During Franklin Roosevelt's presidency, the government increased its role as controller and reached levels of control that had never been known before. It put a limit to the capitalist and liberal practices that had caused the Great Depression, and for the first time the Government began a very broad program of public investment that promoted the construction of infrastructure and power plants, financed the peasants, stopped speculation, legalized union organizations and installed a social security system. The result was the modernization of the country, the beginning of economic recovery and the achievement of great success in the social sphere. It was, as Roosevelt liked to say, a non-violent revolution, respecting the legality and rights of citizens and generating prosperity throughout the country and for all Americans.
In 1933, when her husband assumed the presidency, Eleanor Roosevelt began to give content to the position of first lady which, until then, had only had ceremonial functions. Eleanor was a presidential adviser, gave more than 300 press conferences for women journalists, implemented social welfare programs, defended women's rights and civil rights in many public events, and had a column in a newspaper where she poured her opinions in defense of the more disadvantaged. She was a pioneer in creating the role of first lady as we know today.
