I've recently heard a growing number of Conservatives argue that Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal prolonged the Great Depression, or otherwise made it worse. Politics and counter-factual history aside, is there any truth to these claims? What is the typical historiography opinion of the New Deal?
It is usually argued based on political lines. Conservatives typically talk about how it prolonged the depression, and liberals talk about how it saved America. Each side cherry picks different statistics to support their claims. In reality, it probably didn’t shift the balance too much in helping or hurting. Production from WWII, and a great number of men leaving the country is what really brought us out of the Great Depression.
However, it was a seismic shift in what the American people expected out of their government. The New Deal made it the governments job to keep people from dying of poverty in the streets. It set the minimum wage, labor laws, the first social security, etc. this would be a precursor to LBJs Great Society, therefore, many don’t like it because they believe it’s the beginning of the “welfare state.”
(Disclaimer, I do not have a PhD on the subject, but I took several courses that discussed the New Deal in depth)