October 29, 1929 marks the official opening of the Great Depression. In 1933 the unemployment rate in the United States reached 25%; it was not until the second quarter of 1933 that the U.S. economy began to recover. President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the foundations of the New Deal in his first 100 days in office. To determine the role of the New Deal program during the Great Depression, sources used in this investigation include: The Great Depression and the New Deal by Robert F. Himmelberg and Depression Decade: From New Era through New Deal, 1929-1941 by Broadus Mitchell . The role of World War II in ending the economic crisis will also be discussed. A newspaper article "The Reality of the Wartime Economy" by Horwitz, Steven and McPhillips, Michael J. will help dispel the theories behind the Second World War. In response to the calamity of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt proposed the New Deal, a series of federal plans that began in 1933. It included four main goals: economic recovery, job creation, investment in public works, and civic improvement. The First and Second New Deals had enormous strength during the Great Depression and extend their influence well into the modern era. Although unorthodox, the First New Deal had generated some degree of economic restoration in the United States, thus alleviating public need. There were various acts that helped make the First New Deal a success, including the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) and the Emergency Banking Relief Act. The first measure was a key number in the New Deal agenda , which Roosevelt himself called "'the most important and far-reaching legislation ever enacted by the American Congress.'". The NIRA...... half of the document...... Cited: Hopkins, June. "The Road Not Taken: Harry Hopkins and the New Deal's Work Relief." Presidential Studies Quarterly 29.2 (1999): 316-306. Print.Horwitz, Steven and Michael J. McPhillips. "The Reality of the Wartime Economy: Further Historical Evidence on World War II That Ended the Great Depression." Independent Review Vol. 17, no. 3 (2013): n. page Questa School. Network. May 2, 2014. Websites: "Franklin D. Roosevelt - American Heritage Center, Inc." Franklin D. Roosevelt - American Heritage Center, Inc. Np, nd Web. May 15, 2014. Gene Smiley, “Great Depression.” The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.2008. Library of Economy and Freedom. May 12, 2014. “Living the New Deal.” Living the New Deal. Network. May 16 2014. .