Roosevelt's New Deal faced opposition from both the political right and the political left. (a) Describe the main criticisms made of the New Deal by its opp...

(a) Main criticisms of the New Deal [4 marks]

The New Deal faced opposition from both the political right and the political left. Republicans and big business accused Roosevelt of excessive government interference in the economy, warning that his policies amounted to creeping socialism and threatened individual liberty. From the left, Senator Huey Long of Louisiana argued the New Deal did not go far enough; his "Share Our Wealth" programme proposed redistributing the wealth of the rich to guarantee every American family a minimum income. Father Charles Coughlin used his enormously popular radio broadcasts (reaching up to 30 million listeners) to criticise Roosevelt, initially from a left-wing populist position and later with increasingly anti-Semitic rhetoric. Dr Francis Townsend proposed a more generous pension scheme for the elderly (200 dollars per month for everyone over 60), arguing that Social Security was inadequate.

(b) Why the Supreme Court challenged New Deal measures [6 marks]

The Supreme Court struck down key New Deal legislation because a majority of conservative justices believed these measures exceeded the federal government's constitutional powers. The NIRA was struck down unanimously in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935), with the Court ruling that Congress had delegated excessive legislative power to the executive branch and that the federal government was regulating businesses that operated within a single state, exceeding its interstate commerce authority. The AAA was declared unconstitutional in United States v. Butler (1936) because the Court ruled it used federal taxing power to regulate agriculture, a power reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment. Many of the justices had been appointed by Republican presidents and were ideologically committed to a limited interpretation of federal power. The Constitution's separation of powers gave the Court the authority to review and invalidate federal legislation through judicial review.

(c) How important opposition was in limiting the New Deal's success [10 marks]

Opposition significantly limited the New Deal:

• The Supreme Court struck down the NIRA and AAA, forcing Roosevelt to redesign central programmes and creating uncertainty about the legality of his approach.
• Roosevelt's attempt to "pack" the Court in 1937 by proposing to appoint additional sympathetic justices failed in Congress and damaged his political standing, making him appear power-hungry.
• Republican and conservative Democrat opposition in Congress blocked or weakened later New Deal proposals, particularly after the 1938 mid-term elections gave the opposition more seats.
• Business hostility meant many employers resisted implementing the Wagner Act and minimum wage laws, slowing reform.

However, opposition did not prevent significant achievement:

• Roosevelt won landslide re-election victories in 1936 (carrying 46 of 48 states) and 1940, demonstrating that opposition had not eroded his popular support.
• The Second New Deal of 1935 replaced struck-down measures with constitutionally stronger alternatives, often going further than the originals.
• The Court itself shifted position from 1937 (the "switch in time that saved nine"), beginning to approve New Deal legislation, possibly influenced by Roosevelt's court-packing threat.
• Huey Long's assassination in September 1935 removed the most dangerous political challenger to Roosevelt from the left.

Opposition forced Roosevelt to modify and strengthen his approach, but it did not prevent the New Deal from achieving reforms that fundamentally changed the relationship between the federal government and American citizens.