AskHistorians

FDR's New Deal was massive because it was an expansion of the peacetime intervention of the Federal government in the national economy. Even progressive-leaning presidents prior to FDR often had a strict view of Federalism which precluded this approach. FDR's New Deal was a significant contributor to his lasting popularity and the weakness of the Republican Party, and especially the lassiez-faire wing of the Republican Party, for the next 30 years.