Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his first Congress

264 Pages·011.241 MB·English

by  Hinkston, Eugene Robert

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT AND HIS FIRST CONGRESS
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of History
University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts in History
by
Eugene Robert Hinkston
August 1950
UMI Number: EP59627
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This thesis, written by
................
under the guidance of //la.— Faculty Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been
presented to and accepted by the Council on
Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfill­
ment of the requirements for the degree of
Mas ter. of... Art s
Dean
Date... Aug.ua t.. .1.9-50.
Faculty Committee
/Fj-zTft
’Cl*-
,
Chairman
History shows that great economic and
social forces flow like a tide over communities
only half conscious of that which is befalling
them* Wise statesmen foresee what time is thus
bringing and try to shape institutions and mold
menfs thoughts and purposes in accordance with
the change that is silently coming on*
John Stuart Hill
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
X. AMERICAN LIFE, 1860-1935. . . . ............ ' . . 1
Industrialism and urbanism. . ........... 1
The loss of security......................... 9
The loss of employment. ................... 15
The loss of income.......................... 23
The loss of direction .....................31
II. THE NEW PRESIDENT ................... 39
An unknown quantity................... 39
A bird to be watched......................... 40
Testing time, 1913-1928 . . . . . . • • • • • • 46
The New Deal Governor................... 52
Resume............... 63
III. THE NEW CONGRESS................... 65
Introduction................................ 65
Public opinion and the economic crisis. • • • • 65
Other reasons for action and acquiescence . . . 70
The House--docile and confused. .............. 76
The Senate— undistinguished but unbowed • • • • 89
IV. THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS: DIRECT CONTROLS. . . 102
The President as leader of his party. • • • • . 102
Jackson-Lincoln-Roosevelt: the strong
Executive tradition • . • 107
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
The conference as a medium of control...... 110
The telephone as a medium of control • • .. . • 121
Democratic controls in Congress. • •......... 123
Congressional leadership and the powers of
the President. . . . . . . . 127
The House: traditional devices of control . • 150
Special control procedures • • • • • • • . . • 132
Senate controls and procedures ............ • 139
V. THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS: INDIRECT CONTROLS . 144
Coworkers in government................... 144
Building public pressure: the ^slavish1*
press................................... .. 151
The fireside chat. .............. . . . . • • 155
Building agreement in Congress: the
patronage persuader......................161
Compromise and the subtle controls • • • • • • 166
VI. THE EARLY REBELS............................177
Introduction to the opposition .............. 177
Major lobbies and pressure groups............ 182
The nature of party opposition .............. 199
The nature of individual opposition. • • • • • 208
VII. RESUME AND CONCLUSIONS......................219
BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................... 227
APPENDIX................... 236'
LIST OP TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I# Index of American business activity, • • • • • • . 12
II. Comparison of employment and pay rolls in
manufacturing establishments In November, 1931,
and November, 1932 ..........• • • • • • • • • 20
III., Dates on which action was taken on fifteen major
proposals for legislation submitted by
President Roosevelt during the special session • 114
*
IV. The Presidential veto since 1889 • • . • • • « • • 198
V. The Business Week roundup, 1935 compared with
1934 ............................. 225
LIST OP FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE
1* Monthly index of business activity. .......... 224
INTRODUCTION
The timeleaa pursuit of the people has been the
achievement of satisfying social living for everyone* This
is history; the evolution toward the democratic ideal* What
tremendous gains have been made in 10 mil Ioniums against the
ignorance and impotencies of 100* Law has been invented to
govern that which was ungovernable and men have yielded
their spirits to it in ever increasing numbers* When know­
ledge has interrupted docility the people have demanded a
greater share in the management of their own affairs* And
we are just on the threshold*
Despots still dictate and kings have only lately be­
come figure-heads* Most of the world is uneasy and our age
is characterized by a great imbalance* Knowledge has de­
veloped unevenly* One may see this in China where an ele­
mental stick dumbly scratches out a path for an air trans­
port* It is equally apparent in the councils of nations
where the crude club of militarism is still used to beat out
a pathway for peace* But the dichotomy of the twentieth
century is not essentially national or racial in its essence*
In his quest for satisfying social living, man has developed
one kind of knowledge quite to the exclusion of all other
kinds* Thus it is that we bask in a mechanical culture where
the hazards of living have been reduced to a proper
viii
manipulation of switches and knobs. Time and space have
assumed new meaning and the machine has relieved the hand
so much that the workman is now subjected to compensation
and retirement laws. Still we fear for our lives.
Knowledge about man has been slighted. The world has
too long assumed that security was a piece of cake to be
purchased from the appropriate artisan. In this crucial age
the very existence of the human race is threatened by the
uneven race between science and ethics. A great bending of
the haughty spirit is required by each for the salvation of
all — but the people have had little training in humility.
There have been disastrously few public men who were con­
cerned with the social living of all the people.
George Bancroft has said that "the public happiness
is the true object of legislation.” If one accepts that
premise it will be apparent that a reorientation of one kind
or another was inevitable in the development of the American
culture. Several attempts at this redirection of affairs
might be cited. It is the writer’s contention, however, that
the most notable and purposeful of these began to run its
course on Inauguration Day, 1953.
What kind of men were establishing the laws in 1933?
What prompted them to act? Did they legislate for the "public
happiness”? What special attributes did the President have?
How was the President assisted in his program by the economic