Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn in as the 32nd President of the United States on March 4, 1933.
The United States and the rest of the world were slipping into a worsening economic depression, and Fascism and Communism were growing in strength and influence. Democratic governments appeared weak, corrupt and ineffectual.
Some very somber and conservative individuals thought the United States was headed toward civil unrest and possible revolution.
This intriguing one-hour film documents a few of the younger players that surrounded Roosevelt in the early days of his administration.
Some forty years ago James Roosevelt, James A. Farley, Henry Wallace, Thomas G. Corcoran, and Ernest Lindley sat in a television studio and talked about those early years working for FDR. The film also includes Roosevelt's inaugural speech and his soaring "nothing to fear" determination.
Kevin Phillips, the author of the recently published Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism, has said, "The crisis is no longer in the future, but upon us."
Americans in 1933 knew full well that a very real crisis was upon them. They spoke angrily about bankers and speculators. Talk of class war was in the air. Farmers complained about the low prices they got for the crops they raised. Disgust was directed at the railroads and the assorted monopolies that had a grip on America. Herbert Hoover's Republican party and the decaying plutocracy that had supported it had become an obstacle that needed to be kicked aside.
No you certainly cannot draw exact parallels between today and the Great Depression, but there are some uncomfortable connections. It remains to be seen if we Americans are today bold enough to embark on a totally new direction. Go to FDR. It takes a moment for the film to start.
Interesting to hear Wallace refering to the Smedley Darlington Butler coup plot. Perhaps another warning for these times.