Question

Why was big business against President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, and what action did these conservative critics take?

Answer 1

By the middle of his second term, much criticism of Roosevelt centered on fears that he was heading toward a dictatorship, by attempting to seize control of the Supreme Court in the Court-packing incident of 1937, attempting to eliminate dissent within the Democratic Party in the South during the 1938 mid-term elections, and by breaking the tradition established by George Washington of not seeking a third term when he again ran for re-election in 1940. As two historians explain, "In 1940, with the two-term issue as a weapon, anti-New Dealers... argued that the time had come to disarm the 'dictator' and to dismantle the machinery."

Answer 2

Business leaders accused Franklin Roosevelt of spending too much government money and of trying to destroy free enterprise. In 1934, some of these conservative critics formed the Liberty League. The League wanted government to let business alone and play a less active role in the economy.