Roosevelt's Investment Strategies: A Historical Perspective

Theodore Roosevelt was a cousin of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1971, he founded the investment advisory firm, P. James Roosevelt, Inc. The firm managed assets for endowments and individuals, including several members of the Roosevelt family. In 1993, the firm changed its name to The Roosevelt Investment Group, LLC. In 2002, The Roosevelt Investment Group, LLC. merged into Sheer Asset Management, Inc., an asset management firm founded in 1990 by Arthur Sheer. The Roosevelt name was retained. Today, Roosevelt Investments continues to manage money for several members of the Roosevelt family and the Theodore Roosevelt Association, as well as many other high-net-worth families and institutional clients.

Roosevelt's foreign policy approach

Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy approach was based on an African proverb: "speak softly, and carry a big stick, and you will go far". This meant that Roosevelt believed that the United States' military strength could be used as a threat to achieve foreign policy goals without the need for force. This was known as his "big stick" foreign policy.

Roosevelt's foreign policy was also influenced by his belief in social Darwinism, which held that the United States had a duty to act decisively on the global stage as the "fittest nation on the globe". He was a conservative and a realist, rejecting idealistic liberal themes and international law. He believed that the United States had to be the "policeman" of the Western Hemisphere to prevent European incursions and maintain stability. This was known as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.

Roosevelt's successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, also had a significant impact on foreign policy during his time in office from 1933 to 1945. He was an internationalist who believed the United States had an important role to play in the world. However, he was constrained by the isolationist sentiment among Americans and the persistence of the nation's economic woes during the Great Depression. FDR's early foreign policy successes included his "good neighbour" policy towards Latin America, normalizing relations with the Soviet Union, and passing the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act.

As the situation in Europe and Asia worsened in the mid-1930s, FDR tried to curb Japanese and German aggression but was limited by the Neutrality Acts passed by Congress. After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States entered World War II. FDR played a crucial role in the war effort, forming an effective team with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and coordinating with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. He also laid the groundwork for the creation of the United Nations as a permanent intergovernmental organization to maintain world peace and cooperation.

Roosevelt's economic relief programs

Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal was a series of economic relief programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1938. The New Deal aimed to address the Great Depression, which began in 1929. Roosevelt believed that the depression was caused by inherent market instability and that massive government intervention was necessary to rationalize and stabilize the economy.

First New Deal (1933-1934)

During his first hundred days in office, Roosevelt introduced a series of initiatives termed the "First New Deal". The programs focused on the 3 Rs: relief for the unemployed and the poor, recovery of the economy back to normal levels, and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression.

#### Relief Programs

• Roosevelt declared a four-day bank holiday and implemented the Emergency Banking Act, which enabled the Federal Reserve to insure bank deposits.
• The Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA) provided $500 million for relief operations by states and cities.
• The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enlisted young men for building in National Parks and tree planting in National Forests.
• The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) provided electricity generation and other development in the drainage basin of the Tennessee River.
• The Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided temporary employment and focused on building infrastructure such as post offices, bridges, schools, highways, and parks.

Second New Deal (1935-1938)

From 1935 to 1938, the "Second New Deal" introduced further legislation and additional agencies that focused on job creation and improving the conditions of the elderly, workers, and the poor.

#### Relief Programs

• The Works Progress Administration (WPA) supervised the construction of bridges, libraries, parks, and other facilities, while also investing in the arts.
• The Social Security Act introduced pensions for senior citizens and benefits for the disabled, mothers with dependent children, and the unemployed.

Roosevelt's regulatory reforms

Pure Food and Drug Act

Roosevelt's presidency saw the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which established the Food and Drug Administration to regulate food safety. This was a key part of Roosevelt's "Square Deal", which also included regulation of railroad rates and pure foods and drugs. Roosevelt saw it as a fair deal for both the average citizen and businessmen.

Hepburn Act

The Hepburn Act increased the regulatory power of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Roosevelt had wanted to regulate trusts that he believed harmed the public, which he labelled "bad trusts". The Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.

National Labor Relations Act

The National Labor Relations Act guaranteed workers the right to collective bargaining through unions of their own choice. The act also established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to facilitate wage agreements and suppress labour disturbances.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was another major regulatory reform related to finance, communications, and labour, instituted by Roosevelt.

Securities and Exchange Commission

Roosevelt also instituted major regulatory reforms related to finance, including the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Communications

Roosevelt also instituted regulatory reforms related to communications, including the Federal Communications Commission, which was established to regulate telecommunications.

Roosevelt's New Deal coalition

Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal coalition was a critical political alliance formed during the Great Depression in the 1930s. The coalition was named after Roosevelt's New Deal programs and was composed of voting blocs that supported the Democratic Party. It included labor unions, blue-collar workers, big-city machines, racial and religious minorities (especially Jews, Catholics, and African Americans), white Southerners, intellectuals, Democratic Party organizations, universities, and foundations. Roosevelt was eager to include liberal Republicans and some radical third parties, even if it meant downplaying the "Democratic" name.

The New Deal coalition gave a voice to African Americans, and Roosevelt's relief programs and efforts to provide equal opportunities for all races made him popular among them. Roosevelt's wide-reaching empathy earned him the support of diverse groups, and under his leadership, the New Deal Coalition realigned demographics politically. The coalition made the Democratic Party the majority party nationally for decades, powering it from 1932 to 1968.

The coalition began to weaken in the 1940s with the collapse of big-city machines, the decline of labor unions, the rise of neoliberalism, and the turn of White Northern ethnics and Southern Whites toward conservatism on racial issues. The coalition eventually fell apart, but the image of the Democratic Party as the champion of the working class and supporter of government intervention persists.

Roosevelt's legacy

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known by his initials FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the only president to have served more than two terms. Roosevelt's legacy is that of a progressive reformer and trust buster, a shaper of modern American foreign policy, and a leader who brought the United States through the Great Depression and World War II.

Progressive Reformer and Trust Buster

Roosevelt's presidency saw the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which established the Food and Drug Administration to regulate food safety, and the Hepburn Act, which increased the regulatory power of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Roosevelt's "Square Deal" included regulation of railroad rates and pure foods and drugs; he saw it as a fair deal for both the average citizen and the businessmen. He avoided labour strikes, most notably negotiating a settlement to the great Coal Strike of 1902. Roosevelt was also a prominent conservationist, putting the issue high on the national agenda. He dramatically expanded the system of national parks and national forests.

Shaper of Modern American Foreign Policy

Roosevelt's foreign policy was characterised by a belief in the preservation of the balance of world power, the dream of concerted international action to keep the peace, the conviction that peace and political collaboration rested on commercial harmony among nations, and the imperative to base foreign policy on domestic consent. Roosevelt's first term in office was marked by the Good Neighbor Policy, which was a re-evaluation of U.S. policy toward Latin America. Roosevelt also normalised relations with the Soviet Union, which the United States had refused to recognise since the 1920s.

Leader Who Brought the United States Through the Great Depression and World War II

Roosevelt's first two terms as president were centred on combating the Great Depression. He created numerous programs to provide relief to the unemployed and farmers while seeking economic recovery with the National Recovery Administration and other programs. Roosevelt also instituted major regulatory reforms related to finance, communications, and labour, and he presided over the end of Prohibition. Roosevelt's third and fourth terms were dominated by war issues. He won congressional approval of the Lend-Lease program, which was designed to aid allies warring against Germany and Japan. After Germany declared war on the Soviet Union, Roosevelt extended Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union as well. In Asia, Roosevelt provided aid to the Republic of China, which was resisting a largely successful invasion by the Japanese. In response to the July 1941 Japanese occupation of southern French Indochina, Roosevelt expanded a trade embargo on Japan. After attempting to re-open oil exports, Japan launched an attack on the U.S. fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor. The United States became belligerent in December 1941 after Congress responded in kind to declarations of war by Japan, Germany, and Italy.

Frequently asked questions