The New Deal Reorganizes: 1939
"WPA Worker Receiving Paycheck," January 1939
Records of the Work Projects Administration; National Archives & Records Administration
THE NEW DEAL TRANSFORMED: The Reorganization of 1939
Following the midterm elections of 1938, President Roosevelt undertook the seemingly herculean effort of reorganizing the Federal government. The advent and proliferation of New Deal "alphabet agencies" had caused exponential growth in the size and scope of government. Rather than battling the federal bureaucracy, Roosevelt wanted to exert greater control over it via: 1) a more concentrated executive inner circle, and 2) the arrangement of Federal agencies along service lines. The Reorganization Act of 1939 and the resulting Reorganization Plan No. 1 (see below for more information on both items) gave Roosevelt what he wanted.
Specifically, the Act granted the President of the United States the authority to hire additional confidential staff and reorganize the executive branch for two years subject to legislative veto. Roosevelt subsequently created an Executive Office of the President and two "super" agencies--the Federal Works Agency and the Federal Security Agency--to manage federal building needs as well as public welfare (i.e., education, health, employment, and social services), respectively.
"President Roosevelt Meets with Reporters," 08-25-1939
Photo courtesy of the Associated Press (Download here)
April 3, 1939: President Roosevelt signs into law the Reorganization Act of 1939 (Public Law 76-19) that seeks a means to manage the ever-escalating bureaucracy of the Federal government. (Roosevelt had tried to forward similar legislation in 1937, but Congress had tabled the bill. Critics claimed that the bill gave him too much power; see the cartoon to the right.) The Reorganization Act of 1939 authorizes the President to reorganize the Executive Branch under certain conditions, in particular to hire more staff under his direct control; this ultimately leads to the establishment of the Executive Office of the President. The Act gives the reorganization authority to the President for two years subject to Congressional approval and requires the President to submit “reorganization plans” to Congress to implement his intentions for reforming the administrative functions of government. The Act represents the first major, planned reorganization of the executive branch of the government of the United States since 1787.
(Download Public Law 76-19 here)
Public Law 76-19, page 1, 04-03-1939
President Roosevelt's Message to Congress: Reorganization Plan No. 1, 04-25-1939
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
April 25, 1939: In a message to Congress, President Roosevelt presents Reorganization Plan No. 1. In the opening of his speech Roosevelt details his rationale for the plan:
"In these days of ruthless attempts to destroy democratic government, it is baldly asserted that democracies must always be weak in order to be democratic at all; and, that therefore, it will be easy to crush all free states out of existence.
"Confident in our Republic's 150 years of successful resistance to all subversive attempts upon it, whether from without or within, nevertheless we must be constantly alert to keeping the tools of American democracy up to date. It is our responsibility to make sure that the peoples' government is in condition to carry out the peoples' will, promptly, effectively, without waste or lost action."
Reorganization Plan No. 1 creates a few new agencies and consolidates others; the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) are both placed under the newly-created Federal Works Agency. Most notably, the Plan creates the Federal Security Agency and the Federal Loan Agency and transfers farmer-support agencies to the Department of Agriculture.
May 9, 1939 In a message to Congress, President Roosevelt presents Reorganization Plan No. 2 that transfers other agencies within existing Cabinet-level departments, including the State Department, the Treasury Department, and the Department of Justice.
President Roosevelt's Message to Congress: Reorganization Plan No. 2, 05-09-1939
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
July 1, 1939 The Federal Register, published by the National Archives of the United States, announces a "Joint Resolution Providing That Reorganization Plans Numbered I and II Shall Take Effect" as of this day.
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Reorganization Plan No. 1, 07-01-1939
Office of the Federal Register, National Archives & Records Administration
Complete Federal Register Notice
(Download here)
Extraction for Federal Security Agency
(Download here)
Extraction for Federal Works Agency
(Download here)
"Household Workers Training Project, San Jose, CA," 05-20-1940
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration (Download here)
July 1, 1939: The Federal Works Agency (FWA) is established as an independent agency via Reorganization Plan No. 1. The FWA administers the following constituent units: Public Buildings Administration (PBA), Public Works Administration (PWA), Work Projects Administration (WPA), Public Roads Administration (PRA), U.S. Housing Authority (USHA), Federal Fire Council (FFC), and Bureau of Community Facilities (BCF). The FWA administers numerous public construction, building maintenance, and public works relief functions and laws, including defense industry projects. It meets dissolution in June 1949 with the creation of the General Services Administration.
"Eleanor Roosevelt at CCC Camp in Yosemite, CA," 1941
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration (Download here)
July 1, 1939: The Federal Security Agency (FSA) is established as an independent agency via the Reorganization Plan No. 1. The original constituent units of the agency include: 1) Office of the Administrator, 2) Public Health Service, 3) Office of Education, 4) Civilian Conservation Corps, 5) National Youth Administration, and 5) Social Security Board. The FSA assumes responsibility for social security, education, drug regulation, protection of the food supply, civil defense preparedness, supplying employees to war-related industries, anti-prostitution enforcement, biological weapons research, and ultimately, facilitating the relocation of Japanese-Americans to internment and detention centers.
AMERICANS AT WORK: New Deal Agencies in Action
"Topeka, Kansas, Mattress Making Project," ca. 1936 - 1942
Records of the Work Projects Administration; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"WPA Workers Indexing and Preserving Census Records, New York," 10-12-1936
Records of the Work Projects Administration; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"People in Memphis, Tennessee Being Inoculated in Auditorium," February 1937
Records of the Work Projects Administration; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"Packhorse Librarian Packing Saddle Bag," ca. 1938
Records of the Work Projects Administration; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"Slossfield Health Center, Constructed by the WPA," June 1938
Records of the Work Projects Administration; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"Marshall, Harrison County, TX, Literacy Class at Park School," 05-15-1939
Records of the Work Projects Administration; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"WPA Men At Washington National Airport," October 1939
Records of the Work Projects Administration; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"On the Freights," 04-11-1940
Records of the National Youth Administration; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"San Fernando, California. This CCC Boy is returning to camp after visiting his family in Los Angeles," 04-28-1940
Records of the National Youth Administration; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"WPA Federal Art Center at the Municipal Auditorium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma," 1941
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"WPA Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota," 1941
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"El Cerrito, San Miguel County, New Mexico. The WPA road gangs employ men from all the villages," April 1941
Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
THE NEUTRALITY ACT OF 1939: Reorganization Meets War
In the spring of 1939, Roosevelt and the country watched as Germany, Japan, and Italy pursued militaristic policies. In an effort to combat the global threat of Fascism, Roosevelt lobbied Congress to amend the Neutrality Acts passed between 1935 and 1937; the Acts made it illegal for the United States to sell or transport arms or war materiel to belligerent nations. Specifically, Roosevelt proposed a "cash and carry" amendment: warring nations would be allowed to purchase munitions on a cash only basis and transport the material on non-American ships.
After Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Roosevelt continued his crusade to end the arms embargo. On September 21, 1939, Roosevelt brought his case to the halls of Congress, stating:
“I now ask again that such action be taken in respect to that part of the Act which is wholly inconsistent with ancient precepts of the law of nations–the embargo provisions. I ask it because they are, in my opinion, most vitally dangerous to American neutrality, American security and, above all, American peace.”
Over the objection of American "isolationists," Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1939 on November 11, 1939, allowing for arms trade with belligerent nations--Great Britain and France--on a cash-and-carry basis, in effect ending the arms embargo.
The attention of Roosevelt, Congress, and the nation would shift from domestic policy to foreign policy. . . . the New Deal meets a world on the brink of war.
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Audio, FDR's "Message to Congress at Extraordinary Session to Amend Neutrality," 09-21-1939 (Download here)
Text, FDR's "Message to Congress at Extraordinary Session to Amend Neutrality," 09-21-1939 (Download here)
Both files above from FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
President Roosevelt Discusses Neutrality Act, 1939
Photo courtesy of Keystone - Getty Images (Download here)
"Ushers Log for President Roosevelt," 09-21-1939
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration (Download here)
Neutrality Act of 1939, 11-04-1939
Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress (Download here)