National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.

As a candidate for president, Franklin D. Roosevelt had promised "a new deal for the American people." Following his inauguration in 1933, he introduced policies that would be called the New Deal--economic and judicial initiatives aimed at helping the nation recover from the Great Depression. During the fabled first "Hundred Days" of his administration, Roosevelt ushered through Congress more legislation than had been passed in a comparable period of time at any point in American history. Among these was the creation of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, which distributed a half-billion dollars in federal aid to the states. It was followed by initiatives to put out-of-work Americans back to work in what Roosevelt's critics called "alphabet agencies": the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the National Recovery Administration (NRA). A protracted battle with the Senate in 1937 over Roosevelt's attempt to load the Supreme Court with justices loyal to him effectively ended the New Deal era, though Roosevelt continued to be a popular president.