Visualizing New Deal Debates

FDR's Big Stick

Bibliographic Data

ID6182708
AuthorsVictoria Grieve, Victoria M Grieve (Utah State University, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume42
Issue2
Pages181-215
Publication date2015-05-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCongress & the Presidency (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0734-3469 • E-ISSN: 1944-1053
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07343469.2015.1033567
OpenAlexW2186254131
LanguageEN
References cited11

This article examines the use of the image of the “big stick” in the context of the New Deal. I argue that the conservative press in the 1930s used the image to mobilize historical memories of over-reaching executive power and a growing federal government under Teddy Roosevelt to “explain” Franklin Roosevelt in 1932. Further, the “big stick” was used to accuse FDR of a drive for dictatorial power during his attempt to reorganize the Supreme Court in 1937. The article argues that the visual image and symbol of the “big stick” shaped contemporary political debates and mobilized the public in the 1930s, and continues to shape American political discourse, as seen in the use of the symbol in the 2012 election

Big business · Big government · Big Idea · Context (archaeology · Government (linguistics · Law and economics · Linguistics · New Deal · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Social science · Sociology · Supreme court · Symbol (formal · American Political and Social Dynamics · History · Law · Philosophy

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