Prof. Hamilton's Diary: April 8, 1935

He rushes about; Congress appropriates $4.8 billion for emergency relief

It was “a very rainy day with snow & hard & high winds,” Professor Hamilton wrote. He drove Gwennie to school, but she had rushed off without her leggings, so he went home and fetched them. “Had not time for lunch at home.” Dr. Landis made a house call to change Mary Elizabeth’s dressing. He taught his full schedule of classes, came home to mark papers in the evening. The baby was able to walk a bit more, with help.

While this was mostly a bear of a day for Professor Hamilton, it was a monumental one for the New Deal. At President Roosevelt’s urging, Congress passed a $4.8 billion emergency package to pump up the economy. Paid subscribers can read on about what this accomplished.

This cartoon showing President Roosevelt holding the bag while a pot-bellied man with a drunkard’s red nose, representing Congress, challenges him to spend the money “so that everybody will be satisfied” ran on the front page of the Reading Times on April 5, 1935. Even in political cartoons, Roosevelt was never shown as a crippled man.