After taking office on March 4, 1933, President FDR set out to stabilize the country's banking sector and regain public confidence in it.
He proclaimed a four-day nationwide banking holiday on March 6 in order to keep all banks closed until Congress could take action.
On that chilly, overcast Inauguration Day, Roosevelt famously said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. But moving words alone wouldn't be sufficient.
He proclaimed a statewide "bank holiday" two days later, briefly shutting down the whole banking sector of the country. The Emergency Banking Act was approved by Congress on March 9 after being called into a special session. The measure granted the federal government the authority to look into the financials of banks.
Maintaining order in a society is not an example of providing for the common defense or establishing justice. It is an example of insuring domestic tranquility.
