LAD #33: FDR's First Inaugural Address

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first inaugural address outlined, in broad terms, how he hoped to govern. FDR reminded Americans that the nation's "common difficulties" concerned "only material things." The speech was almost entirely composed of the issues of the economy at the time: The Great Depression. He outline his plan to fix the economy, which included putting as many people to work as possible. FDR stated that international trade would not be a priority anymore because the country needed to fix the emergency at home first. He addresses the issue of the depression as if it were a war. He expresses his hope for Congress to accept the laws he proposed quickly. He states that he "shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis-broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe." This statement foreshadows the extreme power FDR would exercise during his time as president through the attempted stacking of the Supreme Court and other measures.