Event Type: Branch

Takes Place: 9th November 2024

Time: 11am

Venue: National Waterfront Museum, Swansea

Description: The talk would examine how FDR transformed the US presidency from a relatively limited institution into the modern office we know today as the driving force of American politics and government. It would explore FDR's development of new federal programmes in response to the Great Depression and his establishment of social and economic reforms to assist Americans in the lower half of the income distribution. It would also explore how he sought to enhance the effectiveness of America's governing institutions through the creation of the Executive Office of the Presidency, his ultimately successful battle to compel Supreme Court acceptance of his reforms (as today, that body was dominated by conservative justices in the mid 1930s), and his less successful effort to purge the congressional Democratic party of its most conservative members. He will also explain how FDR's genius for political communication enabled him to establish a hitherto unprecedented closeness of relationship with the American people - not only as the first radio president but also through his use of press conferences, newsreel appearances, and regular travels throughout the USA. While the talk would focus on domestic issues in the main, He’ll also make brief mention of how FDR did battle with the congressional isolationists opposed to any involvement in European affairs in the 1930s and how America's eventual participation in World War II established the president as the principal director of US foreign and national security policy.

How to book: No booking required

Price: Free

Email: historyliz1565@yahoo.com

Website: www.haswansea.org.uk/

Organiser: Swansea Branch

Lecturer: Professor Iwan Morgan

Comments: Iwan Morgan is Professor of US Studies emeritus at the Institute of the Americas, University College London,. He is also a distinguished fellow of the Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford. He was the recipient of the British Association of

Region: Wales

Branch: Swansea