Historical Reflection

If I were to run into a famous historical figure in college, it would probably be President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was a huge part of my learning of the Great Depression and New Deal, and he's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about what I've learned this year in History.

He would visit my college campus and give a speech about the Great Depression and tell us not to worry about how our lives would go after this--that we would lead better lives and not worry about the horrible economy of our childhood.

"To the men and women whose lives have been darkened by the fact or the fear of unemployment, I am justified in saying a word of encouragement because the codes and the agreements already approved, or about to be passed upon, prove that the plan does raise wages, and that it does put people back to work. You can look on every employer who adopts the plan as one who is doing his part, and those employers deserve well of every-one who works for a living. It will be clear to you, as it is to me, . that while the shirking employer may undersell his competitor, the saving he thus makes is made at the expense of his country's welfare."

He would say this to reassure us and give us hope for the future. He would tell us about everything he's doing and how he's going to fix the things Hoover never dealt with. I would raise my hand and ask him what exactly he's going to do. He would give an example of one of his New Deal Programs.

"Let us use common sense and business sense. Just as one example, we know that a very hopeful and immediate means of relief, both for the unemployed and for agriculture, will come from a wide plan of the converting of many millions of acres of marginal and unused land into timberland through reforestation. There are tens of millions of acres east of the Mississippi River alone in abandoned farms, in cut-over land, now growing up in worthless brush. Why, every European Nation has a definite land policy, and has had one for generations. We have none. Having none, we face a future of soil erosion and timber famine. It is clear that economic foresight and immediate employment march hand in hand in the call for the reforestation of these vast areas. In so doing, employment can be given to a million men. That is the kind of public work that is self-sustaining, and therefore capable of being financed by the issuance of bonds which are made secure by the fact that the growth of tremendous crops will provide adequate security for the investment. Yes, I have a very definite program for providing employment by that means. I have done it, and I am doing it today in the State of New York. I know that the Democratic Party can do it successfully in the Nation. That will put men to work, and that is an example of the action that we are going to have."

He would close with a line he had said before, in his Inaugural speech.

"In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come."

Everyone would clap and rush up to shake his hand before he left because he was famous and they loved him.

Sources:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/fireside.php
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=14488
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/
http://130.18.140.19/stennis/FDRnewdeal.html