Commonwealth Club Address facts for kids

The Commonwealth Club Address was a famous speech given by Franklin Delano Roosevelt on September 23, 1932. At the time, he was the Governor of New York and was running to become president of the United States. He gave this important speech in San Francisco during his presidential campaign.

In his speech, Roosevelt suggested that the time of fast economic growth and businesses doing whatever they wanted was coming to an end. He believed that people needed to work together more, rather than just focusing on themselves. He didn't give many exact details, but he hinted at new government programs. These programs, known as the First Hundred Days, began soon after he became president in March 1933. Many experts consider this speech one of the most important given by a president in the 1900s.

Roosevelt's Big Ideas

Roosevelt used his speech to explain his main ideas for a new plan called the New Deal. He believed this plan would help America recover from the Great Depression. Many historians think his speech was a good prediction of what the New Deal would actually be like.

He argued that the time of very fast economic growth was over. Roosevelt agreed that in the past, it was important to let business leaders have a lot of power. This was because they were building new industries and helping the country grow. However, he said that this era was now finished. He felt that some business leaders had become a danger.

He explained:

A simple builder of more factories, more railroads, or more companies, is now just as likely to be a danger as a help. The time of the big business leader or money expert, whom we gave everything if only they would build, or develop, is over.

Roosevelt also said that America didn't need to focus on just growing more. He stated: "Our job now is not finding or using more natural resources, or necessarily making more goods."

A New Way Forward

Instead of just growing more, Roosevelt believed America needed to do different things. He said the country needed to focus on:

The more serious, less exciting work of managing the resources and factories we already have. We need to find new markets overseas for the extra things we produce. We must solve the problem of people not buying enough goods. We need to match what we produce with what people buy. We also need to share wealth and products more fairly. Finally, we must change our current economic systems to serve the people better. The time for smart management has arrived.

Some parts of his speech sounded a bit sad. He said: "If we look at things today, it's very clear that equal chances for everyone, as we once knew them, no longer exist." He also warned: "We are steadily moving towards a system where a few rich people control everything, if we aren't there already."

However, he also suggested that reforms would lead to a better world. He stated: "Every person has a right to live; and this means they also have a right to earn enough to live comfortably."

Government's Role

Frank Freidel, who wrote about Roosevelt's life, pointed out something important. Roosevelt wanted the government to "act as a referee for the common good within the existing economic system." This means he believed the government should make sure businesses worked fairly for everyone.

Roosevelt felt his ideas fit with the traditions of earlier leaders like Thomas Jefferson and Woodrow Wilson. He believed his approach was simply an updated way to deal with a much more complex and developed economy.