Creating America: My campaign manager was Roosevelt

Chapter 24 Governor of New York

The bustling office at the Navy Department in Washington, D.C., vanished from Leo's memory like a faded photograph.

The scene changes again.

This impact is stronger than any before.

What Leo saw was Roosevelt sitting in a wheelchair.

In 1921, a sudden outbreak of polio robbed him of his ability to walk.

He was no longer young; years of illness and political struggle had etched deep wrinkles on his face, and his temples were now gray.

But he sat there with his back ramrod straight.

His gaze was more resolute and profound than ever before.

Those were eyes that had endured hellish pain and risen again from it.

He is standing on the steps of the New York State Capitol, his hand on the Bible, taking the oath of office as Governor of New York.

His voice was broadcast throughout New York State via microphone and radio.

That voice carried a power that illness could not destroy.

And less than a year after he took office, on Tuesday, October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday.

The stock market on Wall Street collapsed like an avalanche.

An unprecedented economic depression began to spread rapidly from New York across the United States and even the world.

"My third step is to govern a region and create a model."

Roosevelt's voice-over became incredibly heavy at this moment.

"Fate gave me the most severe test, but also the most precious opportunity."

Leo's perspective, like an eagle circling in the sky, begins to fly over the entire state of New York, which is in crisis.

He witnessed those heartbreaking scenes.

In Buffalo, factories that once roared day and night no longer puffed smoke from their chimneys, and their gates were locked with chains.

In New York City, angry and desperate crowds gathered outside banks, their life savings vanishing with the collapse of those banks.

On farms in the countryside, buckets of milk were being dumped into rivers because prices had fallen so low that they couldn't cover transportation costs, while children in the city were going hungry.

Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs.

Dressed in thin clothes, they stood in long lines in the cold winter wind, just to receive a free bowl of soup and a piece of relief bread.

Leo could "feel" the despair and fear that permeated the entire social atmosphere.

At the time, US President Herbert Hoover stubbornly clung to outdated ideas of classical liberal economics in the White House.

He assured the nation that "prosperity is just around the corner," arguing that the government should not interfere in the economy and that the free market possesses a remarkable ability to self-correct.

All he could do was appeal to business owners not to lay off workers and to philanthropists to donate more money.

These words seem so pale and powerless in the face of a massive economic crisis.

But in Albany, the capital of New York State, the scene in the governor's office is quite different.

The lights were on all night.

Roosevelt gathered some of the brightest and most daring minds in the United States to his side.

An economist from Columbia University, a law professor from Harvard University, experienced social workers, and even some reformist businessmen who deeply resent Wall Street.

They gathered here and formed a team that would later be known as the "think tank".

Together with Roosevelt, they worked day and night to devise a bold treatment plan for this terminally ill economy.

Leo's perspective began to focus on how those policies, which would later be known as the prototype of the "New Deal," gradually became a reality in New York State.

He witnessed the establishment of New York State's first state-level "Temporary Emergency Relief Administration".

This was a groundbreaking move at the time.

For the first time, it established that providing relief to the unemployed is an inescapable responsibility of the government, not a charitable act by the wealthy.

Leo's perspective follows an unemployed construction worker.

He has been out of work for several months, and his family has run out of food.

He went into the newly opened relief distribution center and submitted his application.

A few days later, he received his first cash relief payment.

Holding those crumpled banknotes, he stood at the entrance of the distribution center. A man in his forties, he was as excited as a child, and tears streamed down his face.

That money was not just money, but also his dignity as a human being.

Leo saw massive public works projects unfolding across New York State.

Thousands of unemployed workers were hired by the government and picked up the tools they were familiar with again.

They are no longer aimless wanderers.

They planted millions of trees and built new parks in the suburbs of New York City.

They built new hiking trails and fire lookout towers in the Adirondack Mountains.

They built a new highway on Long Island, connecting the city and the beaches.

They received more than just a salary; they also gained a sense of accomplishment from transforming their homes through their own labor.

Leo saw Roosevelt sitting at his desk, signing one reform decree after another.

He reformed New York State's banking regulatory system, forcing bankers to strictly separate depositors' funds from their own high-risk speculative businesses.

He spearheaded a rural power grid upgrade program, enabling tens of thousands of farmers to use electric lights for the first time.

To protect ordinary investors, he established a special regulatory body to combat financial fraud on Wall Street.

These policies were attacked as "poisonous weeds" by conservative newspapers and businessmen at the time.

But they truly brought hope to ordinary people struggling in the crisis.

"That was the real capital that enabled me to eventually reach the White House and gain the absolute trust of the people."

Roosevelt's voice-over was powerful.

"I have proven to the people of the United States that my approach is effective, through the successful practices of New York State, through the real jobs created, and through the relief payments delivered to the unemployed."

"I have proven that the government can and must be the protector of the people in times of crisis."

"I proved that I could save this great nation from the depths of the Great Depression."

All the images disappeared.

Leo's consciousness returned to his small apartment.

Roosevelt's speech came to an end.

Leo remained silent for a long time.

For the first time, he saw so clearly a clear path from a novice young man to the pinnacle of power.

"Do you see, Leo?" Roosevelt concluded, "Every stage of this path has its definite goal. Its core is: enter it, utilize it, and ultimately surpass it."

"Now, let's return to the opportunity before you."

"The position of 'Deputy Director of the Community Relations Coordination Office' in the mayor's office sounds impressive, but it actually has no real power. It's a trap, a gilded cage that locks you up and makes you deal with trivial neighborhood disputes every day, wearing down all your fighting spirit."

"We cannot accept this position."

"But we can use this opportunity, taking advantage of Cartwright's eagerness to recruit you, to demand a truly valuable starting point that allows us to begin building our strength and creating a model."

"What kind of starting point?" Leo asked.

Roosevelt smiled.

"A place where we can transform the prestige we've gained in this battle for community centers into a more lasting institutional force."

"A position that Cartwright considered insignificant, but which was crucial to us."