" I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people. Let us all here assembled constitute ourselves prophets [dedicate ourselves to the development] of a new order of competence and courage." Franklin Roosevelt (1882–1945) spoke these words on July 2, 1932, at the Democratic National Convention. He was accepting the Democratic Party's nomination to be a candidate in the U.S. presidential election of 1932. The phrase "new deal," planted in the public's mind, became a label for the political and economic programs Roosevelt created to combat the Great Depression (1929–39) and return America to prosperity.

At the time of Roosevelt's speech, Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) was the U.S. president and the Republican candidate for reelection. Hoover (served 1929–33) had fallen into disfavor with the American public. He had not met the public outcry for economic relief during the early years of the Depression. In addition, with...