The labor leader report

Running Head : Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt : The Labor Leader

Name

Affiliation

Franklin Delano Roosevelt : The Labor Leader

Political Background

Franklin D . Roosevelt was the longest running president of the United States . He was at the helm of the nation from the end of the Great Depression to the end of the Second World War . Spanning 12 years , his administration faced the toughest times in U .S . history . However , his policies and programs must have effectively addressed both foreign and domestic crises as evidenced by the popular will

that kept him in the White House

FDR entered politics as a democrat and won a seat in the New York Senate in 1910 as well governorship of New York in 1928 . He was an advocate of the farmers in New York and an opponent of corruption in government which manifested in the activities of the Tweed Ring (Miller Center , 2008 . His style of governance was both progressive and nationalist where he believed in equality among peoples and accountability of government

He became assistant secretary to the navy then made his comeback as governor of New York in 1928 after years of battling with polio . His political career culminated in his election as United States president in 1932 . He was re-elected thrice after but was unable to finish his last term because of his sudden death

Involvement in Labor Management Relations

Well before his inauguration and into the first years of his administration , he saw the crisis brought about by overproduction bring agriculture and manufacturing to a standstill into what is known as the Great Depression . Thousands of workers became unemployed and farmers were set to lose their farms and property to creditors . Poverty , hunger joblessness and uncertainty lurked evidenced everywhere

FDR believed that capitalism is the most advanced economy . However , it has its flaws if unregulated so that necessary reforms should be made to enable government to regulate the economy (Miller Center , 2008 . At the height of the Great Depression , FDR 's early solution to U .S . industry was encapsulated in the National Industry Recovery Act

The NIRA sought to stimulate production by creating demand for products through public works construction (Miller Center , 2008 . This in turn generated employment for the multitudes of jobless Americans . The Act also gave incentives to industry and at the same time provided protection for workers in terms of wage regulation and the right to collectively bargain and organize (Dubofsky , 1994 ,

.111 . However , the NIRA was largely unsuccessful because it failed to take into account the basic laws that governed capitalism

FDR tried a new tack through the Workers Progress Administration , the Wagner-Connery National Labor Relations Act and the Social Security Act The WPA sustained and expanded the earlier efforts of job creation (Miller Center , 2008 . Millions of Americans were paid by government to construct schools buildings , hospital facilities and transport infrastructure . It also provided the necessary training in to be eligible for employment

The Wagner-Connery Act was the successful attempt at legislating...