First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt Primary Source Review 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) was the thirty-second President of the United States and was by far one of America's most beloved and favored presidents but his actions were not without controversy. Some of these actions allowed him stand out compared to every other previous president. For example, FDR was willing to step outside of the Constitutional Rules and presidential norms that were given to him and would use his power whether it was accepted or not. In addition, Roosevelt was one of America’s most unique presidents. For instance, FDR was America’s first disabled president, was related to multiple presidents and government figures from the past, and married his distant cousin. Roosevelt’s presidency lasted twelve years and he was elected a total of four total times to the position of President of the United States. Unfortunately, when he was elected for his fourth term, he passed away from a hemorrhagic stroke within the first six months making this his last term. Throughout Roosevelt’s lengthy presidency, he faced many of America’s largest economic, financial, and foreign affairs issues. Despite the wide range of challenges Roosevelt was presented with while he was in office, he was able to guide America through some of its rough patches and become one of the nation’s most influential and memorable presidents. In Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s speech, “First Inaugural Address”, he discusses America’s largest issues, provides words of courage, and states the actions and methods he wants to do in order to resolve these issues.

At the time FDR delivered this speech, America was in an extremely difficult spot due to the Great Depression. The true American spirit and pioneer mentality had seemed to be decreasing, the U.S. workforce consisted of very few jobs and if someone were to find a job, the wages were very low. Due to the lack of jobs many people found themselves unemployed, especially people that fell under racial or ethnic minority groups. Also the banks and the banking system(s) were quite unorganized and consistently failed our economy. Overall, our country was in desperate need of help and former President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, presented his promises and ideas to resolve these issues during his first presidency.

Even though our nation was in an unstable economic and financial state, Roosevelt had believed that the American people had no need to panic because we would eventually overcome our shared struggles. In the very beginning of his speech, FDR clearly states a few areas where our main problems were believed to be stemming from. One opinion he argues is that the American people are no longer focused on building themselves up economically, instead, they are only concerned about material objects and what they can possibly do to make themselves happy through these objects. Another point Roosevelt argues is that one of our biggest downfalls was the high unemployment rate and low wages earned for those who were employed. Due to the Great Depression, many markets had collapsed. One main market that had drastically collapsed was the job market. Banks could no longer afford to loan companies or businesses money, so rates of production slowed, workers were laid off, wages drastically decreased, and there was very little chance for employment opportunities. Due to the lack or work available and less money circulating through the American people’s pocket, our economy was negatively impacted. According to FDR, “More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return”(Roosevelt, 1933, Pg.1). In an attempt to solve this specific problem, FDR proposed the idea that it is the government’s duty to provide its citizens with work and treat this as if it were an emergency. Also, people that were viewed as racial or ethinc minorities had a much harder time finding work compared to those who were not in these minority groups.

Next, Roosevelt thoroughly discusses how the banks, banking system(s), and the people controlling the banks were responsible for the unstable condition that America was in. One large contributing factor that worsened the Great Depression and economic position of our country was people’s misuse of credit. People would consistently buy items with credit, and as their debt accumulated they could not pay back the amount the bank had loaned them. Because the banks were not receiving payments from their debtors, they often failed. At the time, economists had believed that loaning out more money could possibly resolve this situation, but this idea failed miserably. In the speech Roosevelt argues the banking system needs to be restored, people need to watch how they are spending money, especially when it comes to lines of credit, and acknowledges the failure in credit and loaning of more money. Roosevelt said, “Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money...We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths...there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits...there must be an end with speculation with other people’s money…”(Roosevelt, 1933, Pg. 1-2).

Lastly, FDR argues that we, the people, must act quickly to boost our agricultural industry. Due to a large amount of crops and very few buyers purchasing them, the value of American crops and resources significantly dropped. Many farmers fell into debt and ended up having their properties foreclosed upon. FDR supports this by saying, “...raise the values of agricultural products...It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms...We must act and act quickly” (Roosevelt, 1933, Pg. 2).

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a man of action. He promised that he would do his personal best to restore America. As a result of this promise, he developed the New Deal. Part of this called for the development of numerous government agencies and groups, some of which specifically functioned to solve the issues and arguments he had mentioned in his inaugural speech. But, at times Roosevelt took actions that people did not always appreciate or support. For instance, FDR stepped outside of the Presidential standards and Constitutional guidelines and used his war powers in an alarming way. FDR was willing to use these war powers when he deemed them necessary, even if it was not in a true time of war. He did not care if other people disagreed with these actions, instead, he would overstep them. This was quite alarming because it seemed as if America was once again being ruled by a Monarch.

In conclusion, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an influential, memorable, and driven man. FDR’s determination to restore America was astounding, especially because he was willing to step outside of the box if need be. Even though his actions were sometimes frowned upon, his overall effort and love for America eventually allowed our nation to strengthen and move past our days in the Great Depression. His speech, “First Inaugural Address”, does an amazing job of capturing his determination and love for the U.S. and still is an amazing document almost 86 years later.