Annette Hanshaw sang Roosevelt's 1932 theme song and slogan: "Happy Days are Here Again." One of the first cheerful songs of the depression, it gave people hope in Roosevelt, and what he could do. This gave Roosevelt not only more votes in 1932, but raised hope that he would end the depression. Some of the lyrics announce that the bad times will be no more, that the happy days are here again!
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Happy Days are Here Again Lyrics:
So long sad times
Go along bad times
We are rid of you at last
Howdy gay times
Cloudy gray times
You are now a thing of the past
Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again
Altogether shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now
So let's tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again
Your cares and troubles are gone
There'll be no more from now on
From now on...
Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So, Let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy times
Happy nights
Happy days
Are here again!
This article from the New York Times, April 1933 features a piece on one of the bold actions taken by President Roosevelt during the depression. Here, he was declaring that cash could no longer be interchangeable with gold from the Federal Gold Reserve. He asked that Americans give back the gold that they had claimed in order to unify and stabilize the economy and therefore world trade. These big steps to get the U.S. out of the depression gave hope to Americans that President Roosevelt had things under control. What he did was made public so that Americans knew what was happening; President Roosevelt was very close with the press and welcomed their attention. Actions much like this one were far bolder that President Hoover ever would have taken, and they eventually ended up hoisting America out of the Depression.
FDR promised Americans with a new system of work, the New Deal. This new type of government was widely accepted my people, and many Americans had hope in Roosevelt because his distant cousin, Teddy Roosevelt was such a wonderful president.