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The American stock market had been booming for almost a decade, then in 1929, it crashed into its most severe economic turndown. On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed leaving millions of Americans unemployed. Banks failed, the nation's money supply diminished, and companies went bankrupt and began to fire their workers. That day would forever be known as “Black Tuesday.” The Great Depression originated in the United States, but the Great Depression caused severe unemployment in almost every country of the world. It was the worst economic recession ever experienced by the world economy. The president at the time, Herbert Hoover, did not take action or do much to help America, instead he argued "patience and self-reliance” were all Americans needed to get them through this “passing incident.” When Hoover ran for re-election, he lost to rising democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a very respected and liked man.
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Roosevelt pledged to make Americans’ lives better. By 1933, 13-15 million Americans were unemployed and half of the country's banks had failed. In 1933, FDR acted swiftly to try to stabilize the economy and provide jobs and relief to those who were suffering. Over the next 8 years, the government instituted a series of experimental projects and programs, known as the New Deal, that aimed to restore some dignity and prosperity to many Americans. Roosevelt's New Deal permanently changed the federal government's relationship to the U.S. populace. Through the relief and reform measures put into place by FDR, the New Deal helped lessen the worst effects of the Great Depression. The economy would not fully turn around until after 1939, when World War II kicked American industry into high gear.