How accurate is it to say that the influence of Roosevelt was the main reason for changes to the presidency 1933-60?
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Unit 1F - In search of the American Dream: the USA, c1917-96?
Pearson edexcel history
How accurate is it to say that the influence of Roosevelt was the main reason for changes to the presidency
1933-60?
Intro:
- Roosevelt significant (increased expectations & powers of president) however can be seen as
temporary reaction to demands of Great Depression
- Impact of war increased power of president to greater extent in acting without congress (more
significant – distinct change unlike Roosevelt which was evolutionary development)
- Media = contributory – increased responsibility of president as was held accountable but didn’t
increase powers
P1: Roosevelt
- Increased expectation of president to communicate with public & media
o ‘fireside chats’, ‘off the record’ meetings
- Increased size of White House
o Executive Reorganization Bill 1939, set up Executive Office of the President
- Increased responsibility in welfare
o Shift from ‘laissez-faire’ republicanism
o NRA, AAA, ‘Alphabet Agencies’
o Trend continued, sustained change Truman ‘Fair Deal’, Kennedy ‘New Frontier’, Johnson
'Great Society’
- However…
o Didn’t increase power of President excessively
‘separation of powers’ still important, 1937 attempted to ‘pack courts’ – extreme
violation had to abandon plan
Though president now expected to be involved in forming of
policy/legislation
Opposition: NRA & AAA ruled unconstitutional 1937
o Reaction to demands of Great Depression (‘specal powers’) rather than Roosevelt himself
o Can overstate impact of New Deal – didn’t help everyone, not all Presidents followed
E.g. Nixon ‘workfare’, Reagan vs. ‘big government’
P2: Impact of War
- WW2 increased demands on president (wartime subsidies, GI Bill)
- Cold war increased president’s power
o Allowed R to pass acts, e.g. Lend-Lease Act March 1941
o Acted without congress: 1948 Berlin airlift – trend continued (Kennedy 1961 Bay of Pigs
invasion of Cuba), CIA & NSC reported to White House not congress
- Cold War changed demands on president
o Hard-line on communism
1949 ‘China Lobby’, 1950 Committee on the Present Danger
- Can argue power increase began due to Roosevelt, however significant changes came after – more
convincing to say Roosevelt = temporary reaction to Great Depression, impact of war marked
sustained change
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