The 1930s Government, Politics, and Law: Topics in the News

THE AGONY OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION

By 1930, as the Great Depression became a serious problem across the United States, millions of Americans had lost their jobs, their homes, and their life savings. The national government didn't seem to care. As Americans became more desperate, people began to take action for themselves. In Arkansas, an armed crowd of five hundred farmers marched on the town of England and looted its stores for food. In 1933, Nebraska farmers forced their way past police barricades to march on the state capitol and demand debt relief. In Iowa, farmers fought with police until the governor sent in troopers to impose martial law. But it was the veterans' "bonus march" that had the biggest impact at a national level.

In 1924, veterans of World War I had been offered a bonus payment, to be claimed in full in 1945. In the depths of the Depression, that seemed a long time to wait for many veterans. In 1932, Congressman Wright Patman (1893–1976) tried to push through a bill allowing early payment. A group of veterans calling themselves the "Bonus Expeditionary Force" marched on Washington, D.C., in support. During the summer, around sixteen thousand men camped on vacant land along the Potomac River, near the Capitol. When the Patman bill failed in the Senate on June 17,

1932, tension began to rise. Veterans refused to leave their camps, and police moved in. Squatters in a Treasury Department building on Pennsylvania Avenue were attacked, and two were killed. Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) was sent to assess the camps, but instead sent in cavalry troops, who charged the crowd with drawn sabers. Demonstrators fought back, and it took two days to round them up. President Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) was held responsible for the riot and the display of force. His treatment of the veterans turned many voters against him in the autumn election, as did the widespread opinion that Hoover didn't care about the plight of the common man. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) faced a similar bonus march in 1935, he offered the protesters accommodation, food, and entertainment.

Presidential Elections

THE TRIUMPH OF PROGRESSIVISM

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) won the 1932 presidential election by a landslide. With almost twenty-three million votes, he bested Hoover's total by more than seven million. Such a lead in the popular vote gave Roosevelt, who was known as FDR, the opportunity to make many changes. As a progressive (one who believed that the power of the government should be used to ensure progress), FDR had crafted "New Deal" policies that were very similar to the policies of his distant cousin, Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), who was the U.S. president from 1901 to 1909. In 1912, during Woodrow Wilson's presidency, Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party had called for a scheme to protect workers from poverty in case of illness or unemployment. It had demanded fairer taxation, protection for the unions, regulation of trade between states, and an end to child labor. These goals were all achieved by FDR and the New Deal in the 1930s.

Prior to the 1932 election, Roosevelt gathered together a group of advisers. The "Brains Trust," as they were known, was made up of Raymond Moley, Rexford G. Tugwell, and Adolf Berle. These three Columbia University professors, led by Moley (1886–1975), prepared speeches and advised on policy. Moley encouraged Roosevelt to give the federal government a more active role in running the country and to borrow money in order to kick-start the economy. Moley's spending plan became the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), which paid money to the homeless and unemployed. Tugwell (1891–1979) was responsible for farm policy, though he never achieved his dream of persuading Americans to give up on capitalism. Berle (1895–1971) helped develop the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and schemes to protect farmers and homeowners when they couldn't pay their mortgages. Roosevelt's "take-charge" approach was quite different from the Hoover administration's "hands-off" style. Under Roosevelt, the federal government became a much more powerful, and obvious, influence on American life.

REGULATING THE ECONOMY

With the near collapse of the American banking system in 1932 and 1933, many states had already declared local "banking holidays" to stop people from withdrawing their savings. After his inauguration on March 4, 1933, President Roosevelt took the first decisive action of his presidency on March 9, declaring a national four-day bank holiday. While Congress was in special session, the Emergency Banking Act was passed. Three days later, in his first "fireside chat" on national radio, Roosevelt reassured Americans that the banks would recover. His first act as president was also his first New Deal success. The bank holiday eventually ran for eight days and ended the banking crisis.

Roosevelt's banking reforms did not end there. From January 1933, Ferdinand Pecora (1882–1971) headed an investigation uncovering corruption and fraud among some of the most respectable of American bankers. J. P. Morgan (1867–1943) had a list of "preferred customers" who bought securities from him at below market rate. Morgan then issued the

The New Deal's Alphabet Soup

Roosevelt set up so many New Deal agencies that they were known as an "alphabet soup." Some of the most important of these agencies:

AAA: The Agricultural Adjustment Administration began in May 1933. It paid farmers to plow in crops and destroy animals in order to force prices up.

CCC: The Civilian Conservation Corps started on March 31, 1933. In more than nine years it employed 2.5 million young men to plant trees, fight forest fires, clean reservoirs, and create parks. 35,000 young men were taught to read and write, but women were excluded from joining.

CWA: Devised by FERA director Harry Hopkins (1890–1946) with a budget of almost one billion dollars, the Civil Works Administration gave temporary jobs to more than four million people within thirty days of being approved by Congress in November 1933.

FERA: The Federal Emergency Relief Administration began work on May 22, 1933, giving cash grants to the unemployed.

PWA: The Public Works Administration offered work on government projects to the unemployed. It built hospitals, power plants, and housing projects.

TVA: The Tennessee Valley Authority. One of the great successes of the New Deal, the TVA was established on May 18, 1933. It built a series of dams on the Tennessee River to generate electricity for the region. The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) of 1935 followed the TVA's success, bringing electricity to farms across the country.

WPA: The biggest of all the New Deal agencies, the Works Progress Administration had a budget of five billion dollars, making it the most expensive government program in U.S. history. It employed men building schools and hospitals and renovating bridges and roads. Women worked in childcare or in sewing and traditional crafts. The WPA also paid writers and artists to produce public artworks.

bulk of the securities at a higher rate, giving the first owners instant profit. One of the "preferred customers" was former U.S. president Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933). The Pecora investigation led to legislation to protect the public from the banking industry. The Glass-Steagall act of 1933 made it illegal for banks to deal in stocks and shares and set up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC protected depositors from bank failures and continues to do so in the twenty-first century. Humorist Will Rogers (1879–1935) quipped that Roosevelt made banking so simple even the bankers could understand it.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) became president in 1933, urgent steps had to be taken to revive the American economy. His "First New Deal" concentrated on passing legislation that would revive the economy. The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), passed by Congress in June 1933, was one of the broadest examples. The NIRA was designed to stop the collapse in prices and rescue American industry. It included many important reforms. It suspended the antitrust laws that prevented businesses from fixing prices among themselves. The NIRA also established the Public Works Administration (PWA) and gave legal protection to labor unions. Through the National Recovery Administration (NRA) and its director Hugh S. Johnson (1882–1942) the NIRA set up a minimum wage, established maximum working hours, and put an end to child labor. Companies that met NRA standards were allowed to display a "Blue Eagle" sign with the slogan "We Do Our Part." A new National Football League franchise in Philadelphia was named the Eagles after the NRA emblem. In May 1935, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the NIRA unconstitutional. Nevertheless, the labor and union reforms of the NIRA were reintroduced later that year as part of the Wagner National Labor Relations Act.

Social Security

The Social Security Act (SSA) became law on August 14, 1935. For the first time in American history, the SSA provided a small monthly pension for Americans over the age of sixty-five. It also paid unemployment compensation but was intended as a forced savings plan rather than a true welfare system. After the initial funding was gone, Americans could only collect their pension after a lifetime of social security payments. The SSA was the basis for the American welfare system until 1996.

CIVIL RIGHTS

The success of the New Deal depended on several conflicting interest groups working together. The most strained relationship was between African Americans and white racists. Discrimination against African Americans was acceptable to most whites in the 1930s. President Roosevelt (1882–1945) depended on the votes of both of these groups to win a second term, and it is for this reason that the New Deal did very little to improve civil rights for blacks. New Dealers even opposed the introduction of anti-lynching laws meant to protect blacks from being killed by white racists. But although the New Deal did very little in terms of action, it did mark the beginning of a change in attitude. African Americans were appointed to senior positions in the administration. Educator Mary McLeod Bethune (1875–1955) became a director of the National Youth Administration, while William Hastie (1904–1976) was an important legal adviser. Robert Weaver (1907–1997), a noted economist, was the first black member of an American cabinet.

Law and Lawyers

During the 1930s, there were too many people wanting to practice law. Between 1932 and 1937, nine thousand new lawyers graduated from law school each year. This was at a time when business failures and low earnings meant fewer people needed their services. It is estimated that during the Depression years, the amount of legal work available dropped by 70 percent. Law schools, and the American Bar Association (ABA), took steps to limit the number of people qualified to practice law. The ABA used its influence to establish standards for approved law schools. Between 1928 and 1935, the number of students studying at non-approved law schools fell by ten thousand. At the same time, many attorneys and law professors took jobs with New Deal agencies, further reducing the number of lawyers in private or commercial practice.

THE LIMITS OF ROOSEVELT'S POWER: THE COURT-PACKING PLAN

The expansion of the power of the federal government in the 1930s met with opposition in the courts. Many New Deal programs were threatened by court decisions ruling them unconstitutional. The National Industrial Recovery Act had been rejected and the Agriculture Adjustment Act had been made unworkable by Supreme Court rulings. In order to save the New Deal, Roosevelt fixed on a plan to pack the Supreme Court with judges and officials sympathetic to the New Deal, though he presented it as a plan to reduce the workload for individual judges. On February 5, 1937, his proposals to reform the federal courts went before Congress. Unfortunately, Roosevelt had misjudged the mood of Congress and the electorate. Many state legislatures rejected the scheme, while conservative Democrats also turned against the president. The Supreme Court stood for stability, fairness, and justice. An attack on the Court was an attack on American democracy itself.

Roosevelt struggled to win people over to his ideas for reforming the federal courts. According to Roosevelt, the conservative justices were holding back important reforms that would help millions of Americans. But in fact the federal courts were beginning to change anyway. The Supreme Court Retirement Act of March 1937 allowed justices to retire at age seventy with full pay. Within four years, Roosevelt filled seven vacancies in the Supreme Court. More importantly, the court made several decisions between March and May 1937 that were in the president's favor. These included upholding the Social Security Act and the Wagner Labor Relations Act. The Court became less inclined to rule in favor of the states against the federal government, and this change in judicial direction would lead to the expansion of civil rights after World War II.

U.S. FOREIGN POLICY AND ISOLATIONISM

In the 1930s, American foreign policy was a mixture of efforts to stabilize the world economy and attempts to stay out of international affairs. Before 1933, President Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) tried to calm the international situation, but when the World Disarmament Conference failed to reach agreement in 1932, international tensions began to rise. Germany, Italy, and Japan became more aggressive, while the Soviet Union was a natural enemy of the United States because of its political system. Early in his presidency, Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) found it easier to keep to the margins of international politics. Although he negotiated trade agreements to protect the interests of American industry abroad, Roosevelt took an "isolationist" position. His priority was to solve the crisis at home.

Isolationists argued that the United States should stay out of foreign conflicts or the affairs of other nations. It was a view held by people from many different political parties; most Americans in the 1930s held isolationist views. The "Good Neighbor Policy" of 1933, which ended many years of U.S. military actions in South America, was essentially an isolationist policy. Secretary of State Cordell Hull (1871–1955) developed the policy, arguing that no nation has the right to interfere in the affairs of another. But critics noted that as the United States withdrew from military action, South American countries were more willing to allow American businesses to exploit their people and natural resources. Many saw isolationist policies as an excuse for the United States to exercise economic power.

President Roosevelt held isolationist views when he began his first term. With the Depression to deal with, and the New Deal to pay for, military action overseas was an unnecessary distraction. The Nye Investigating Committee, led by Senator Gerald Nye (1892–1971), suggested that the country had been led into World War I by unscrupulous business leaders looking to turn a profit. They used this as an argument for staying out of international affairs. Congress passed acts declaring American neutrality in 1935 and 1936. The Neutrality Act of 1937 stated that warring nations could buy American armaments but not ammunition. The United States managed to ignore Japan's threats of expansion, even when Japanese planes sank an American gunboat in December 1937. But during his second term Roosevelt became more open to international cooperation. In his famous "quarantine" speech of 1937, he called for an agreement that would put economic pressure on aggressive nations such as Germany and Japan. Roosevelt upset isolationists in Congress and the Senate with his change of heart. But when Germany invaded France in 1940, an isolationist approach to international relations could no longer be maintained.

MOB BOSSES AND BANK ROBBERS

The 1930s saw the appearance of a new kind of criminal, one who was both wealthy and powerful. The ban on alcoholic drinks during Prohibition made bootleggers (people who made and sold illegal alcohol) rich. Illegal businesses were hidden behind legitimate ones so that it became almost impossible to tell the difference. Alphonse "Al" Capone (1899–1947) was one of the most vicious and powerful of the mob leaders. He ran illegal gambling and liquor rackets and was responsible for many killings. But Capone's criminal activity was so difficult to prove that he was eventually sent to prison for nothing more than nonpayment of taxes.

In the 1930s, mob organizations operated like large corporations and had bigger ambitions than ever before. In 1929, mobsters met in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to agree on territorial boundaries. Johnny Torrio, Meyer Lansky, "Lucky" Luciano, Al Capone, and others from major cities around the country set up a commission to oversee their activities. Those who broke such agreements were dealt with violently: both Salvatore Maranzano (1868–1931) and Joe Masseria (1887–1931) were "retired" (killed) from their positions as leaders in New York in 1931 for doing so. By 1933, Lansky (1902–1983) was negotiating on a world political stage; he cut a deal with dictator Fulgencio Batista of Cuba to take control of gambling there. The U.S. government was unable to deal with the scale of the mobsters' operations. Even so, Thomas E. Dewey's (1902–1971) investigations did have some effect on exposing links between politicians and mobsters in Boston and Kansas City. Mobster "Dutch" Schultz (1902–1935) drew attention to the crime syndicate by publicly threatening to kill Dewey and was murdered as a result. On June 7, 1936, "Lucky" Luciano (1897–1962), whose gunmen had killed Schultz, was convicted on sixty-two counts of prostitution and extortion and sent to prison for between thirty and fifty years.

The great Midwestern crime wave of the 1930s made gunmen into heroes. During the Depression, outlaws were seen as outcasts and victims who were doing something to help themselves. "Pretty Boy" Floyd (1901–1934) became a latter-day Robin Hood when he burst into banks with his machine gun. Not only did he steal money, but he also took and destroyed mortgage notes, the contracts requiring people to pay off the loans on their homes. In the early 1930s, the actions of outlaws such as Clyde Barrow (1909–1934), George "Baby Face" Nelson (1908–1934), and John Dillinger (1903–1934) seemed dramatic and exciting. Hollywood

picked up on the public interest in these daredevils. The Public Enemy (1931) shows a victimized outlaw fighting to the death against ruthless law enforcement. Hundreds of similar films were made in the early 1930s.

Although the crime sprees of individual outlaws were closely followed in the newspapers and dramatized on radio news bulletins, the American public was not sympathetic when it came to punishment. Outlaws killed lawmen and special agents. They held people captive and terrorized neighborhoods. The public would not accept such violence. In the late 1930s, gangster movies began to show more interest in the side of justice. James Cagney (1904–1986), who played a glamorous criminal in The Public Enemy, moved to the other side and played a special agent in G-Men (1935).

Assassination Attempts

On February 15, 1933, in Miami, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) narrowly escaped being assassinated by Giuseppe Zangara, an unemployed laborer. Mayor of Chicago Anton J. Cermak (1873–1933) was killed instead. Zangara was executed on March 6, 1933.

On September 8, 1935, Louisiana Senator Huey P. Long was killed in Baton Rouge by Carl A. Weiss.

THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME

By 1934, the Midwestern crime wave became a national obsession. President Roosevelt (1882–1945) registered his concern in his State of the Union message that year. Attorney General Homer S. Cummings (1870–1956) came up with twelve proposals that would allow the federal government to help in a war against crime. Cummings's twelve measures are among the most important of the New Deal. They eliminated the problem of criminals escaping prosecution by crossing state lines, made it a federal offense to rob banks insured with the Deposit Insurance Corporation, and gave agents of the Bureau of Investigation (known from July 1935 as the Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI) the authority to carry weapons and to make arrests. Despite the concern of both the president and the attorney general, it took the massacre of three police officers and one unarmed agent in Kansas City to push the measures through Congress.

One of the most famous outlaws of the 1930s was John Dillinger (1902–1934). He and his gang made a series of swift and well-organized bank robberies. Using powerful cars, safe houses, and a network of spies, Dillinger managed to evade capture for many months, making dramatic escapes from small armies of government agents. Dillinger was dubbed "public enemy number one," and the publicity of his exploits embarrassed the Bureau of Investigation. Nevertheless, FBI agents finally tracked their man, shooting and killing Dillinger on July 22, 1934.

The hunt for Dillinger did help to hone law enforcement officers' skills at catching outlaws. In the following two years they killed "Pretty Boy" Floyd, "Baby Face" Nelson, "Ma" Barker and her son Fred and arrested Alvin "Creepy" Karpis. As a result of these manhunts, the Bureau of Investigation gained its reputation as the country's top law enforcement agency.

PROHIBITION

The manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic drinks became illegal in the United States with the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution on January 16, 1920. The Volstead Act was intended to help enforce the new law. At the time, support for Prohibition was widespread. As late as 1928, Prohibition still had majority popular support. But illegal or not, many people still wanted to drink. Production of alcohol at home was restricted to illegal breweries and liquor stills, but liquor flooded across the border from Canada and was smuggled in from Europe. Bootleggers were so confident they would not be caught that they set up a pipeline to pump liquor from boats off the Jersey coast to their trucks on the shore. Illegal clubs known as "speakeasies" made alcoholic drinks available in most towns and cities. By 1930, Prohibition had given gangsters the opportunity to become rich and powerful. Attorney General William D. Mitchell (1874–1975) campaigned for more funds to catch bootleggers. But as the prisons filled up, Prohibition became less popular. By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) took office in 1933, support for repeal was strong. The Twenty-first Amendment, repealing the Eighteenth, was put to the states for ratification in February 1933. On December 5 it became law. In 2001 the Eighteenth Amendment remains the only constitutional amendment to have been repealed.