FDR's New Deal

"I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people."
– Franklin D. Roosevelt, accepting the Democratic Party nomination for President, 1932²⁵

"Vote! Vote! We want beer!"
– A mob of U.S. Representatives, chanting from the Senate balcony to pressure their Senate colleagues into voting to end Prohibition, 1933²⁶

"Given later developments, the campaign speeches often read like a giant misprint, in which Roosevelt and Hoover speak each other's lines."
– Roosevelt adviser Marriner Eccles, on the campaign of 1932²⁷

"Franklin D. Roosevelt is a highly impressionistic person, without a firm grasp of public affairs and without very strong convictions... He is a pleasant man who, without any important qualifications for the office, would very much like to be president."
– Journalist Walter Lippman, 1932²⁸

"This is a hell raiser, not a revenue raiser."
– A U.S. Congressman, describing Roosevelt's 1935 "Wealth Tax," which symbolically soaked the rich²⁹

"I've got to get legislation passed by Congress to save America. The Southerners... occupy strategic places on most of the Senate and House committees. If I come out for the antilynching bill now, they will block every bill I ask Congress to pass to keep America from collapsing. I just can't take that risk."
– Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1938³⁰

"The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."
– Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932³¹