Hoover?
The Roosevelt Administration, which started in 1933:
The economy continued to improve during 1935. The GNP grew another 8.1 percent and unemployment fell to 20.1 percent.
In 1936, the Supreme Court again made another act on the New Deal when it found part of the Agricultural Adjustment Act unconstitutional.
The government did little in relation to new policies during 1936. Congress passed only the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, along with the top tax rate being raised to 79 percent.
The economy recovered further as the GNP rose another 14.1 percent and unemployment fell to 16.9 percent.
In 1937, the Supreme Court again placed a road block in the path of the New Deal. The Supreme Court declared the National Labor Relations Board, which had been enacted just two years before, unconstitutional.
Roosevelt believed that the public's support was behind him because they re-elected him in 1936. This gave Roosevelt the confidence he needed to do something about the Supreme Court and the roadblocks they were erecting in the path of the New Deal.
To Roosevelt, the path to liberalizing the Supreme Court was through expansion of the Court. Roosevelt's plan to add six new justices was not unconstitutional , because the Judicial System was established by a legislation passed in Congress, not by the Constitution or a Constitutional Amendment.
Unfortunately for Roosevelt, the reaction to his plan was largely negative. Conservatives were outraged and saw it as the action of a would-be dictator. The public was outraged as well, and public sentiment turned against Roosevelt.
In addition to Roosevelt's failure with the Court Packing Plan, he feared an unbalanced budget due to heavy government spending and decided that, with the economy improving, 1937 would be a good year to balance the budget. The timing was bad, and in the summer of 1937, the nation plunged into another recession.
Despite the recession, the economy did improve, with the GNP rising 5.0 percent and unemployment falling to 14.3 percent.
In 1938, Congress passed the last of the major New Deal legislation that would ever be with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 and the Fair Labor Standards Act. After this, Roosevelt, with his weakened political power, was unable to get any more major New Deal legislation through Congress.
The recession which started during the summer of 1937, was apparent because it worsened the economy. The GNP fell 4.5 percent and unemployment rose to 19.0 percent.
In 1939, the country began to pull out of the Depression as it borrowed and spent $1 billion to build-up its armed forces. The GNP rose 7.9 percent and unemployment fell to 17.2 percent.
It would appear that World War II, and not the New Deal, ended the Great Depression for the United States.
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