The New Deal was clearly the most ambitious legislative program ever implemented in the U.S. To meet the crisis of the Great Depression, FDR created a completely new conception of the role of government in America. The federal government accepted responsibility for addressing a wide array of services and issues that had previously been left to individuals or local governments. This required a vast increase in the government bureaucracy and an armada of new government bureaus and agencies were created to service the New Deal program. Collectively these new agencies were called the "Alphabet Agencies".
Instinctively we recognized a deeper need—the need to find through government the instrument of our united purpose to solve for the individual the ever-rising problems of a complex civilization. Repeated attempts at their solution without the aid of government had left us baffled and bewildered. …We of the Republic sensed the truth that democratic government has innate capacity to protect its people against disasters once considered inevitable, to solve problems once considered unsolvable…. In this we Americans were … writing a new chapter in our book of self-government.
FDR, Second Inaugural Address
The many programs of the New Deal which dealt with nearly every facet of American life (e.g. home loans, farm subsidies, bank deposit insurance, relief payments and jobs, pension programs, unemployment insurance, aid to mothers with dependent children, rural electrification, western water management, unions, Native Americans, etc...) with the goal to make the lives of ordinary Americans more secure. This unprecedented expansion of government, its policy goals, and the services it provided to citizens formed the outlines of modern American government.
Below is a small (believe it or not!) selection of the New Deal Alphabet Soup with annotations from Dr. Quinard Taylor, Professor of American History at University of Washington. While some of these agencies lasted just a few years, many are still important government agencies today.
AAA- AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ACT- Created in 1933, the AAA paid farmers for not planting crops in order to reduce surpluses, increase demand for seven major farm commodities, and raise prices.Farm income rose, but many tenants and share-croppers were pushed into the ranks of the unemployed.
FSA- FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION-The FSA was created in 1937 (formerly called the Resettlement Administration in 1935) to aid sharecroppers.The FSA set up temporary housing for Dust Bowl refugees who migrated to California in hope of finding work.
FCC- Federal Communications Commission- Created in 1934 to administrator broadcasting and interstate communications. Today the agency regulates radio, television, satellite, cable, and internet communications.
FDIC- FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORP- To restore confidence in banks and encourage savings, Congress created the FDIC to insure bank customers against the loss of up to $5,000 their deposits if their bank should fail.
FHA- FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION- The FHA was created in 1934 to stimulate the building industry by providing small loans for home construction.A related program, also created in 1934, was the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC).
IRA- INDIAN REORGANIZATION ACT- The Indian Removal Act of 1934 (called the "Indian New Deal, reversed the forced-assimilation policies in effect since the Dawes Act of 1887.The IRA tried to stop the loss of Indian lands and encouraged Native American tribes to establish local self-government and to preserve their native crafts and traditions.
NLRA- NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT- The NLRA created the National Labor Relations Board to protect the rights or organized labor to organize and collectively bargain with employers.
REA- RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ADMINISTRATION- Before the New Deal, only 10 percent of the country outside cities and towns had electricity.The REA (1935) gave low-cost loans to farm cooperatives to bring power into their communities.By 1941, the REA succeeded in raising to 40 percent the number of farms with electricity.
SEC- SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION- The SEC was created in 1934 to serve as a federal "watchdog" administrative agency to protect public and private investors from stock market fraud, deception and insider manipulation on Wall Street.The SEC is still in existence
TVA- TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY-Perhaps the most ambitious undertaking of the New Deal, the TVA was a comprehensive federal agency created in 1933 for the economic development of the Tennessee River watershed.The TVA built twenty dams to control flooding, generate hydroelectrical power, increase agricultural production, and revitalize the Tennessee Valley region.The TVA also provided jobs, low-cost housing, reforestation and other services.