Franklin D. Roosevelts Main Achievements

Introduction

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the only US president to be elected 4 times in a row. Therefore, his presidency lasted a long period from 1933 to 1945. Not surprisingly, the politicians reforms were generally perceived as successful. The most important achievements of Franklin D. Roosevelt were the development of the New Deal and the Second New Deal to overcome the Great Depression, and his foreign policy. This paper discusses three main contributions of Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidency.

The Main Contributions of Franklin D. Roosevelt to American Policy

New Deal

The first and most prominent achievement was the introduction of New Deal policies to overcome the Great Depression. In particular, bank reform laws, emergency relief programs, worker relief programs, and agricultural programs were passed (President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, para. 3). Despite the overall success of the New Deal, many Americans remained unemployed for many years and sentiment began to lean towards the political left. Roosevelt foresaw this, and by 1936 had developed the Second New Deal.

Second New Deal

The Second New Deal included measures such as the Social Security Act, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the Wagner Act. The Social Security Act provided universal unemployment and disability insurance and old-age pensions (The Second New Deal, para. 4). Equally important, the WPA guaranteed useful work for the unemployed, such as building bridges and roads, to preserve their skills and build their self-respect.

Foreign Policy

The foreign policy of Franklin D. Roosevelt included a policy of neutrality. Between 1935 and 1939 Congress passed five distinct neutrality laws that prohibited American involvement in foreign conflicts (Leuchtenburg, para. 5). These laws were associated with the peace movement and the widespread belief that US intervention in the Great War was fruitless. Roosevelt took active steps to soften the neutrality laws and insisted on the need for tough game and isolation of the aggressor (Leuchtenburg, para. 5). At the same time, critics note that Roosevelt was extremely reluctant to resist isolationist sentiments.

Conclusion

Thus, the three main contributions of Franklin D. Roosevelt to American policy were discussed. His main contribution to overcoming the consequences of the Great Depression was the policies of the New Deal and the Second New Deal. Roosevelts foreign policy was less successful, as he did not actively resist isolationist sentiments on the eve of World War II. A more active position of the president at that time was necessary to rally the European countries in opposition to Nazism.