Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States. He took office in 1933, in the midst of the very worst part of the Great Depression. At the time he was elected, about 13 million Americans were unemployed. His first action as president was to close all banks for a number of days (from March 6 to March 10, 1933), during which time Congress met to discuss banking legislation reform. This shutdown was called a "bank holiday."

At the time, it was somewhat dangerous to keep your money in the bank. If the bank made bad investments, you could quickly lose your money. Because of this, if a bank was even rumored to be unreliable, patrons would withdraw their money and the bank would be forced to close. Over 5,000 banks had gone out of business by the time FDR was elected.

On March 9, 1933, FDR presented Congress with the "Emergency Banking Act," which passed quickly and unanimously. This new legislation required banks to prove financially sound before reopening, as well as broadening the powers of the president and the secretary of treasury in a banking crisis. The Emergency Banking Act is considered a success.

Speaking of the situation, FDR said, “I can assure you that it is safer to keep your money in a reopened bank than under the mattress.” (Fireside Chat, March 12, 1933)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) was inaugurated as President on March 4, 1933. The very next day, he issued Proclamation 2038, which convened an Emergency Session of Congress, which met on March 9th.  From that date until June 16th, fifteen legislative proposals were enacted into law in what has become known as "The First Hundred Days." However, on March 6th, he issued Proclamation 2039, in which he declared a "Bank Holiday," which shut down the banking industry for several days.  Additionally, by this proclamation, he effectively took the United States off the gold standard by forbidding bank transactions in gold, supposedly deriving his authority to do so by invoking provisions of the Trading With the Enemy Act of 1917.

What was Franklin D. Roosevelt's first major action as president?

Franklin Roosevelt ran for president in 1932 on the platform of alleviating the pain caused by the Great Depression. The early part of 1933 was the bottom of the Depression—banks were closing daily as depositors came to the bank to collect their money; often, they would find that it was not there. This only fueled further bank panics and caused banks to close. Franklin Roosevelt passed the Emergency Banking Act, closing down the nation's banks and allowing government inspectors to see which banks could survive. This put an end to the run on the banks and allowed the panic to subside. Roosevelt then used the radio and broadcast his first Fireside Chat, in which he urged people to have faith in the nation's banking system and that the money was safer there than in mattresses and jars at home. Roosevelt's direct appeal to the American people further calmed them. While at this time there was no comprehensive plan to end the Depression, the people at least had faith that the government was sensitive to their pain. Roosevelt's closing of the banks demonstrated that he was willing to put the federal government directly in the people's day-to-day lives.