Roosevelt and the First New Deal

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's major legacies include the social policies of the New Deal, making the United States one of the leaders of the Allies during World War II, and redefining the role of the executive power.

The Great Depression and thus the economy was the dominant issue during the presidential election of 1932 between Franklin Delano Roosevelt and incumbent Herbert Hoover.

While Hoover's response to the Great Depression was initially too narrow and more decisive actions came too late, Roosevelt's New Deal drew on some of Hoover's ideas but proposed a series of sweeping reforms and programs.