LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Democratic Congress
built 606 days ago
The Supreme Court was the main obstacle to Roosevelt's programs during his second term, overturning many of his programs. In particular in 1935 the Court unanimously ruled that the National Recovery Act (NRA) was an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to the president. Roosevelt stunned Congress in early 1937 by proposing a law allowing him to appoint five new justices, a "persistent infusion of new blood".[54] This "court packing" plan ran into intense political opposition from his own party, led by Vice President Garner, since it seemed to upset the separation of powers and give the President control over the Court. Roosevelt's proposals were defeated. The Court ... drew back from confrontation with the administration by finding the Labor Relations and Social Security Acts to be constitutional. Deaths and retirements on the Supreme Court soon allowed Roosevelt to make his own appointments to the bench with little controversy.
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In response Roosevelt submitted to Congress in February of 1937 a plan for "judicial reform," which proposed adding a justice for every justice over the age of 70 who refused to retire, up to a maximum of 15 total. This came to be known as his attempt to "pack" the Court. Up to this point in his presidency, no vacancy on the Supreme Court had arisen, despite him now being in his second term—an exceptionally unusual occurrence and one that presumably added to his frustrations. Though the plan failed in Congress, as a threat to the Court it may have had its desired effect. In a move cynically referred to as "the switch in time that saved nine", one of the conservative justices, Owen Roberts, inexplicably shifted his vote in West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, changing the ideological balance of the Court. This episode is often referred to as the "Constitutional Revolution of 1937" and it ushered in a period wherein the Supreme Court largely abdicated its role in limiting the scope of federal power, in particular as regards economic intervention and regulation.
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In 1935, Roosevelt turned slightly to the left. He sponsored bills aimed at abolishing public-utility holding companies, at raising taxes on the wealthy, and at shifting control of monetary policy from Wall Street bankers to Washington. When Congress balked, Roosevelt compromised. The bills revealed Roosevelt's loss of faith in government-business cooperation. They helped undercut demagogues like Sen. Huey Long (D-La.), who was agitating for tougher laws against the rich. But they did not signify a commitment to radical, antibusiness policies.
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Using all of his political ingenuity, Roosevelt struggled against the constraints of neutrality. In April, he gave the Navy permission to attack German submarines west of 25 degrees longitude. That same month, the U.S. and Denmark agreed to place Greenland under American protection. In July, the U.S. occupied Iceland. On August 14th, the Selective Service Act, which allowed a peacetime draft, passed Congress by a single vote.
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Franklin had an affair with Lucy Page Mercer, Eleanor's social secretary, in 1918. This was a turning point in their marriage, although the couple reconciled, Eleanor decided she needed a career of her own. She became involved in the League of Women Voters and Women's Trade Union League. In 1921, Eleanor became active on Democratic party politics on behalf of Franklin who had polio.
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Roosevelt won 57% of the vote and carried all but six states. The anti-Smith rebellion in the South was over, and the region was "Solid South" again for the Democrats. Most of the new Catholic voters that Smith had mobilized in 1928 turned out again to vote Democratic. Labor unions were weak, but Roosevelt made gains in the previously Republican industrial belt.
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