F.D.R. was elected governor of New York in 1928. The same
year that he was invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention in
support of Alfred Smith, the democrat nominee that year. Roosevelt showed
marked recovery from the crippling effects of polio by wearing braces and
“walking” to the podium to speak. Roosevelt won the gubernatorial election by
0.5% of the vote.
The main challenge of Roosevelt’s administration was the
Great Depression. This economic catastrophe was caused by many of the same factors
that caused the recession of 2008: overpriced stocks, overpriced housing, too
much foreign and domestic debt, and manipulated banking.
Initially FDR
governed the state with the hope that the poor economy would recover on its
own. It did not recover fast enough for his taste, so he decided that the
government should step in. He lowered taxes on farmers and began to develop
public power utilities. The legislature even passed a public works program to
ease increasing unemployment in the state.
Along with these public
works projects, he also increased regulations on businesses. He increased
funding for rural education. To raise the price of food commodities, he
instituted the first government program in the nation that paid farmers to not
grow crops (farm subsidies). Other progressive legislation that was passed was
The New York State Unemployment Relief Act and the New York State Temporary
Relief Administration (TERA).
These programs provided funding to 10% of families living in New York.
The motivation behind Roosevelt’s inclusion of government in
the solution for economic problems of the late 20s and early 30s was his
adherence to the Social
Gospel movement. This movement began as a reaction to labor and living
conditions that came along with the Industrial Age. It also grew out of the
Second Great Awakening which focused on eradicating social issues like
drinking, prostitution, and slavery more than focusing on redeeming the souls
of individual sinners.
The goal of the Social Gospel was to focus on societal sins
of poverty and racial inequality. Followers of this philosophy believed that
people could gain salvation through building the “kingdom of God on this
earth.” This is a heretical belief because Christianity is based on the
salvation of the individual and his choice to follow Christ.
Adherents to Social Gospel were also influenced by the
Higher Criticism and the teachings of Charles Darwin. The Higher Criticism
taught that the Bible is not literally true. Biblical stories can give insight
into the nature of God, but not nature itself. This belief opened the door to
Darwin and the eventual exclusion of God in the teaching of science in
schools.
The Great Depression of the early 30s continued to worsen.
Herbert Hoover’s policies were not working as quickly as the American people
had hoped. The Social Gospel was spreading. This left the door open for
Franklin D. Roosevelt to make a run for the White House.
