This paper will look at the similarities and differences in the Presidencies of Barack Obama and Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt became President during a trying time for America. The Great Depression was in full swing caused by the fact that Wall Street and the banks had collapsed causing millions of people or about 25 percent of the population. to be without jobs or financial security (Hiltzik). When Roosevelt came into office he put together an economic package known as the New Deal in order to help alleviate the crisis and get men back to work.
Almost seventy years later in 2008 the country was in a recession due to another Wall Street and the banks once again collapsed due in part because of large corporations like GM defaulting on loans. …show more content…
On the other hand, President Obama has been successful in decreasing the unemployment rate, albeit slowly. However, the economic issue that was inherited by President Obama was not anywhere near as bad as it was during The Depression, the unemployment rate in 2008 was around 9 percent, while the unemployment rate at the beginning of Roosevelt’s term was 25 percent with over 9000 banks failing compared to only 57 and the Dow dropping to 89.2 percent in 1932 compared to it falling 53.8 percent between 2007-2009 (United States Government Accountability Office). So while President Obama came into a bad situation it was nowhere near as bad as the one that Roosevelt inherited. The truth is the situation during the Great Depression despite the stories was not as bad as it seemed. Much (75%) of the population still had jobs. Nevertheless, there was a deep seeded fear amongst the populace that they too were going to lose everything as the Great Depression had already been happening for three years before Roosevelt took office. This fear was crucial to Roosevelt getting Congress to pass many of his laws …show more content…
This was because the economy and businesses were still powerful enough to stop him from implementing his plans. The fact that much of the country was not feeling the effects of the recession also made it so they saw actions put forth by President Obama like the Stimulus Plan as being an example of big government getting involved in the affairs of the populace where in their minds they had no right to be. Nevertheless, the Stimulus Plan which was part of the Recovery Act that President Obama put through was crucial in preventing the country from getting into a full on Depression. This prevention of failure will never receive the same appreciation as being brought out of financial decline. In order to achieve the support of big business and Congress President Obama had to make a number of concessions. One of these was bailing out GM and Wells Fargo in order to prevent the automobile and banking industries from total collapse. Like President Obama, Roosevelt had to cede some of his ideas to big business in order to gain support for the New Deal, reform of Wall Street and Recovery Act.
Outside of the way the both Presidents Roosevelt and Obama dealt with the economy. There is also the way that they each approach military conflict. It was under Roosevelt that America finally entered the Second World War after spending much of it neutral.