Alphabet agencies

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President Roosevelt grants a patience for office, 1935.

When alphabet agencies in are the United States offices of the Federal Government referred to by acronyms are abbreviated from three to five letters, including WPA = Works Progress Administration.

A large number of such offices were created in the wake of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policy . The resulting jumble of office abbreviations was derisively referred to as alphabet soup ( alphabet soup ).

FDR

Franklin D. Roosevelt used to sign his memos with the acronym FDR. His employees used the abbreviation when they talked about him, and the catchy three-letter word was also very popular with journalists because it was easier to get into the headlines. Franklin D. Roosevelt's abbreviation was in a way a warning sign of the abbreviation mania that spread in the wake of the New Deal .

The New Deal is a series of economic and social reforms that Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated in 1933 as a response to the Great Depression. The reforms expanded federal administration, creating an armada of government offices in support of the New Deal's goals. The awkward authority names , which usually consisted of three to five words, were replaced by acronyms (abbreviations from the first letters).

  • WPA

  • NRA

  • CCC

  • FDIC

During Roosevelt's twelve-year reign, over 200 government offices were established, denoted by acronyms. This office inflation was received with suspicion and ridicule by the public and was widely perceived as overregulation. Many of the name creations looked like imaginary names. Nobody could keep the abundance of abbreviations in mind, especially since they could easily be confused with one another.

Edward J. Flynn , Chairman of the Democratic National Committee , coined the term “alphabetical agencies”, or “alphabet agencies” for short. The democratic politician Al Smith , the politics of the New Deal vehemently opposed, accused Roosevelt, his government was "in a bowl of alphabet soup drowned" (submerged in a bowl of alphabet soup).

Journalist John T. Flynn, who supported Roosevelt's election as president, became a fierce opponent of the New Deal. He had only contempt for Roosevelt's flood of offices:

“Roosevelt has launched a dozen theatrical projects like NRA, AAA, CCC, PWA, and WPA. ... Many of these offices were never authorized by Congress . Even the Chairman of the United States Court of Auditors ... had never heard of any of these offices. "

Examples

Alphabet offices (selection)
NRA National Recovery Administration
AAA Agricultural Adjustment Administration
CCC Civilian Conservation Corps
PWA Public Works Administration
WPA Works Progress Administration
OBCCC Office of Bituminous Coal Consumers Council
PRRA Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration

Songs

Roosevelt's alphabet soup manifested itself in a host of alphabet offices, so that these became a popular motif for numerous cartoons (see cover picture). Since the New Deal is also part of the curriculum of American schools, a number of young people have taken up the topic and immortalized it on video clips through rap songs.

  • Beth Crawford, Robbie Fuentes, Eric Richter and Emily Spiek aka Frankie & his New Deal Crew: "Alphabet Soup, New Deal Rap".
"... That alphabet soup was the President's plan ... So in Frankie we trust with his alphabet soup ..."
"... now gimme that CCC, now gimme that AAA and pass that NRA ..."
  • Katie Morganne and Jason: "FDR Alphabet Soup Song", over agencies created in the New Deal.
"It all started out in 1932 when FDR represents the brothers in blue. ... "
  • Unknown originator: "The Great Depression / New Deal Song".
"Back in gold old 1933 we faced depression here in our country, FDR made new deals to help us out, so we could conquer unemployment and drought."

literature

  • John T. Flynn: The Roosevelt Myth. New York: The Devin-Adair Company, 1948, online .
  • William Saffire: Safire's Political Dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008, excerpt .

Footnotes

  1. ↑ #Saffire 2008 , page 344-345 (initials, presidential).
  2. ^ Eagle Traders .
  3. ↑ #Saffire 2008 , page 15.
  4. ↑ #Flynn 1948 , pp. 289, 292.
  5. ↑ Lists of alphabet offices : #Flynn 1948 (37 offices), pp. 290-292 (101 offices), English Wikipedia , Eagle Traders (210 offices).
  6. ^ Alphabet Soup, New Deal Rap: youtube .
  7. ^ FDR's New Deal: youtube .
  8. ↑ FDR Alphabet Soup Song: youtube .
  9. ^ The Great Depression / New Deal Song: youtube .