The U.S. Government's Response
"The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."
-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The Great Depression truly was a surprise. Who would have expected such a powerful country's economy to collapse? As it collapsed, the American dream also began to fade away. It was time for the government to take action, to prevent the United States from falling into a Dark Age. The U.S. government's response to the Great Depression began with a new president. In 1933, replacing President Herbert Hoover was President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The majority of American citizens felt that President Franklin D. Roosevelt would be more capable of pulling the United States out of the Great Depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt quickly began working on his vision for the new United States, the 3 R's: relief, recovery and reform. He successfully achieved these through the New Deal and the Social Security Act.