In the days before Roosevelt took office in 1933, America was in a period of distress and turmoil. The economy was continually struggling, as businesses were crashing, banks were closing. The life of comfort and luxury was over for many Americans, as living on the streets became a harsh reality. The construction of "Hoovervilles" outside major cities were swamped with the poor and homeless desperately seeking any kind of job. Unfortunately, President Wilson could do nothing but sit and watch his beloved country struggle and suffer. However, once Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in 1933, the spirits of hopeless Americans were rejuvinated by his first inaugural address. He begins his speech stating that "our distress comes from no failure of substances." He wants to acknowledge that the hardships experienced are not things that the public can control but that perseverance and cooperation were necessary to change the present circumstances. "We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply." He goes on to say that it was the money changers which had lead to the failure of the banks. He states that the restoration of our great country is up to the extent in which we apply social values rather than solely profiting monetarily. Roosevelt demonstrates his trust in the American people that by working together, the country could again become economically stable and then prosperous once again. Roosevelt declared that he wished to implement action in the restoration of America at that very moment. Roosevelt stepped away from Wilson's ideas of letting the people solve the problems of the nation and decided to take charge and direct the nation so the country could then be repaired and replenished.
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