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By the time of Franklin Roosevelt's inauguration in March 1933, banking in the United States was in serious jeopardy. In Detroit the banks were so badly overextended that Michigan governor William A. Comstock closed all the banks temporarily to give the bankers time to set their affairs in order. The "bank holiday" caught the public by surprise and left everyone with the problem of how to extend the money in their pockets for the duration of the eight-day holiday. They were not alone. In the week that followed, a dozen other states followed Michigan's lead and closed the banks. Rather than reassure people, the bank holidays only increased the panic of the public. Bank runs and closings continued to sweep the country. In the week prior to Roosevelt's inauguration, a quarter of a billion dollars in gold vanished from the nation's vaults. The Department of the...
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This section contains 233 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) |
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