Roosevelt Is Elected and Declares a National Banking Holiday
Thirty-six hours after taking office, FDR shuts every bank in the country
Quick facts
- Election
- 1932, FDR pledged "a New Deal"
- Inauguration
- March 4, 1933
- Holiday declared
- 1:00 a.m., March 6, 1933, Proclamation 2039
- Banks reopened
- March 13, 1933
What happened
Franklin Roosevelt won the 1932 election after pledging a New Deal for the American people, defeating Herbert Hoover as the public turned against his handling of the crisis. By Roosevelt's inauguration on March 4, 1933, the banking system had collapsed and a fresh wave of runs was draining gold from New York banks. At 1:00 a.m. on Monday, March 6, only thirty-six hours after taking the oath, Roosevelt issued Proclamation 2039, suspending all banking transactions nationwide. For an entire week Americans could not withdraw, transfer, or deposit money. When banks reopened on March 13, examined and certified as sound, deposits flowed back in rather than out.
Why it matters
The banking holiday stopped the runs that had brought the financial system to the point of collapse and bought the new administration time to pass emergency legislation. It also set the tone for the New Deal: fast, sweeping federal action taken in the president's own hand. The successful reopening restored enough confidence that hoarded currency began returning to the banks, a turning point in the immediate crisis.
How we know
The proclamation and the sequence of the March 1933 crisis are documented in the Federal Reserve History account of the bank holiday, which quotes Proclamation 2039 directly and draws on the records of the New York Federal Reserve Bank and Treasury.
Sources
- Federal Reserve History (Robert Jabaily). Bank Holiday of 1933 · Reputable sourcefederalreservehistory.org · The domain "federalreservehistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Great Depression Facts · Reputable sourcefdrlibrary.org · The domain "fdrlibrary.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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