In the November 1932 election, President Hoover was heavily defeated by the Democrat candidate. This man had promised the American public a "New Deal", although he was vague about exactly what he would do.
Eight years before the Wall Street Crash, Roosevelt had become seriously ill and was left unable to walk. Some people believe that this illness made Roosevelt a better man. As one observer said "The man emerged completely warm hearted, with humility of spirit and with a deeper philosophy. Having been to the depths of trouble, he understood the problems of people in trouble."
Roosevelt's first act as president was to deal with the country's banking crisis. The day after taking office as president, Roosevelt ordered all banks to shut their doors. He then made a law to guarantee that savers would not lose their money if there were another financial crisis. Only once the situation was more stable did he let the banks open back up to customers.
Roosevelt’s next problem was unemployment. Just like Hitler was to do in Germany, Roosevelt had the idea of putting people back to work by creating big government projects.
This formed the basis of his New Deal.
Though Roosevelt couldn't walk he would often be help upright for his public appearances. As most people only heard him during his 'Fireside Chats' on the radio they didn't even know he was disabled.
