The New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to a complex package of economic programs he initiated between 1933 and 1935 with the goal of giving relief to the unemployed, reform of business and financial practices, and promoting recovery of the economy during The Great Depression. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office on March 4, 1933, the nation was deeply troubled.

Banks in 37 states were closed and many checks could not be cashed. The unemployment rate was 25% and higher in major industrial and mining centers. Farm prices had fallen in half.

Overall prices had plunged by over 20%, making debts harder to bear and making planning difficult. Mortgages were being foreclosed by tens of thousands. Unemployment was still high in 1939, with the normal levels reached in 1941.

Historians distinguish a "First New Deal" (1933) and a "Second New Deal" (1934-36). Some programs were declared unconstitutional, and others were repealed during World War II; beginning in early 1937 almost no new programs were initiated because of the opposition of the new Conservative Coalition. The "First New Deal" (March 4th, 1933) was aimed at meeting the needs of practically all major groups, from banking and railroads to industry and farming.

The New Deal innovated with banking reform laws, work relief programs, agricultural programs, and industrial reform (the National Recovery Administration, NRA), and the end of the gold standard.

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