Was the most serious opposition to the New Deal the Supreme Court?

Comment on: The Supreme

Court; Opposition from other politicians; Huey Long or Charles Coughlin. [16Marks]
When Roosevelt was elected to presidency in 1933, he promised the American people a New Deal.
He said that this would comprise of relief, recovery and reform and this would mainly be done
through increasing government expenditure. There was however some serious opposition to this
from the Supreme court, other politicians, Huey Long and Charles Coughlin but on reflection it is
clear that the Supreme Court did pose the most serious threat to Roosevelt, as they actually had the
power to stop him.
The Supreme Court did pose the most serious threat to Roosevelt. The Supreme Court essentially
felt that Roosevelt was meddling in state affairs and was exercising executive power that was not
given to him by the American constitution. Between 1935-6 16 cases were tried by the Supreme
Court for being unconstitutional and 11 were found to be guilty of breaking the constitution. One
especially dominant case was the US vs. Butler case 1936, during which the AAA was deemed illegal.
The Supreme Court said it was the duty of the state to help farmers not the federal government. This
was due to the Republican nature of Supreme Court. This shows that the Supreme Court was
actually the most serious opposition to the New Deal as they were the only organisation that could
stop acts from being passed and they actually did this. Furthermore, the members of the Supreme
Court were respected by the American people as they were seen as protectors of the constitution
and Americans are very proud of their constitution. This is shown when Roosevelt tried to reform
the court, there was public outcry and he was branded a dictator by some. Therefore, the political
legitimacy and power meant that they were some serious opposition, more so than any other
individual.
Another bunch of Republicans that opposed the New Deal was the Republicans themselves. They are
part of the larger political opposition to Roosevelt. During Roosevelts first term, the main opposition
came from the Republicans. Many Republicans were horrified that Roosevelt was creating a budget
deficit. The Republican party, being a party for the rich, were also against the idea of taxing the rich
to help the needy. Roosevelt was also accused of sovietising America or being communist. One
major right wing opposition group was the American Liberty League which was set up by
businessmen and it viciously attacked the New Deal. It also helped that they owned 75% of the
press. However, in his second term Roosevelt faced opposition from Dixiecrats. He tried to get rid of
them in the 1938 mid terms but this was compared to Stalins purges and failed. However, this
opposition was not as serious as Americans were tired of Republican ideas and Roosevelt still
controlled the majority of Democrats. The republicans did not have control over either houses of
congress; hence they had no political power so their opposition was not as serious as the Supreme
Courts opposition.
Another politician who opposed the new deal but was from the far left was Huey Long. Long was the
governor of Louisiana and had been ruling it like a dictator. He often taxed the rich to give to the
poor and this made him popular during the depression. He created the Share Our Wealth campaign
in 1934. He wanted to confiscate the swollen riches of Americas tycoon and use it to give every
American family a car. By 1935, he had set up over 27000 clubs and had over 4 million followers. In
the presidential election of 1936, his campaign got over 7 million votes. However, there are several
factors as to why he was not a form of serious opposition. Firstly, he was seen as a Bolshevik and
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Americans were scared by communism so many were alienated by his policies and his beliefs.
Furthermore, he was only the Governor of one state. He had no national authority and therefore he
had no real political power. To form any sort of opposition he had to be a contender in the
Presidential election and to do this he had to be alive. Unfortunately for him, he was assassinated by
a doctor in 1935; hence he could not become president. His lack of political power mean that he was
not a serious form of opposition and less serious of a threat than the Supreme Court.
Another left-wing politician who opposed the New Deal was Charles Coughlin. He said that the New
Deal did not go far enough. He proposed to nationalise all banks and set a minimum wage. He was
also dubbed the Radio Priest as he spoke frequently on the radio about his plans. In fact his talks
often had more than 40 million listeners. Since he was broadcasting his ideas to such a large
audience he may have formed some opposition to the New Deal but in fact, his contribution is the
smallest of all four factors. Firstly, his radio broadcasts had fewer listeners than Roosevelts fireside
chats. Also, his policies were seen as too similar to Roosevelts. Roosevelt did introduce a minimum
wage a few years later and in his first term he shut down all bank and only reopened them after he
was satisfied with them. The Glass Steagal act meant that banks could not speculate on the stock
market so he was regulating the banks. Furthermore, he had no political power or legitimacy as h
was just a priest. Therefore, his opposition is really dwarfed by that of the Supreme Court.
In conclusion, it is clear that the Supreme Court formed the most serious opposition to the New
Deal. This is because they had the political power to oppose the New Deal, something which the
other three did not have. Other politicians did form some sort of opposition as they formed the
opposition parties. However, they did not have the majority in Congress, hence they were not a real
threat. However, they were a more serious form of opposition than Huey Long as they could
opposed Roosevelt throughout his presidency; long could only oppose up till 1935. Finally, Coughlin
was the last serious form as he did not really oppose the New Deal; he just added a few suggestions.
Nevertheless, it is clear that all of these factors and organisations combined together to form a
strong wave of opposition to the New Deal, but not too much because Roosevelt did win four
elections.

Madhi Elango 11P