AP® United States History · Unit 7 · Topic 7.10
Opposition, the Court Fight, and the Legacy
The New Deal was attacked from both sides at once: conservatives and the Supreme Court said it went too far, while populists like Huey Long said it did not go far enough, and the fight over the Court nearly broke Roosevelt's second term.
By 1935 the New Deal had enemies on two fronts. Business leaders and conservatives thought Roosevelt was dragging the country toward socialism, handing too much power to Washington and interfering with free markets. The Supreme Court agreed enough to act on it: in Schechter v. United States in 1935 it struck down the National Recovery Administration, ruling that Congress had handed the executive branch too much regulatory power and had overstepped its authority over local commerce. Furious that more New Deal laws might fall next, Roosevelt proposed adding up to six new justices in 1937, one for every sitting justice over seventy. Congress, even many Democrats, saw this as a naked grab for control over an independent branch and killed the plan. Roosevelt won the legal battle anyway, since the Court soon began upholding New Deal measures, but he lost political capital he never fully got back.
Meanwhile critics on the left said the New Deal protected capitalism rather than replacing it. Huey Long's Share Our Wealth plan demanded steep taxes on the rich to guarantee every family a home and income. Father Coughlin, a radio priest, denounced bankers and eventually called for nationalizing the banking system. Francis Townsend wanted generous monthly pensions for the elderly, funded by a national sales tax. Each argued Roosevelt was too timid.
The 1937 recession reinforced the pattern: when Roosevelt cut spending to balance the budget, the recovery stalled immediately, suggesting government spending had been carrying real weight. Social Security, passed in 1935, became the New Deal's most lasting answer to both sides, a permanent federal safety net that reshaped what Americans expected from their government.
Key terms
- Schechter v. United States
- 1935 Supreme Court case that struck down the National Recovery Administration as an unconstitutional delegation of power.
- Court-packing plan
- Roosevelt's 1937 proposal to add up to six justices to the Supreme Court, rejected by Congress.
- Share Our Wealth
- Huey Long's plan to tax the wealthy heavily and guarantee every family a basic income and home.
- Recession of 1937
- A sharp economic downturn that followed federal spending cuts, suggesting government spending had been fueling the recovery.
- Social Security Act
- 1935 law creating federal old-age pensions and unemployment insurance, establishing a permanent government safety net.
Watch it explained
- How it worksWalk me through the Supreme Court striking down the NRA and Roosevelt's plan to pack the bench.
- How it worksCompare Huey Long, Father Coughlin and the Townsend plan on what each said Roosevelt got wrong.
- Worked exampleShow me the recession of 1937 arriving right after federal spending is cut back.
- Ties togetherHow does Social Security change the permanent relationship between Americans and their government?
Check yourself
End of topic.