Social Reform.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's inaugural speech on 4 March 1933 set the tone for the early months of what would come to be called the New Deal. The Depression affected the priorities of social reform in the United States. The consequences of the sudden, enormous unemployment after 1929 fell first on local governments, which, as they always had, retained primary responsibility for relief of the poor. But relief payments were pitiful, and private agencies also could not cope with the massive unemployment and suffering. By 1932 even President Hoover had to admit that Americans needed federal help. During earlier eras in U.S. history, health insurance was the top item after workmen's compensation. European countries typically developed health insurance from a system of insurance against industrial accidents. Old-age pensions were next, and unemployment insurance came last. But in America, with millions out of work...