10 points goes to the first person who can tell me this with viable reasoning...?

Question

Who recieves credit for ending the Great Depression?

Answer 1

Roosevelt....through Presidential order he created the WPA(works progress administration) in 1935. The government gave jobs to people to create publics works roads, bridges even artist's painting murals.
The building of the infrastructure not only gave people jobs but it set up for the commerce that would explode after WWII. There are works still today all over the country.

Answer 2

I agree that WWII was the main thing that pulled us out from the Depression. Some of FDR's policies may have helped "tread water", but there's no doubt WWII took us out of the Depression. In that sense, FDR was just the man in office at that time. One could argue that Winston Churchill was more responsible because it may well have been his convincing FDR to join the effort in Europe (which may not have seemed obvious to some after we were attacked by Japan). Churchill had long since been wooing FDR for support.

The WWII national effort was incredible, and, in my opinion, something U.S. citizens don't seem to understand today. Rationing and personal sacrifice amongst civilians, let alone the soldiers and military, were the norm, not exceptions. When you think about how people banded together to do things like sell old tires back to the government, grow sugar beets, give up nylon stockings, can their own food, etc, etc, etc, it's an amazing national effort. So many small personal and seemingly unrelated things and most everyone did their share and without complaints.

The factory jobs, many of which were taken by women, producing airplanes, vehicles, etc, created infrastructure that, after the war, became auto factories and more. After the war, society no longer frowned so much upon the working woman, and two-income families were at least spawned even if they didn't become common until a few years later.

So, I don't think you can attribute the recovery to any single individual so much as the collective will of the American people. There really is something to that whole "Greatest Generation" thing.

Answer 3

The person who provided the push for ending the Great Depression was President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his various New Deal acts.

The New Deal pushed billions of dollars into the economy through the various agencies like the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Tennesse Valley Authority. This kept the people employed and gave them steady incomes, so that they could purchase the necessities of life again, helping to boost the money cycle that is so important to keep economies going. In addition, the work agencies also created new infrastructure and improved old facilities, building roads and bridges and parks, all real and tangible assets to help improve communities.

Another thing the New Deal accomplished was to renew the trust in the nation's banking system that was lost after the Great Crash of '29. This was done with the establishment of federal insurance agencies for banks and depositors - the FDIC we're all familiar with.

Recovery from the Great Depression was well underway for the most part by the mid-to-late '30s, at which time the economy began to be on a war footing with the growing hostilities in Europe.

Answer 4

Actually, Hitler probably deserves the most credit. The Great Depression was happening in this country as World War II was raging and had not ended before the beginning of American involvement in the war. Though the economy was expanding by 1938, unemployment was still at 15% in 1939. When the war officially started in Europe in late 1939, the US government started spending heavily on defense and when they entered the war in 1941, all sectors of the economy were put in expansion mode (yes despite the reason being a growing government deficit).

FDR's New Deal was essentially a different play on the same policy of heavy government spending. Without Hitler's war, he could never have gotten as much spending approved as he did with a war raging.

Answer 5

President Roosevelt gets credit of ending the depression, although World War II probably has a great deal to do with it.

Answer 6

Combo of FDR, Hitler and the Japanese.

FDR's plans were working, just very slowly (you cant solve a problem that took years to happen overnight).

War sped up the rise from the depression since it created so many jobs (FDR's programs were doing the same thing, it just wasnt possible on the same scale as with the war).

Answer 7

I'd go with Franklin Roosevelt.

He implemented many infrastructure projects in order to get people working again. Many of his opponents were in favor of simply riding out the storm, which would have done nothing to change the situation. Also the increase in production of war materiel for lend/lease to England further boosted the economy.

Really it was huge problem fixed by many people, but FDR is who I would single out as most instrumental.

Answer 8

While FDR gets most of the credit, his policies (The New Deal, etc.) actually were not having much of an impact. What really did it was the massive government spending related to WWII (though he was President for most of that too).

Answer 9

While FDR helped, in effect the WWII war machine took us out of the Depression.

Answer 10

who? Adolf Hitler. WWII ended the depression, all of Roosevelt's programs were just band aids to make people feel like something was being done.