June 16, 1933
Franklin Roosevelt passes four acts of legislation into law, marking the end of his First One Hundred Days in office. During his first three months in office FDR passed an unprecedented 15 major laws.
When Franklin Roosevelt took the oath of office on March 3, 1933, America was facing the worst economic depression it had ever seen. One out of every four workers were out of work. The situation was so dire that it required quick and decisive action. As soon as the inauguration ceremony was over, President Roosevelt got to work. He closed all the banks and established an Emergency Banking Act to re-instill public confidence in the banking system. FDR created programs to help the unemployed through public works programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and unemployment money relief through the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). He pushed through Congress the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) to help farmers and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to provide irrigation and electricity to the rural poor in the Tennessee River Valley. The barrage of legislation culminated with the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), an act designed to promote government and business cooperation on price setting, prevent unfair competition, and create a large-scale public works program. President Roosevelt's First One Hundred Days ended when Congress adjourned its session on June 16, 1933.
No other President has ever taken on such an ambitious program of reform in such a short amount of time. President Roosevelt's landmark legislation has since become the benchmark to which all successive Presidents are measured.
