So Mr. President What Did You Do During Your Term In Office? (13)

Topic: The Roosevelt Administration: Year 1933 #1

February 15, 1933
On February 15, 1933 there was an attempt to assassinate President-elect Roosevelt, while he was sitting in an open car in Miami, Florida. Although six shots were directed at him, thanks to the intervention of a bystander, Mrs. William F. Cross, the President-elect was not injured. Several others in the party including Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago were hit by the shots.

March 5, 1933
President Roosevelt calls Congress to convene on March 9 in special session. At the same time, using the 1917 Trading With The Enemy Act, he declares a nationwide bank holiday effective March 6 through March 9, closing virtually every financial institution in the country, including the Federal Reserve. Roosevelt also proclaims an embargo on the export of gold, silver, and currency.

March 6, 1933
Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicgo dies of wounds received during the attempted assassination of the President on Feb. 15.

March 9, 1933
Congress meets and immediately passes the Emergency Banking Relief Act, which gives the Treasury Department power to control various transacdtions in currency, credit, and bullion. It also makes it illegal, effective May 1, to own or export gold, and empowers the Treasury Department to regulate the reopening of the banks.

March 12, 1933
President Roosevelt addresses the nation in the first of his radio "fireside chats." Addressing his listeners as "My friends," he explains the purpose of the national bank holiday and the measures being taken to deal with the financial crisis.

The Banking Act was signed in 1933.

March 13-27, 1933
Banks start to reopen, and within two weeks over 75 per cent of all banks, with well over 90 percent of the nation's banking assets, are operating. During the same period about $1,000,000,000 is redeposited and gold is returned to the U.S. Treasury.

March 20, 1933

President Roosevelt signs the Economy Act, which reduces salaries by up to 15% to save about $100,000,000 a year, and reduces veterans' benefits by a total of $400,000,000 a year.

To be continued: The Roosevelt Administration: Year 1933 #2

Sources For Information: The American Presidents by David C. Whitney; Reader's Digest Association, Inc. (1996), The New York Public Library American History Desk Reference; A Stonesong Press Book (1997) The Bicentennial Almanac Edited by Calvin D. Linton, Ph.D. Publishers, Thomas Nelson Inc. (1975) The Presidents of the United States Vol 2, A.S. Barnes & Co. (1973): Roosevelt in Retrospect, A Profile in History by John Gunther; Harper & Brothers, Publishers, (1950): Society and Thought in America: Volume II by Harvey Wish, Publishers: David McKay Company, Inc.1952

To contact: miriam@thehistorybox.com
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