Fdr's Legacy

Few people have had a greater impact on the presidency of this nation than Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York, FDR was got a reputation has a liberal reformer while governor of New York. During is time as president from 1933 - 1945 Roosevelt faced many challenges, including the Great Depression and World War II. It is his actions during these times of crisis that would forever change the presidency. The actions that FDR took doing his terms in office reshaped the presidency and the Executive branch of government.

As soon as FDR took office he began to combat the Great Depression. He did so by instituting a great number of new federal programs. Some of the first were the Securities Act and the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The new programs that FDR proposed and got passed not only gave the federal government more power over the nation's economy, but also cemented the president's spot as chief legislator. However, FDR soon realized that the job of coordinating all these new programs and getting the information they needed was too much for him and his few assistants to handle. It was for this reason that the Reorganization Act of 1939 was passed.

The Reorganization Act of 1939 created the Executive Office of the President (EOP). This new agency gave FDR the full-time staff that he needed. FDR also moved the Bureau of the Budget, now called the Office of Management and Budget, into the EOP. This gave FDR more power and control over the nation's budget as he could now make it more responsive to his wishes. This, combined with the many new programs he implemented greatly increased the president's role as the chief economic planner for the country.

With the turmoil the country was going through and all of the new policies and that he was implementing, FDR realized that he need to reassure the nation that the actions he were taking were the right ones and calm