Student Question
Who were the critics of Roosevelt's policies and what were their views?
Quick answer:
Critics of Roosevelt's policies emerged from both the left and right. Leftists, including Senator Huey Long, criticized him for inaction, advocating wealth redistribution and nationalization of industries, and suggesting Stalin's Five Year Plans as a model. On the right, he was seen as a traitor to his class, accused of socialism for reforms like the Tennessee Valley Authority, and criticized for constitutional overreach and increased national debt without solving economic issues.
From the left, Franklin Roosevelt was accused of too much inaction. Men such as Senator Huey Long from Louisiana thought that wealth should be redistributed by a one hundred percent tax on the highest incomes. Francis Townsend gained support in California as he devised what would later become the Social Security Act. Leftists in government thought that Roosevelt should nationalize the steel industry, banking, and other utilities. They also thought that he should look to Stalin's Five Year Plans as a future model for American economic success.
On the right, Roosevelt was called a traitor to his class in that he did not do enough to help the rich and tried to reform Wall Street and banking. His National Industrial Recovery Act was deemed unconstitutional and his court-packing plan ran afoul of those who interpreted the Constitution strictly. Roosevelt was denounced as a socialist for getting the government involved in the utility business with Tennessee Valley Authority. Others pointed out that the economy still dipped and wavered no matter what the government did and that all of these programs were creating a large debt and not fixing any greater problems. Others claimed (correctly) that Roosevelt had no strategy and that he was only trying programs to see which would work.
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