Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New DealFranklin D. Roosevelt and the New DealAs one of the greatest presidents in American history, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) saved the United States from Great Depression making his famous “A New Deal.” But criticism of FDR's New Deal has never stopped since the day it was created. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in his article “FDR Was Overrated” notes that “…the government spending that revived economic activity under Roosevelt had extremely damaging consequences for the rest of the 20th century.” (Evans-Pritchard, 24) William J. Barber also laments that FDR's New Deal gave America a "great government legacy." Do these words really tell the truth about what happened in the 1930s? Is this fair to FDR's great attempt to help the nation recover from the Great Depression? To answer these questions we should have a basic understanding of FDR himself. Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park, New York, on January 30, 1882. In 1903, he completed his law studies at Columbia University and practiced law at a major law firm in New York City. He entered politics in 1910 and was elected as a Democrat to the New York State Senate from his traditionally Republican home district. In 1905 he married a distant cousin, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, granddaughter of President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was re-elected to the State Senate in 1912. In 1928 Roosevelt was elected governor. After his re-election as governor in 1930, Roosevelt began campaigning for the presidency. His activist approach and personal charm helped defeat Hoover in November 1932 by seven million votes. Roosevelt easily defeated Alfred M. Landon in 1936 and went on to defeat by smaller margins, Wendell... mid-card... a surprising success. Mr. Roosevelt may have given the wrong answers to many of his problems. But he is the first president of modern America who asked the right questions. Bibliography: Work Cited Barber, William J., "FDR's big Government legacy" Regional Review, Summer97, vol. 7 Issue 3, p18Center for New Deal Studies – Roosevelt University http://www.roosevelt.edu/newdeal/Edsforth, Ronald The New Deal – America's Response to the Great Depression The Blackwell Publishers. Malden, Massachusetts. 2000Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose. “FDR was overrated” Alberta Report/Newsmagazine, 5/29/95, vol. 22 Number 24, p23"FDR and the New Deal"Economist, 12/31/99, vol. 353 Number 8151, Millennium Issue p49 Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/New Deal Network http://Newdeal.feri.org/