these products. The

AAA was later found to be unconstitutional, but that is another matter entirely.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was created to attempt to recover the

dreadful conditions in the Tennessee River Basin. The TVA was quite successful even

though it was under incessant attack by several business spokesmen.

The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) attempted to assist the nation's

economic recovery after the Great Depression. The NIRA granted $3.3 billion dollars for

an extension of public works, in an attempt to reduce unemployment. The National

Recovery Administration (NRA) was established to ensure evenhanded competition in

business.

Finally, the Glass-Steagal Act offered more credit and offered some of the

government's gold reserves to help support troubled industries. This was an attempt to

help restore American industries to their former glory.

As you can see FDR was one of the nation's greatest presidents for the simple

reason that he was willing to take risks. If he had not become president at this time and

we got stuck with another Herbert Hoover, who knows what might have happened to this

country? Maybe we would no longer be a country at all.