The New Deal
What is it?
The New Deal was a program implemented by president Franklin Roosevelt. It was a series of social and economic reforms aimed at getting the United States out of the Great Depression. Some more notable programs include Social Security, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Wagner Act, and the Public Works Administration. These programs did not do much to help the economy, but did improve the standard of living for many unemployed Americans.
Why's it important?
The New Deal created sweeping social reforms to help the economy, the first of its kind in the United States. Many of these reforms still exist today and despite those that were repealed, the idea of government assistance continues today in programs such as the Affordable Care Act. This trend of increasing liberalism in the United States continues and forms today's near-welfare state. The rise of the American Welfare States ends with the Conservative resurgence of the 1980s, making an end to new social reforms and the beginning of supply side economics.