Alternatives to the New Deal

• Many of the wealthy turned against Roosevelt after taxes were raised and the government remained involved in the economy
• The Liberty League was organised in April 1934 to promote private property and unregulated private enterprise
• The Liberty League was led by Al Smith, the 1928 Democrat candidate, and Jacob Raskob, former Democrat Party chairman
• Liberty Leaguers saw Roosevelt as a class traitor and compared the New Deal to communism
• By July 1936, the Liberty League had 125 000 members
• The Liberty League faded away after the 1936 election
• Upton Sinclair devised a plan where the unemployed would work in state-run co-operatives. Their wages would be paid in currency that could only be spent in other co-operatives
• Sinclair won the Democrat nomination for California in 1934, but lost
• Huey Long, Governor of Louisiana, ordered public works programmes and adult literacy schemes
• In Louisiana, over 3 000 miles of paved highways were built from 1928 to 1933
• Huey Long was accused of being a dictator
• Long took his scheme national in February 1934. He thought private wealth over $3 million should be confiscated, all families should be given essentials, supported old-age pensions, minimum wages and free college educations
• There were 27 431 'Share Our Wealth' clubs with 4.6 million members
• In 1935, Postmaster General James A Farley found that 4 million people might vote for Long in 1936
• Long was assassinated in September 1935
• Francis Townsend advocated old-age pensions for over-60s. They would be given $200 a month to spend
• Townsend would encourage spending and early retirement, freeing up jobs for the unemployed youth
• Townsend's plan was impractical but popular. It would take 50% of national income, but Townsend clubs had 500 000 members
• Father Charles Coughlin was a priest whose radio programme, The Golden Hour of the Little Flower, had 30-40 million listeners
• Coughlin believed banks should be nationalised, but was generally contradictory
• Coughlin founded the National Union for Social Justice in 1934 for monetary reform and wealth redistribution
• Coughlin's downfall came with his increasing antisemitism and fondness of European fascist dictators
• The opposition showed the level of support there was for more radical measures to combat the depression
• The prospect of a third-party in 1936 was worrying
• In the 1934 mid-term congressional elections, the Democrats held 69 of the 96 Senate seats, the biggest Democrat majority to date