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(dog barking)
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(somber music)
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- [Voiceover] In a
little less than a year,
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the financial crisis reached a new level
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and spread to the whole country.
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In the countryside, the
situation was alarming.
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Worse than that of the cities.
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Wheat went down 50 percent in value.
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The spectacular fall in farm
prices hit farmers hard.
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And their produce became unsellable.
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There were millions of tons of food,
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but no one could afford to buy.
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Farmers could no longer pay their debts,
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were thrown off their land,
and took to the roads.
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- The plight everybody identifies with.
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The plight of homelessness,
of poverty, of no work,
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of family disintegration
becomes a universal plight.
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- People were looking
for new places to work,
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and so there was this
sense of moving around.
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Also moving out of the agricultural states
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which were particularly badly affected.
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- There are mass migrations
out of the middle west
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of evicted farmers looking
desperately for work someplace.
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Migrant labor of some kind or another.
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- And many of them lost
their farms at this time.
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And this was in the early 1930s.
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And farm evictions were a
terrible stain upon society.
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Many farmers were evicted because
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they rented their land
or they owned their land
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and they couldn't keep up the payments.
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- Farmers out in the midwest
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are forcibly stopping auctions
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from happening by evicted farmers.
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When the judge shows up
to auction off the farm,
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the farmer's neighbors gather
and pay a penny for that farm,
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don't let anybody else bid,
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and return the farm to the evicted farmer.
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(inaudible salesman)
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- In rural areas, you'd
have no place to go.
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And what you have here,
what the real tragedy is
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that's kind of stupid
irony that you have farmers
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destroying their crops because
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they literally can't afford
to take them to market
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for the prices they're getting
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and people are going without food.
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You have people cold and without clothing
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when the warehouses are
bulging with clothing.
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You have homes and
apartments standing empty
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while people are having to sleep
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in the streets and on the subway,
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and in the subways and so forth.
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It's that irony that really was
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grating about the depression.
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- Here was an economic system that blew up
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between 1929 and 1932, and when you've got
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an explosion of this
kind, it's very difficult
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to just stick the bits
together again and carry on
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as if nothing happened.
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- The steel industry is operating by 1931
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at ten percent of its capacity.
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Unemployment will soon approach
25 percent of the workforce.
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There was a kind of
agitation in the country.
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There was turmoil, then there was strikes
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going on and their were picket
lines and demonstrations.
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The Communist Party was leading a struggle
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for the rights of workers.
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There's something about the poverty,
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the conditions of that
time which made many people
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feel that, "Yes, this
is the only organization
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"that is doing something
about the depression."
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- All the social
insurgencies of the 1930s,
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whether they're anti-monopoly movements
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or farmer labor independent
political parties,
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have a heavy quotient
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of progressive and radical militants.
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The labor movement in
the 1930s inconceivable
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without the role, vital role,
played by militant cadre
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from the Communist Party
and the Socialist Party.
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(demonstrators yelling)
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(gunshots)
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- [Voiceover] In Ford factories
where the number of workers
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had dropped from 130,000 to 37,000,
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those who were lucky
enough to keep their jobs
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saw their monthly salary
fall from 50 to 16 dollars.
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And when they went on strike,
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the police opened fire on them.
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Five were killed and dozens wounded.
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- Herbert Hoover does certain
things which are so offensive.
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And perhaps the most
offensive thing he does
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is to send troops to break up
what is called the Bonus Army,
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which is gathered in Washington,
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and these are veterans of World War I,
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to demand an early payment of the bonuses
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that were promised them when they returned
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from the European War in 1918.
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- 12, 14,000 came from
all over the country.
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They road the rails, mounted
trains they couldn't afford.
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Every way they could, they
came to Washington DC.
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They presented a petition to Congress,
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and Congress rejected it.
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They sort of set up camp on the mall,
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which became the sort of Hooverville
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of the Bonus Expeditionary Force.
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Some of the people who had come went home.
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Some really didn't have
any reason to go home,
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so they just stayed on.
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And they were no threat to anybody.
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- [Voiceover] Hoover allowed himself
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to be led astray by two soldiers.
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Major Dwight D. Eisenhower,
future US president,
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and above all, General Douglass MacArthur.
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Douglass MacArthur,
you have to understand,
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was the kind of person who once
he got an idea in his head,
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it never occurred to him
that it could be wrong.
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And he got the idea in his head
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that these people represented
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a grave threat to the republic.
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That they might somehow storm
Congress or do something.
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I mean these were families.
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They're not just an army.
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They're not armed or anything.
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And he began to put this to Hoover.
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And finally, MacArthur persuaded him
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that this was indeed a threat.
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- And Hoover sent out the
military to shoot at them.
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It was disastrous.
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- [Voiceover] Under General
MacArthur's command,
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four cavalry platoons, an infantry column
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equipped with bayonets and gas masks,
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and six tanks attacked
and set fire to shacks.
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(somber music)
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Two people were shot dead, and a third,
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a two month old baby, suffocated
to death from tear gas.
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00:09:02,394 --> 00:09:04,494
Another child was more fortunate.
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As he tried to return to his
shack to get his teddy bear,
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a soldier stopped him by
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stabbing him in the legs with his bayonet.
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- It was an ugly thing.
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And what it did, and the
reaction of the American people
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was "Herbert Hoover must
have lost his mind."
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This destroyed the last
shred of credibility he had.
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MacArthur, because he was MacArthur,
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went to his grave believing
he'd saved the republic
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from, you know, a revolution.
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- In great irony that the heroes of,
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military heroes of World War II MacArthur
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as now would attack the
veterans of World War I
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and break up the Bonus Army.
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- And this so angers people.
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It's such a brutal kind
of callous indifference
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to the plight of Americans.
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- That incident basically
killed Hoover's reputation.
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I mean his reputation
was already in disrepair
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over the bad economic policies.
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That was disastrous for
Hoover's approval ratings.
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- [Voiceover] Prosperity
is just around the corner!
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- [Voiceover] What we'd like
to know is which corner.
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We've turned so many
corners now we're dizzy.
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- [Voiceover] But still I'm
positive we'll soon be busy!
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- Hoover again with great reluctance
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begins to establish some
minimal forms of federal relief.
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But all of Hoover's
actions don't measure up
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to the dimensions of the crisis.
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They don't come close to measuring up
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to the severity of the crisis.
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- The governor of New York, remember,
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was Franklin D. Roosevelt.
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And Roosevelt did try to institute
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some sort of welfare programs to alleviate
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the suffering because it was
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so obvious in big cities like New York.
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- Roosevelt himself of course
was rich, an aristocrat.
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And he was not really attuned
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to the lives of the poor.
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His wife Elanor Roosevelt,
she actually went into
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poor districts and she
saw how people lived.
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She had seen with her own eyes
the conditions of the poor.
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How much poverty there was and
how much distress there was
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was made known to Roosevelt not
directly, but from his wife.
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- [Elaine] Everybody expected
Eleanor Roosevelt to show up
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because she was his eyes and ears.
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And she went all sorts of places.
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Roosevelt depended upon her because
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he couldn't get to a lot of places.
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- Roosevelt, who was
struck by polio in 1921
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faced a problem with no
historical precedent.
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He was disabled, and yet, he stood
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at the next presidential
election against Hoover.
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He had promised he would to
millions of underprivileged
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who were waiting upon
him like the messiah.
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- There was poem called
Waiting on Roosevelt.
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"We're waiting for Roosevelt
to do something for us.
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"We're waiting and waiting."
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And so the poem ends with something like,
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you know "Where are you Mr. Roosevelt?"
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- [Voiceover] On July 2nd, 1932,
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the Democrat Party convention
chose Franklin D. Roosevelt
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as candidate for the
presidential election.
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00:12:29,445 --> 00:12:30,855
He pronounced for the first time
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the words "New Deal".
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- I pledge myself
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to a new deal for the American people!
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(applause)
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- [Voiceover] In this dramatic context,
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the elections in November 1932
had symbolic significance.
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Roosevelt promised to curve
the devastating effects
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of the 1929 crash with measures such as
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the reform of the banking system,
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00:13:01,561 --> 00:13:03,731
the assurance of a healthy currency,
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and economic and social aid.
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But what convinced the
voters was to his despair,
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his rather hasty promise
to repeal the amendment
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which prohibited the
consumption of alcohol.
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In other words, the
end of the Prohibition.
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00:13:17,867 --> 00:13:21,247
Franklin D. Roosevelt
won with 23 million votes
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00:13:21,246 --> 00:13:24,956
compared to Hoover who
only obtained 16 million.
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This landslide victory
put the Democrats in power
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00:13:27,921 --> 00:13:29,711
for the next 20 years.
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00:13:29,705 --> 00:13:33,755
- Franklin D. Roosevelt,
president of the United States.
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- Let me thank you again, and tell you
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that I hope to see you all very soon
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00:13:45,264 --> 00:13:47,694
and bid you an affectionate good night.
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- [Voiceover] In November 1932,
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the United States had
just elected Roosevelt.
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Meanwhile, Germany was at
crossroads in its destiny.
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The economic crisis threw many
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worried desperate Germans
into Hitler's arms.
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The capital repatriated to the US
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brought him instant success.
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"They're not going to put a
painter in Bismark's chair,"
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Roosevelt commanded.
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- The anxiety, the fear, the scapegoating
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that naturally accompanies this
kind of economic desperation
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00:14:39,528 --> 00:14:43,918
had been abroad in the land
in Germany for many years.
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Now it becomes even more popular
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and then looking for
scapegoats for the collapse.
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Communists, Jews.
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I think there's no question
that the economic collapse,
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00:16:11,460 --> 00:16:14,040
the global economic
collapse of that period
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00:16:14,039 --> 00:16:19,039
is responsible, heavily
responsible, for the rise of Hitler.
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00:16:21,125 --> 00:16:23,415
There are similar
movements even in a place
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as politically placid
as the United States.
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There are the growth of fascist movements.
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It's against Jews and Wall Street Semitic,
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00:16:31,606 --> 00:16:36,196
Wall Street financiers
as the main producers
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00:16:36,195 --> 00:16:38,775
of the depression as Shylocks who
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are looting the American economy.
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There's a tradition of that.
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A kind of underground tradition
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00:16:44,911 --> 00:16:46,831
of that in American political life.
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That surfaces in the 30s.
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00:16:48,749 --> 00:16:50,949
- Lots of anti-Semitism also leveled
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00:16:50,953 --> 00:16:53,003
at the Roosevelt administration
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which had many Jewish
people working there.
255
00:16:56,083 --> 00:17:01,013
We do not have a perfectly moral history.
256
00:17:01,006 --> 00:17:03,556
- There are famous Americans who actually
257
00:17:03,556 --> 00:17:06,506
give voice to anti-Semitic sentiments.
258
00:17:06,510 --> 00:17:08,640
Henry Ford, who's an American icon.
259
00:17:08,644 --> 00:17:09,904
He's an American hero.
260
00:17:09,895 --> 00:17:11,635
He's Hitler's hero too.
261
00:17:11,638 --> 00:17:14,188
Hitler actually has a
photograph of Henry Ford
262
00:17:14,192 --> 00:17:17,822
in his headquarters in
Berlin or some place.
263
00:17:17,820 --> 00:17:20,150
And the reason for that is that
264
00:17:20,148 --> 00:17:24,538
Ford, during the 1920s, had
written a series of articles
265
00:17:24,535 --> 00:17:26,245
that became a book, a bestseller,
266
00:17:26,245 --> 00:17:28,315
called The International Jew.
267
00:17:28,324 --> 00:17:31,134
And it was about how Jewish financiers
268
00:17:31,125 --> 00:17:34,705
were conspiring to undermine
the American heartland.
269
00:17:34,712 --> 00:17:38,302
They were also spreading a
kind of promiscuous culture.
270
00:17:38,299 --> 00:17:40,219
A kind of decadent culture.
271
00:17:40,218 --> 00:17:43,218
They were the purveyors of movies,
272
00:17:43,221 --> 00:17:46,221
lascivious movies and sexy novels
273
00:17:46,224 --> 00:17:49,234
and they were behind bootleg liquor
274
00:17:49,228 --> 00:17:51,648
and scandals of all kinds.
275
00:17:51,646 --> 00:17:55,196
And Ford talks about this kind
276
00:17:55,199 --> 00:17:57,239
of international Jewish conspiracy
277
00:17:57,235 --> 00:17:59,485
to undermine hard working
278
00:18:00,818 --> 00:18:04,238
frugal productive America.
279
00:18:04,237 --> 00:18:07,407
And he's enormously popular.
280
00:18:07,412 --> 00:18:10,462
Ford could have probably run for president
281
00:18:10,457 --> 00:18:13,457
and maybe won in the mid 1920s.
282
00:18:13,459 --> 00:18:15,089
- There were movements everywhere.
283
00:18:15,086 --> 00:18:17,046
There were very sensible people
284
00:18:17,048 --> 00:18:21,178
who had pretty ideas that
were no longer sensible.
285
00:18:22,537 --> 00:18:23,967
- [Voiceover] The crisis accentuated
286
00:18:23,971 --> 00:18:26,311
the rise of populism and extremism.
287
00:18:26,307 --> 00:18:28,137
All over the place there were upsurges
288
00:18:28,142 --> 00:18:31,022
in anti-Semetism, xenophobia, and racism.
289
00:18:31,020 --> 00:18:33,560
The Ku Klux Klan had four million members,
290
00:18:33,563 --> 00:18:34,973
mainly in the South.
291
00:18:34,974 --> 00:18:39,074
Their constitution said "Our
duty is to maintain forever
292
00:18:39,070 --> 00:18:41,320
"the supremacy of the white race."
293
00:18:41,315 --> 00:18:43,655
They abdicated hatred towards foreigners,
294
00:18:43,657 --> 00:18:46,287
Jews, and in particular, blacks,
295
00:18:46,286 --> 00:18:49,036
whom they hunted down
after dark to lynch them.
296
00:18:49,037 --> 00:18:53,127
- The people forget what
a dangerous time it was
297
00:18:53,125 --> 00:18:56,035
politically in America
and around the world.
298
00:18:56,044 --> 00:18:59,594
Democracy was threatened in America
299
00:18:59,589 --> 00:19:03,889
by the severe economic circumstances.
300
00:19:03,887 --> 00:19:06,507
- The 30s are full of signs
301
00:19:06,514 --> 00:19:10,434
of social upheaval on the right
302
00:19:10,434 --> 00:19:13,694
that might be characterized
as fascist or Nazi-inspired.
303
00:19:13,689 --> 00:19:18,189
(band playing)
304
00:19:24,782 --> 00:19:26,872
- [Voiceover] This procession
of Nazi demonstrators
305
00:19:26,868 --> 00:19:28,898
did not take place in Germany,
306
00:19:28,902 --> 00:19:30,832
but in Central Park New York.
307
00:19:30,832 --> 00:19:34,792
20,000 people including
8,000 uniformed stormtroopers
308
00:19:34,785 --> 00:19:37,625
and thousands of American teenagers
309
00:19:37,629 --> 00:19:38,709
who came from youth camps,
310
00:19:38,713 --> 00:19:42,013
organized according to the
model of the Hitler youth camps,
311
00:19:42,009 --> 00:19:44,089
head towards Madison Square Garden
312
00:19:44,093 --> 00:19:48,353
to proclaim the rights of white
Christians, true patriots.
313
00:19:48,348 --> 00:19:50,508
During the meeting, the crowd booed
314
00:19:50,509 --> 00:19:52,389
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
315
00:19:52,394 --> 00:19:55,774
and made the Nazi solute
crying out "Heil Hitler!"
316
00:19:55,773 --> 00:19:59,443
(shouting in German)
317
00:20:08,869 --> 00:20:13,489
(American Pledge of Allegiance)
318
00:20:34,677 --> 00:20:36,257
- They begin to parade in the streets
319
00:20:36,264 --> 00:20:39,654
and they begin to beat
up people in the streets.
320
00:20:39,649 --> 00:20:40,899
Suspect people.
321
00:20:40,901 --> 00:20:42,151
Jews, immigrants.
322
00:20:42,152 --> 00:20:44,572
- For the first time in a very long time,
323
00:20:44,572 --> 00:20:46,112
there was a serious possibility
324
00:20:46,105 --> 00:20:49,445
of some kind of dictatorial government.
325
00:20:49,452 --> 00:20:53,872
Some kind of ideological
overthrow of democracy.
326
00:20:53,872 --> 00:20:56,752
I think it was probably
a real possibility.
327
00:20:56,752 --> 00:21:01,262
(crowd cheering)
328
00:21:04,926 --> 00:21:06,456
(gunshots)
329
00:21:06,462 --> 00:21:08,602
- [Voiceover] On February 15, 1933,
330
00:21:08,597 --> 00:21:10,637
two weeks after Hitler had risen to power,
331
00:21:10,641 --> 00:21:13,771
Roosevelt narrowly escaped
an assassination attempt
332
00:21:13,769 --> 00:21:16,689
as he was making a speech in Miami.
333
00:21:16,688 --> 00:21:21,028
The mayor of Chicago was hit
by two bullets instead and died
334
00:21:21,027 --> 00:21:23,817
thanking the Lord for sparing Roosevelt.
335
00:21:23,820 --> 00:21:27,450
(somber music)
336
00:21:41,254 --> 00:21:43,174
Roosevelt, who didn't attend the funeral,
337
00:21:43,174 --> 00:21:46,304
went back to Washington
where he multiplied by 20
338
00:21:46,295 --> 00:21:48,505
the number of his bodyguards and stopped
339
00:21:48,512 --> 00:21:50,852
traveling in open top cars.
340
00:21:50,848 --> 00:21:52,978
He knew that he had many enemies.
341
00:21:52,975 --> 00:21:55,935
That he was seen as a red
by the business world,
342
00:21:55,936 --> 00:21:58,306
the Supreme Court, and Congress.
343
00:22:11,036 --> 00:22:13,036
In the car which drove the two presidents,
344
00:22:13,037 --> 00:22:15,907
Hoover barely said a word to Roosevelt.
345
00:22:15,914 --> 00:22:17,504
He knew that the new president
346
00:22:17,499 --> 00:22:20,129
wouldn't spare him in
his inaugural speech,
347
00:22:20,126 --> 00:22:22,336
and he wouldn't be disappointed.
348
00:22:22,338 --> 00:22:26,798
Only a fool can deny the
somber reality of the present.
349
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:30,140
Those who governed us failed
because they knew nothing
350
00:22:30,137 --> 00:22:32,217
but the laws of profit.
351
00:22:32,223 --> 00:22:34,683
Five hundred thousand
Americans wrote to him
352
00:22:34,678 --> 00:22:36,398
before he entered the White House
353
00:22:36,395 --> 00:22:38,605
to welcome and encourage him.
354
00:22:42,775 --> 00:22:44,065
Roosevelt took office.
355
00:22:44,069 --> 00:22:46,909
He made a superhuman
effort to give the crowd
356
00:22:46,905 --> 00:22:49,485
the impression he was walking when in fact
357
00:22:49,491 --> 00:22:53,121
he was being carried by
his son and a bodyguard.
358
00:23:03,060 --> 00:23:06,960
- [Franklin] So first of all,
let me assert my firm belief
359
00:23:06,959 --> 00:23:11,609
that the only thing we have to fear is
360
00:23:12,599 --> 00:23:13,929
fear itself!
361
00:23:13,932 --> 00:23:17,642
(applause)
362
00:23:18,937 --> 00:23:20,977
- By the time he was inaugurated,
363
00:23:20,981 --> 00:23:23,281
the financial system was paralyzed.
364
00:23:23,275 --> 00:23:25,985
It was almost that way then.
365
00:23:25,985 --> 00:23:27,975
The banks were hardly doing anything,
366
00:23:27,980 --> 00:23:29,940
and something had to be done
367
00:23:29,940 --> 00:23:32,660
to restore confidence in the banks.
368
00:23:32,660 --> 00:23:34,620
- The banks were in such disarray
369
00:23:34,620 --> 00:23:38,080
that he felt that he could
revive the banking system
370
00:23:38,082 --> 00:23:39,962
by closing all the banks.
371
00:23:39,959 --> 00:23:42,459
- He didn't come on and say dramatically
372
00:23:42,461 --> 00:23:46,001
"We're going to close the
banks and we'll do something."
373
00:23:45,999 --> 00:23:48,679
He came on in a much lighter mood
374
00:23:48,675 --> 00:23:52,045
and said "Everybody is
over anxious about this.
375
00:23:52,054 --> 00:23:53,804
"We're going to close the banks,
376
00:23:53,798 --> 00:23:56,218
"and all the banks that are sound
377
00:23:56,224 --> 00:23:58,024
"will be allowed to reopen."
378
00:23:58,018 --> 00:23:59,018
- [Franklin] I can assure you
379
00:23:59,019 --> 00:24:02,149
that it is safer for
you to keep your money
380
00:24:02,146 --> 00:24:04,226
in a reopened bank
381
00:24:04,232 --> 00:24:07,032
than to keep it under the mattress.
382
00:24:07,027 --> 00:24:10,237
- When the banks reopened, the
financial crisis had passed.
383
00:24:10,239 --> 00:24:13,579
It was a brilliant piece of psychology.
384
00:24:27,846 --> 00:24:30,706
- And one morning he
said to Henry Morgenthau
385
00:24:30,709 --> 00:24:33,549
who would later become his
treasury secretary, not yet,
386
00:24:33,549 --> 00:24:36,269
he said "Let it go up 21 cents."
387
00:24:36,266 --> 00:24:38,506
And Morgenthau said "Why Mr. President?"
388
00:24:38,509 --> 00:24:43,509
And Roosevelt says "Well it's
because it's three times seven
389
00:24:43,606 --> 00:24:46,316
"and three is a lucky number."
390
00:24:46,317 --> 00:24:48,237
And the arbitrary aspect
391
00:24:48,235 --> 00:24:50,695
of this displeased markets of course.
392
00:24:50,698 --> 00:24:53,448
As Morgenthau wrote in his diaries.
393
00:24:53,450 --> 00:24:56,410
"If anyone knew how we set the gold price,
394
00:24:56,411 --> 00:24:58,331
"they would be frightened."
395
00:24:58,328 --> 00:25:02,628
- What Roosevelt has that
Hoover lacked is an open mind.
396
00:25:02,625 --> 00:25:04,125
He's experimental.
397
00:25:04,126 --> 00:25:06,536
He's willing to hear dissident voices.
398
00:25:06,539 --> 00:25:08,719
Even voices he doesn't agree with.
399
00:25:08,715 --> 00:25:12,635
And also a recognition
that the crisis is severe
400
00:25:12,637 --> 00:25:14,507
and you must try something,
401
00:25:14,513 --> 00:25:17,433
and if that something doesn't
work, try something else.
402
00:25:17,432 --> 00:25:18,562
Don't sit there.
403
00:25:27,858 --> 00:25:29,948
People have nothing to sustain them
404
00:25:29,946 --> 00:25:31,156
through these difficult times,
405
00:25:31,156 --> 00:25:33,696
and nowhere at all to purchase.
406
00:25:33,698 --> 00:25:36,078
Franklin Roosevelt
recognized that this crisis
407
00:25:36,076 --> 00:25:39,076
of underconsumption is
killing, potentially fatal.
408
00:26:25,310 --> 00:26:26,340
- [Voiceover] After the banks,
409
00:26:26,335 --> 00:26:28,625
Roosevelt decided to clean up Wall Street
410
00:26:28,629 --> 00:26:31,259
as he had promised to
do so in his New Deal.
411
00:26:33,587 --> 00:26:34,927
- [Joseph] So there's absolutely
412
00:26:34,928 --> 00:26:37,508
no doubt that there was a real New Deal.
413
00:26:37,513 --> 00:26:40,523
We had new regulations
to stop the kinds of
414
00:26:40,517 --> 00:26:44,397
financial shenanigans that
had caused the crisis.
415
00:26:44,396 --> 00:26:46,896
- [Voiceover] To head the
Securities and Exchange
416
00:26:46,898 --> 00:26:50,278
Commission, Roosevelt
chose Joseph Kennedy.
417
00:26:50,276 --> 00:26:53,776
The father of the future
President of the United States.
418
00:26:53,781 --> 00:26:55,411
Roosevelt had wanted to make him
419
00:26:55,406 --> 00:26:58,946
his Secretary for the Treasury,
but Congress had refused
420
00:26:58,952 --> 00:27:02,252
his nomination because Kennedy
was about to be charged
421
00:27:02,248 --> 00:27:04,668
by a Senate commission of inquiry
422
00:27:04,667 --> 00:27:06,747
for stock market speculation,
423
00:27:06,752 --> 00:27:09,252
embezzlement, and above all, for his roll
424
00:27:09,254 --> 00:27:12,474
in the collapse of Wall Street in 1929.
425
00:27:12,465 --> 00:27:15,545
- He becomes a major
funder of his campaign,
426
00:27:15,551 --> 00:27:17,681
and Roosevelt shocks the nation
427
00:27:17,679 --> 00:27:20,919
by appointing Joseph Kennedy of all people
428
00:27:20,924 --> 00:27:24,524
to be the first chairmen of the SEC.
429
00:27:24,519 --> 00:27:26,819
- Well who better to watch the market?
430
00:27:26,815 --> 00:27:31,305
Joseph Kennedy actually made
a large bit of his fortune
431
00:27:31,312 --> 00:27:35,032
not just in speculating in the 20s.
432
00:27:35,031 --> 00:27:38,371
He was one of the few
who got out of the market
433
00:27:38,367 --> 00:27:40,437
because he saw what was coming.
434
00:27:40,444 --> 00:27:44,874
When the market crashed, he went back in,
435
00:27:44,874 --> 00:27:49,754
and he started buying handfuls of stock.
436
00:27:49,754 --> 00:27:53,344
Have all kinds of companies and
putting them in the drawers,
437
00:27:53,340 --> 00:27:55,470
and waiting for them to come up again.
438
00:27:55,468 --> 00:27:58,138
Because he knew eventually
they'd be worth a lot.
439
00:27:58,137 --> 00:27:59,767
- He has connections to the bootleg
440
00:27:59,765 --> 00:28:01,885
liquor industry in the 1920s.
441
00:28:01,892 --> 00:28:04,602
He's a larger than life figure who becomes
442
00:28:04,602 --> 00:28:08,942
enormously wealthy and enormously despised
443
00:28:08,939 --> 00:28:12,189
by ordinary Americans
as a not to be trusted
444
00:28:12,193 --> 00:28:14,283
speculator who makes a fortune
445
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,320
off of other people's misfortune.
446
00:28:16,322 --> 00:28:18,162
- But Roosevelt knew Kennedy was
447
00:28:18,157 --> 00:28:22,287
one of the brightest,
shrewdest, yeah unscrupulous,
448
00:28:22,287 --> 00:28:25,827
but after all, he's dealing
with bankers and lawyers.
449
00:28:25,825 --> 00:28:29,455
- They were putting the fox
in charge of the chicken coup.
450
00:28:29,461 --> 00:28:31,461
That was a criticism.
451
00:28:31,463 --> 00:28:34,723
But the president had
reasons for doing that,
452
00:28:34,716 --> 00:28:38,296
which is he said Mr.
Kennedy knew all the tricks.
453
00:28:38,304 --> 00:28:39,644
- He knew Wall Street.
454
00:28:39,638 --> 00:28:41,098
He knew the games.
455
00:28:41,097 --> 00:28:42,427
He knew the backstories.
456
00:28:42,433 --> 00:28:43,733
He knew all of that.
457
00:28:43,725 --> 00:28:45,305
He knew where the bodies were buried.
458
00:28:45,311 --> 00:28:48,641
- Kennedy as the first SEC
chairman was known himself
459
00:28:48,638 --> 00:28:52,278
for being somewhat of
a swindler and a fraud.
460
00:28:52,275 --> 00:28:54,525
But to me, that's not inconsistent
461
00:28:54,527 --> 00:28:56,817
with what the SEC stands for.
462
00:28:56,821 --> 00:28:59,281
What the SEC stands for is an agency
463
00:28:59,283 --> 00:29:03,533
that permits and institutionalizes
and exonerates fraud
464
00:29:03,528 --> 00:29:05,248
instead of fighting it.
465
00:29:05,246 --> 00:29:07,416
So the fact that Kennedy headed the SEC
466
00:29:07,415 --> 00:29:09,335
was actually quite appropriate.
467
00:29:09,335 --> 00:29:12,745
- [Voiceover] Roosevelt's
naivety and lack of tact
468
00:29:12,747 --> 00:29:14,507
were sometimes surprising.
469
00:29:14,506 --> 00:29:16,586
To a group of young
workers who had volunteered
470
00:29:16,592 --> 00:29:19,512
to finally have something
to eat, he declared
471
00:29:19,513 --> 00:29:22,223
- I wish that I could take
a couple of months off
472
00:29:22,224 --> 00:29:25,184
from the White House and come
down here and live with them
473
00:29:25,184 --> 00:29:27,554
because I know I'd get full
of health the way they have.
474
00:29:27,553 --> 00:29:30,363
The only difference is that
they've put out an average
475
00:29:30,355 --> 00:29:33,235
of about 12 pounds a
piece since they got here,
476
00:29:33,235 --> 00:29:35,985
and I'm trying to take off 12 pounds.
477
00:29:35,987 --> 00:29:38,697
(laughter)
478
00:29:38,697 --> 00:29:40,947
- Roosevelt was good in reassuring people.
479
00:29:40,945 --> 00:29:44,325
He was good in convincing people
480
00:29:44,328 --> 00:29:46,458
that the government cared about them,
481
00:29:46,455 --> 00:29:48,325
the government could do something.
482
00:29:48,333 --> 00:29:52,023
(band plays)
483
00:29:53,538 --> 00:29:55,438
- [Voiceover] Preceded by a big show,
484
00:29:55,442 --> 00:29:56,932
Roosevelt launched his program
485
00:29:56,925 --> 00:29:59,295
to fight the effects
of the Great Depression
486
00:29:59,301 --> 00:30:02,631
and to give a new boost
to the American economy
487
00:30:02,632 --> 00:30:07,062
which had been ravaged since
the 1929 stock market crash.
488
00:30:07,061 --> 00:30:11,361
Five billion dollars were
allocated to fight unemployment.
489
00:30:11,356 --> 00:30:14,356
Over three million Americans were hired.
490
00:30:14,359 --> 00:30:17,059
Rising to eight million two years later.
491
00:30:17,063 --> 00:30:20,413
Roosevelt had 15 key laws passed.
492
00:30:20,406 --> 00:30:23,076
He established a system of social welfare.
493
00:30:23,077 --> 00:30:25,567
Pensions, unemployment benefit.
494
00:30:25,571 --> 00:30:27,911
He outlawed child labor.
495
00:30:27,906 --> 00:30:30,656
Discrimination against
hiring blacks and women.
496
00:30:30,658 --> 00:30:33,458
And he introduced a minimum wage.
497
00:30:33,462 --> 00:30:36,872
- What characterizes the
New Deal in the mid 1930s
498
00:30:36,874 --> 00:30:41,644
is a whole array of public works programs.
499
00:30:41,637 --> 00:30:44,217
- Nobody had done this
kind of thing before.
500
00:30:45,812 --> 00:30:47,182
People did have an idea I think
501
00:30:47,184 --> 00:30:50,684
that big public works
projects would be a help,
502
00:30:50,681 --> 00:30:53,611
and that was an important
part of the New Deal
503
00:30:53,606 --> 00:30:55,396
and it was psychologically important.
504
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:57,200
- The New Deal changed America.
505
00:30:57,195 --> 00:31:00,405
We built countless roads,
506
00:31:00,406 --> 00:31:04,656
bridges, dams, schools.
507
00:31:04,660 --> 00:31:07,750
Roads and bridges here in New York City
508
00:31:07,747 --> 00:31:09,287
where we're sitting today
509
00:31:09,288 --> 00:31:11,498
that were build with New Deal money.
510
00:31:11,499 --> 00:31:14,379
It changed America dramatically.
511
00:31:14,380 --> 00:31:16,460
That wouldn't have occurred,
and that set the stage
512
00:31:16,463 --> 00:31:19,883
for the post World War
II economic expansion.
513
00:31:19,875 --> 00:31:22,625
- Government spending had
been used to build highways,
514
00:31:22,627 --> 00:31:27,627
construct schools, build
hospitals, invest in research.
515
00:31:29,413 --> 00:31:32,943
- We move into a welfare state,
which we had not had before.
516
00:31:32,938 --> 00:31:34,978
But they are really trying to
517
00:31:37,871 --> 00:31:40,481
deal with both manufacturing,
with construction,
518
00:31:40,482 --> 00:31:42,912
with welfare, with social situation,
519
00:31:42,907 --> 00:31:44,777
social welfare I should say.
520
00:31:44,783 --> 00:31:46,833
Simultaneously.
521
00:31:46,828 --> 00:31:50,158
- There was no social welfare system.
522
00:31:50,164 --> 00:31:52,914
The United States was the
last industrial country
523
00:31:52,911 --> 00:31:55,461
in the western world to introduce
524
00:31:55,462 --> 00:31:58,882
any kind of social safety nets
like unemployment insurance,
525
00:31:58,877 --> 00:32:00,757
old age pensions, and so forth.
526
00:32:09,218 --> 00:32:11,768
- Social security did not apply
527
00:32:12,516 --> 00:32:15,006
to the poorest of workers,
528
00:32:15,006 --> 00:32:16,676
and these were the black workers.
529
00:32:16,684 --> 00:32:19,864
It did not apply to domestic workers,
530
00:32:19,862 --> 00:32:24,032
maids, dishwashers, porters.
531
00:32:24,033 --> 00:32:27,163
These were the jobs that
were held by black people.
532
00:32:27,162 --> 00:32:29,622
They were the last in everything.
533
00:32:29,621 --> 00:32:33,041
They were the first to lose
their jobs if they had jobs.
534
00:32:33,041 --> 00:32:36,961
The black people simply did not
535
00:32:36,962 --> 00:32:41,092
benefit from the New Deal measures
536
00:32:41,091 --> 00:32:44,051
in the way that white people did.
537
00:32:44,053 --> 00:32:46,933
- African Americans were
in the same position
538
00:32:46,931 --> 00:32:48,641
as other Americans but worse.
539
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:50,560
Because they had been worse to begin with,
540
00:32:50,559 --> 00:32:51,969
and comes the depression,
541
00:32:51,969 --> 00:32:55,189
the situation is extremely difficult.
542
00:32:55,189 --> 00:32:58,859
- The old unions had no black people.
543
00:32:58,859 --> 00:33:01,149
They only had skilled workers,
544
00:33:01,145 --> 00:33:04,025
and the black people were
not the skilled workers.
545
00:33:04,030 --> 00:33:06,450
They were not allowed into the unions.
546
00:33:06,450 --> 00:33:09,120
- One of the reasons
there is such a disparity
547
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,460
in incoming wealth in the 20s
is because unions are so weak.
548
00:33:12,456 --> 00:33:15,576
There's no defense against this
549
00:33:15,584 --> 00:33:19,374
corporate effort to keep wages low.
550
00:33:19,374 --> 00:33:23,384
- Striking is still illegal
in the United States.
551
00:33:23,375 --> 00:33:25,755
So until that time, a labor union
552
00:33:25,762 --> 00:33:28,062
had absolutely no standing in law.
553
00:33:28,056 --> 00:33:30,636
- All of that changes in the 1930s.
554
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:33,680
A whole series of social uprisings
555
00:33:33,679 --> 00:33:36,649
in the 1930s move America's
556
00:33:36,647 --> 00:33:40,237
political spectrum to the left
557
00:33:40,235 --> 00:33:43,605
and has an enormous impact
on Roosevelt himself.
558
00:33:46,867 --> 00:33:48,317
- [Voiceover] Supported by public opinion,
559
00:33:48,318 --> 00:33:50,158
Roosevelt set up the right to union
560
00:33:50,161 --> 00:33:53,291
representation for all American workers.
561
00:33:53,290 --> 00:33:55,370
It was an absolute revolution.
562
00:33:55,367 --> 00:33:58,117
But its implementation
met with a resonance
563
00:33:58,121 --> 00:34:00,801
of the business world and company heads.
564
00:34:00,796 --> 00:34:04,466
Strikes and factory sit
ins occurred in many firms
565
00:34:04,467 --> 00:34:05,967
to protest about the bosses'
566
00:34:05,969 --> 00:34:08,629
refusal to recognize the unions.
567
00:34:08,632 --> 00:34:11,142
But the bosses finally gave in
568
00:34:11,140 --> 00:34:13,690
as industry was at a standstill.
569
00:34:25,416 --> 00:34:27,276
- [Steve] The labor movement explodes.
570
00:34:27,283 --> 00:34:31,003
It organizes millions of
American industrial workers
571
00:34:30,996 --> 00:34:33,246
who had never been organized before.
572
00:34:33,246 --> 00:34:35,416
In the heartland of American industry.
573
00:34:35,415 --> 00:34:37,915
- And that's what led
to the wave of strikes.
574
00:34:37,918 --> 00:34:41,208
And it put Roosevelt in
a very awkward position.
575
00:34:41,214 --> 00:34:44,214
And I don't think he
regretted any of that,
576
00:34:44,208 --> 00:34:47,848
but it did make recovery
that much more difficult.
577
00:34:47,846 --> 00:34:50,806
- There was a general
strike in San Fransisco.
578
00:34:50,807 --> 00:34:52,387
The whole city tied up.
579
00:34:54,601 --> 00:34:56,651
In Minneapolis, a general strike,
580
00:34:56,645 --> 00:34:59,055
hundreds of thousands
of workers in the south
581
00:34:59,064 --> 00:35:02,364
who work in texture
mills went out on strike.
582
00:35:05,060 --> 00:35:07,870
So this was a time in the country
583
00:35:07,865 --> 00:35:10,655
of great turmoil and agitation.
584
00:35:10,659 --> 00:35:13,959
And Roosevelt was very concious of that.
585
00:35:13,955 --> 00:35:18,875
(people yelling)
586
00:35:53,703 --> 00:35:54,913
- [Voiceover] The
government of the New Deal
587
00:35:54,907 --> 00:35:57,367
supported the bosses, even when the latter
588
00:35:57,373 --> 00:35:59,923
had broken the new laws.
589
00:35:59,917 --> 00:36:03,577
Steal factories in Chicago
refused to recognize the unions.
590
00:36:03,581 --> 00:36:07,471
Faced with the quasi-insurectionary
nature of strikes,
591
00:36:07,468 --> 00:36:10,048
the police with the help
of the bosses' militia
592
00:36:10,053 --> 00:36:13,093
killed ten workers and injured nearly 100.
593
00:36:13,090 --> 00:36:16,060
Roosevelt, who didn't
condemn the massacre,
594
00:36:16,059 --> 00:36:18,059
sent in the national guard.
595
00:36:18,062 --> 00:36:20,932
- The political leaders of the country
596
00:36:22,643 --> 00:36:25,993
in both parties, Republican
and Democratic Party,
597
00:36:25,986 --> 00:36:30,316
were fearful when they saw
the agitation in the country.
598
00:36:30,323 --> 00:36:34,703
And when they saw one third of
the workforce was unemployed.
599
00:36:34,703 --> 00:36:39,293
And when they saw all the
strikes and the riots going on.
600
00:36:39,292 --> 00:36:43,672
The rich corporations
were opposed to Roosevelt.
601
00:36:43,671 --> 00:36:46,631
They were worried about
whether the capitalist system
602
00:36:46,631 --> 00:36:50,051
would be able to survive.
603
00:36:50,052 --> 00:36:52,392
- And the business community
and the financial community
604
00:36:52,389 --> 00:36:54,349
begins to become very hostile.
605
00:36:54,349 --> 00:36:58,469
They denounce him in the most vile ways.
606
00:36:58,471 --> 00:37:01,901
As a cripple, as a Jew,
607
00:37:01,899 --> 00:37:05,819
as a communist, as gay.
608
00:37:05,817 --> 00:37:10,567
There's no epithet they
won't direct at him.
609
00:37:10,574 --> 00:37:13,834
They're so angry at the way he has broken
610
00:37:13,826 --> 00:37:17,776
with the class after
all that he came from.
611
00:37:17,781 --> 00:37:22,041
He's considered a traitor to his class.
612
00:37:22,044 --> 00:37:25,054
And Roosevelt says to them, bemused,
613
00:37:25,047 --> 00:37:28,467
I think to some degree,
"Why do you hate me so much?
614
00:37:28,466 --> 00:37:31,006
"What I'm trying to do
is save capitalism."
615
00:37:31,011 --> 00:37:34,971
- A few timid people who fear progress
616
00:37:34,972 --> 00:37:38,062
will try to give you new and strange names
617
00:37:38,059 --> 00:37:39,939
for what we are doing.
618
00:37:39,936 --> 00:37:42,976
Sometimes they will call it fascism.
619
00:37:42,980 --> 00:37:45,650
And sometimes communism.
620
00:37:45,652 --> 00:37:48,072
And sometimes regimentation.
621
00:37:48,069 --> 00:37:50,449
And sometimes socialism.
622
00:37:50,448 --> 00:37:53,198
But in so doing, they are trying
623
00:37:53,199 --> 00:37:57,119
to make very complex and theoretical
624
00:37:57,115 --> 00:38:01,915
something that is really very
simple and very practical.
625
00:38:01,916 --> 00:38:03,786
- Those were good things
that Roosevelt did.
626
00:38:03,794 --> 00:38:05,174
Those New Deals were good.
627
00:38:05,171 --> 00:38:07,511
Other parts of the New Deal were absurd.
628
00:38:07,508 --> 00:38:09,798
- [Voiceover] The only sector which
629
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:11,890
didn't improve was agriculture.
630
00:38:11,885 --> 00:38:15,135
To help the farmers
survive, Roosevelt got them
631
00:38:15,139 --> 00:38:17,389
to reduce their production to push up
632
00:38:17,391 --> 00:38:20,681
farming prices in
exchange for compensation.
633
00:38:22,709 --> 00:38:25,979
But this policy was contested
by several economists
634
00:38:25,983 --> 00:38:27,573
who considered that the government
635
00:38:27,568 --> 00:38:30,988
was carrying out an unjustifiable
destruction of wealth,
636
00:38:30,988 --> 00:38:34,658
which was contrary to the
most elementary morality.
637
00:38:34,659 --> 00:38:37,249
The press began to criticize Roosevelt
638
00:38:37,245 --> 00:38:39,075
for his lack of ideology
639
00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:41,740
and for making contradictory decisions.
640
00:38:41,742 --> 00:38:45,212
"Roosevelt is a chameleon
on a scotch play,"
641
00:38:45,212 --> 00:38:47,302
the New York Times wrote.
642
00:38:47,296 --> 00:38:48,796
- The farmers were upset about
643
00:38:48,799 --> 00:38:50,509
the decline in agriculture prices.
644
00:38:50,508 --> 00:38:52,388
So they demanded government programs
645
00:38:52,386 --> 00:38:55,716
that would pay them to
slaughter their cattle
646
00:38:55,722 --> 00:38:59,682
and to burn their crops in
order to boost prices under FDR
647
00:38:59,683 --> 00:39:01,193
which is crazy because people
648
00:39:01,185 --> 00:39:02,725
were starving at the same time.
649
00:39:02,729 --> 00:39:06,939
Why would you destroy perfectly
good agriculture products?
650
00:39:06,942 --> 00:39:09,072
Because they actually thought the problem
651
00:39:09,067 --> 00:39:11,197
was too many agricultural products.
652
00:39:11,196 --> 00:39:13,316
That's scary, you know?
653
00:39:13,324 --> 00:39:15,744
Because you're committing suicide there.
654
00:39:15,742 --> 00:39:18,372
There really was a spreading poverty,
655
00:39:18,369 --> 00:39:21,029
and starvation in some areas.
656
00:39:21,032 --> 00:39:24,002
- California put guards
at some of the borders
657
00:39:24,001 --> 00:39:25,421
trying to keep people out.
658
00:39:25,420 --> 00:39:27,500
They had state troopers trying to
659
00:39:27,496 --> 00:39:29,786
keep people from coming into California
660
00:39:29,791 --> 00:39:31,381
because these people would have been
661
00:39:31,383 --> 00:39:34,343
or were a burden on the state.
662
00:39:34,344 --> 00:39:38,434
(somber music)
663
00:39:48,567 --> 00:39:50,137
- You could literally see
664
00:39:50,143 --> 00:39:51,903
the depression etched in the faces.
665
00:39:51,903 --> 00:39:53,613
That's when those wonderful photographs
666
00:39:53,613 --> 00:39:56,783
of people like Walker Evans and others.
667
00:39:56,777 --> 00:39:59,697
You can see the torment.
668
00:39:59,704 --> 00:40:02,544
It's like a cancer that ate at
669
00:40:02,541 --> 00:40:04,331
the spirit of the American people.
670
00:40:04,333 --> 00:40:07,663
- And one of the famous famous
pictures of the depression
671
00:40:07,664 --> 00:40:12,054
is of the migrant mother that was taken
672
00:40:12,050 --> 00:40:14,250
in a pea farm in California.
673
00:40:14,253 --> 00:40:16,143
She was a migrant worker coming from
674
00:40:16,138 --> 00:40:18,808
another part of the
country with her children.
675
00:40:35,755 --> 00:40:37,275
- We grew up with that picture.
676
00:40:37,282 --> 00:40:38,992
With a picture of a lady very hungry
677
00:40:38,994 --> 00:40:40,914
with her children just devastated.
678
00:40:40,913 --> 00:40:43,123
But you look at the
picture a bit differently
679
00:40:43,115 --> 00:40:45,745
when you know that it was
payed for by the government.
680
00:40:45,750 --> 00:40:47,950
And the man who ran the program
681
00:40:47,952 --> 00:40:51,422
that created this picture
wrote in a memoir of it
682
00:40:51,423 --> 00:40:55,343
we had to make the depression
look bad to keep our job.
683
00:40:55,338 --> 00:41:00,218
So you can have real poverty
but also real propaganda.
684
00:41:48,103 --> 00:41:49,523
- Enemies of the New Deal describe
685
00:41:49,522 --> 00:41:53,612
those photographs as propaganda
on behalf of the New Deal.
686
00:41:53,610 --> 00:41:54,610
And they were.
687
00:41:54,611 --> 00:41:55,781
In some sense they were because
688
00:41:55,780 --> 00:41:57,410
a new culture is being born then.
689
00:41:57,408 --> 00:42:00,028
It's a culture of popular solidarity.
690
00:42:00,034 --> 00:42:01,914
Very foreign to America.
691
00:42:01,910 --> 00:42:05,000
And it is propaganda, but it's
much more than propaganda.
692
00:42:04,997 --> 00:42:08,327
It's a new way of life
that's born in the 1930s.
693
00:42:21,814 --> 00:42:24,694
- The New Deal helped many people.
694
00:42:24,685 --> 00:42:27,845
It put millions of people to work.
695
00:42:27,854 --> 00:42:31,524
Gave jobs to six million people.
696
00:42:31,524 --> 00:42:35,824
It gave work to hundreds of
thousands of young people.
697
00:42:35,819 --> 00:42:37,739
- Was it perfect, no.
698
00:42:37,739 --> 00:42:42,489
Were some of the programs
bad, yes, unquestionably.
699
00:42:42,493 --> 00:42:44,413
But that's never been in doubt.
700
00:42:44,412 --> 00:42:48,752
The New Deal succeeded and failed
701
00:42:48,750 --> 00:42:51,750
at pulling the country out
of the Great Depression.
702
00:42:51,753 --> 00:42:53,553
The economy does actually recover.
703
00:42:53,547 --> 00:42:56,297
I don't mean recover back
to the levels, it didn't.
704
00:42:56,299 --> 00:43:00,009
But employment full,
factories start up again,
705
00:43:00,012 --> 00:43:03,102
people are thanks to New Deal legislation
706
00:43:03,098 --> 00:43:05,438
able to own their own homes again
707
00:43:05,435 --> 00:43:07,635
or to be able to meet
their mortgage payments.
708
00:43:07,644 --> 00:43:11,184
- There was a sharp rise in the economy.
709
00:43:11,183 --> 00:43:12,433
A sharp expansion.
710
00:43:12,434 --> 00:43:16,284
And by 1937, the GDP,
711
00:43:16,275 --> 00:43:18,195
the total income of the country,
712
00:43:18,196 --> 00:43:21,146
was back to the 1929 level after
713
00:43:21,151 --> 00:43:24,291
a very sharp fall in the first four years.
714
00:43:24,287 --> 00:43:25,947
So there was some recovery.
715
00:43:25,954 --> 00:43:28,794
What happened in 1937 is fascinating.
716
00:43:28,791 --> 00:43:33,421
Roosevelt listened to a
small group of economists
717
00:43:33,420 --> 00:43:34,960
in making the claim that you better
718
00:43:34,955 --> 00:43:37,085
cut back government spending.
719
00:43:37,091 --> 00:43:40,851
- So Roosevelt started
cutting back on the New Deal.
720
00:43:40,845 --> 00:43:42,925
Cutting back on the expenditures.
721
00:43:42,930 --> 00:43:46,270
And no wonder, as we
contracted the expenditures,
722
00:43:46,266 --> 00:43:49,646
the economy started weakening.
723
00:43:49,645 --> 00:43:50,935
- What happened?
724
00:43:50,938 --> 00:43:55,278
Back into recession and
unemployment went up again.
725
00:43:55,277 --> 00:43:58,527
- And there was another
depression within a depression
726
00:43:58,531 --> 00:44:02,031
in the 1936 to 1937 period.
727
00:44:02,033 --> 00:44:04,623
So it's simply not true to say that
728
00:44:04,620 --> 00:44:07,370
the New Deal ended the Great Depression.
729
00:44:07,372 --> 00:44:09,172
It deepened and prolonged it.
730
00:44:09,166 --> 00:44:13,166
- What ended the depression
is a depressing thing
731
00:44:13,170 --> 00:44:15,670
in itself I suppose, but
what ended the depression
732
00:44:15,672 --> 00:44:20,262
was the rapid build up
of military spending
733
00:44:20,258 --> 00:44:22,598
because of the growing
threat of war in Europe.
734
00:44:22,596 --> 00:44:25,216
Once you began to get a military build up,
735
00:44:25,222 --> 00:44:28,232
suddenly you have more
jobs than you have people.
736
00:44:28,226 --> 00:44:32,346
You go from massive unemployment
737
00:44:32,347 --> 00:44:35,067
and massive under-utilization
in the economy
738
00:44:35,068 --> 00:44:38,268
to full tilt overnight.
739
00:44:53,531 --> 00:44:55,661
- It was associated with an immense drive
740
00:44:55,664 --> 00:44:59,184
for armaments production
on a massive scale,
741
00:44:59,176 --> 00:45:01,636
but also for all the
things that soldiers need.
742
00:45:01,635 --> 00:45:06,005
Trucks and clothing and this is what
743
00:45:06,014 --> 00:45:08,274
got America back to work again.
744
00:45:08,266 --> 00:45:11,466
The economy was boosted
by the war industries.
745
00:45:11,470 --> 00:45:15,030
So it was a kind of artificial way
746
00:45:15,025 --> 00:45:19,855
of keeping the economic system going.
747
00:45:19,856 --> 00:45:24,406
(When Johnny Comes Marching
Home by Patrick Gilmore)
748
00:45:37,296 --> 00:45:40,006
- [Voiceover] None of Roosevelt's
efforts managed to restore
749
00:45:40,007 --> 00:45:43,547
American industry to its
level prior to Black Thursday.
750
00:45:43,552 --> 00:45:47,722
It was the war in Europe
which kickstarted US industry.
751
00:45:47,724 --> 00:45:50,514
The Great Depression was over.
752
00:45:50,511 --> 00:45:52,521
Seven years of desperate efforts
753
00:45:52,519 --> 00:45:54,479
did less to cure the sick economy
754
00:45:54,479 --> 00:45:57,399
than a few months of rearmament.
755
00:46:01,613 --> 00:46:04,533
- Some people have made the
wrong conclusion from that
756
00:46:04,531 --> 00:46:07,701
and said you need military expenditures
757
00:46:07,702 --> 00:46:10,622
to emerge from a downturn.
758
00:46:10,621 --> 00:46:12,501
That's nonsense.
759
00:46:12,499 --> 00:46:13,749
It's nonsense.
760
00:46:13,749 --> 00:46:18,299
- We must be the great
arsenal of democracy.
761
00:46:18,295 --> 00:46:22,085
For us, this an emergency
762
00:46:22,093 --> 00:46:25,513
as serious as war itself.
763
00:46:25,505 --> 00:46:29,965
- Government spending
on bombs was necessary
764
00:46:29,974 --> 00:46:32,184
to protect us against fascism.
765
00:46:36,198 --> 00:46:38,858
- [Voiceover] In March
1938, the German army
766
00:46:38,860 --> 00:46:42,860
occupied Austria without
firing a single shot.
767
00:46:42,864 --> 00:46:45,944
World War II had just begun.
768
00:46:48,363 --> 00:46:50,503
- And it's essentially
only the Second World War
769
00:46:50,495 --> 00:46:53,995
that brings the United States
back to full employment.
770
00:46:53,999 --> 00:46:55,699
- So that is certainly true.
771
00:46:55,703 --> 00:46:58,293
We did not return to what we consider
772
00:46:58,294 --> 00:47:02,264
full employment until 1940.
773
00:47:02,258 --> 00:47:04,468
- Does war take us out of the depression?
774
00:47:04,469 --> 00:47:06,009
I would be loathe to say that,
775
00:47:06,012 --> 00:47:09,012
but certainly had some impact on it.
776
00:47:09,014 --> 00:47:11,274
- That pump priming on a massive scale
777
00:47:11,265 --> 00:47:13,935
represented by World War II produces
778
00:47:13,937 --> 00:47:17,107
a prolonged period of prosperity
779
00:47:17,107 --> 00:47:20,937
that lasts for another
generation after the war.
780
00:47:20,943 --> 00:47:24,613
- And in 1944 and 45, the greatest fear
781
00:47:24,614 --> 00:47:29,494
of the American people
was when the war ends,
782
00:47:29,485 --> 00:47:32,325
will the depression come back?
783
00:47:36,970 --> 00:47:38,920
♫Two million bushels
of North African grain,
784
00:47:38,919 --> 00:47:41,869
♫resold to Germany for Swiss Franks.
785
00:47:41,871 --> 00:47:44,431
♫Paid for by a consortium of banks.
786
00:47:44,425 --> 00:47:47,385
♫With a deal in futures
that the Stock Exchange
787
00:47:47,386 --> 00:47:49,836
♫unloads for coffee
from Brazilian uplands.
788
00:47:49,840 --> 00:47:52,810
♫Destined for Paris, before
the whole deal sinks.
789
00:47:52,809 --> 00:47:55,349
♫The checks written in indelible inks
790
00:47:55,353 --> 00:47:58,023
♫outrace Atlantic's winter hurricanes.
791
00:47:58,022 --> 00:47:59,362
♫Our benefactors?
792
00:47:59,356 --> 00:48:00,316
♫Three trusts.
793
00:48:00,316 --> 00:48:03,526
♫They compete for honor,
glory, power and of course,
794
00:48:03,528 --> 00:48:07,528
♫profits, where all
happiness is contained.♫
795
00:48:09,202 --> 00:48:11,202
- [Joseph] We learned something
from the Great Depression.
796
00:48:11,204 --> 00:48:15,504
Whether we've learned them
enough is another matter.
797
00:48:15,500 --> 00:48:19,210
- It's quite remarkable how ready we are
798
00:48:19,212 --> 00:48:22,342
to forget all those
lessons when times change
799
00:48:22,339 --> 00:48:26,469
and particularly when
there's a profit to be made
800
00:48:26,467 --> 00:48:27,837
in forgetting that lesson.
801
00:48:27,844 --> 00:48:30,934
- We had the knowledge to
prevent a depression then,
802
00:48:30,931 --> 00:48:32,801
but we didn't use it.
803
00:48:32,800 --> 00:48:35,940
- We didn't know how
to do that after 1929,
804
00:48:35,936 --> 00:48:37,886
or there wasn't enough conviction
805
00:48:37,890 --> 00:48:41,070
for the government to act aggresively.
806
00:49:33,858 --> 00:49:36,238
- And just like the savants of the 1920s,
807
00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:39,670
these folks turned out
to be fatally wrong.
808
00:49:39,668 --> 00:49:41,998
- We're never going to have another crash.
809
00:49:41,995 --> 00:49:44,165
We're never going to
have another depression.
810
00:49:44,172 --> 00:49:45,882
And they were both wrong of course.
811
00:49:45,883 --> 00:49:47,803
- They had tool they could have
812
00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:50,010
implemented and they did not.
813
00:49:50,005 --> 00:49:53,265
- It was among the tragedies was this
814
00:49:53,265 --> 00:49:57,975
adoption of a damaging ideology
815
00:49:57,979 --> 00:50:02,859
as a cover for allowing
the financial industry
816
00:50:02,856 --> 00:50:06,056
to do virtually anything they wanted.
817
00:50:06,062 --> 00:50:09,162
And for allowing, and mostly motivated
818
00:50:09,156 --> 00:50:11,526
by men and women who found a way
819
00:50:11,534 --> 00:50:13,244
to make a fortune and claim
820
00:50:13,242 --> 00:50:15,992
they were doing good for the nation.
821
00:50:15,987 --> 00:50:20,317
- The wealth of the richest
one percent of the country
822
00:50:20,324 --> 00:50:22,344
has increased enormously.
823
00:50:22,335 --> 00:50:24,825
And the gap between rich and poor
824
00:50:24,831 --> 00:50:27,221
has become very very great.
825
00:50:27,216 --> 00:50:32,216
And that's exactly what
happened in the 1930s.
826
00:50:32,262 --> 00:50:35,432
- We do need a New Deal.
827
00:50:36,882 --> 00:50:40,402
The old New Deal
828
00:50:40,395 --> 00:50:43,685
was a New Deal that worked
829
00:50:43,690 --> 00:50:45,820
for the period at the time.
830
00:50:45,818 --> 00:50:48,898
It was a reaction to the Great Depression.
831
00:50:48,904 --> 00:50:53,044
The world's changed
enormously in 75 years.
832
00:50:53,035 --> 00:50:57,405
We are much wealthier
now then we were then.
833
00:50:59,284 --> 00:51:02,924
But we have not shared the
fruits of that wealth equally.
834
00:51:02,919 --> 00:51:05,759
- The level of greed simply rose.
835
00:51:05,756 --> 00:51:07,926
It was accepted.
836
00:51:07,925 --> 00:51:10,255
And greed became a very important part
837
00:51:10,259 --> 00:51:13,469
of the financial overreaction,
838
00:51:13,471 --> 00:51:16,641
the financial speculation
that led to this disaster.
839
00:51:16,639 --> 00:51:20,179
- We allowed the banks to
exploit the poorest Americans.
840
00:51:22,898 --> 00:51:24,938
Millions of Americans
are losing their homes
841
00:51:24,941 --> 00:51:26,531
and with it their life's savings.
842
00:51:28,136 --> 00:51:29,446
They were preyed on.
843
00:51:29,446 --> 00:51:30,906
There was predatory lending.
844
00:51:30,905 --> 00:51:32,485
We knew it was going on.
845
00:51:34,410 --> 00:51:36,120
It's an unfair system.
846
00:51:36,118 --> 00:51:38,578
Those who are poor have
nobody to defend them.
847
00:51:41,291 --> 00:51:44,961
We live in a world with an
enormous amount of resources
848
00:51:44,961 --> 00:51:49,171
and yet a world in which a billion people
849
00:51:49,174 --> 00:51:52,894
live under a dollar a day
850
00:51:52,885 --> 00:51:54,795
and 40 percent of the world live
851
00:51:54,804 --> 00:51:56,594
probably under two dollars a day.
852
00:51:56,590 --> 00:52:01,350
I continue to think that
we will be able to reform
853
00:52:01,353 --> 00:52:04,273
for instance the international
economic institutions.
854
00:52:06,404 --> 00:52:08,574
I realize the important
role that a reformed
855
00:52:08,569 --> 00:52:10,609
international institutions can play.
856
00:52:10,612 --> 00:52:14,322
I'm not sure whether I'm
a realist or an optimist
857
00:52:14,324 --> 00:52:16,874
when I say that I think that they,
858
00:52:16,868 --> 00:52:20,368
I know I'm a realist to say
that they need to be reformed.
859
00:52:20,372 --> 00:52:21,572
I'm not sure when I'm a realist
860
00:52:21,573 --> 00:52:23,633
when I say that they will be reformed.
861
00:52:41,616 --> 00:52:43,806
♫Two million bushels
of North African grain,
862
00:52:43,813 --> 00:52:46,863
♫resold to Germany for Swiss Franks.
863
00:52:46,857 --> 00:52:49,437
♫Paid for by a consortium of banks.
864
00:52:49,443 --> 00:52:52,323
♫With a deal in futures
that the Stock Exchange
865
00:52:52,322 --> 00:52:54,912
♫unloads for coffee
from Brazilian uplands.
866
00:52:54,906 --> 00:52:57,826
♫Destined for Paris, before
the whole deal sinks.
867
00:52:57,826 --> 00:53:00,326
♫The checks written in indelible inks
868
00:53:00,328 --> 00:53:03,078
♫outrace Atlantic's winter hurricanes.
869
00:53:03,081 --> 00:53:05,671
♫At last the coffee
arrives, also the wheat,
870
00:53:05,669 --> 00:53:08,459
♫Needless to say, the deal was a success.
871
00:53:08,462 --> 00:53:11,802
♫Who can deny that all of us have gained?
872
00:53:13,859 --> 00:53:15,209
♫Our benefactors?
873
00:53:15,212 --> 00:53:16,052
♫Three trusts.
874
00:53:16,053 --> 00:53:19,063
♫They compete for honor,
glory, power and of course,
875
00:53:19,057 --> 00:53:23,517
♫profits, where all
happiness is contained.♫
65559
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