Final answer:
President Roosevelt aimed to increase the money supply for economic growth by detaching from the gold standard, stabilizing commodity prices and facilitating job creation through public works and federal grants.
Step-by-step explanation:
President Roosevelt wanted to take the United States off of the gold standard during the Great Depression not to increase the value of the dollar, reduce the money supply, or to give the Treasury or the Federal Reserve more power per se. The key reason was to provide more flexibility in the monetary policy, allowing the government to increase the money supply to stimulate economic growth.
By abandoning the gold standard, which had been a conservative and traditionally viewed as a safe policy, Roosevelt aimed to overcome the restrictive limits that it imposed on the circulation of paper money. Doing so was essential to stabilizing commodity prices, which would please farmers and ensure stability in food production and distribution. Moreover, it facilitated the Federal Emergency Relief Act by increasing the funds available to states and moving them from loans to federal grants, ultimately financing a variety of public works projects to create jobs and bolster economic recovery.