The stock market crash of 1929 helped launch the United States and many other nations into the worst economic depression in history. The severity of the Great Depression called for federal government programs to protect the general welfare of citizens. The New Deal programs created by Franklin D. Roosevelt provided the framework for the welfare state that still serves as a basis for American public policy. All aspects of American society suffered during the Great Depression. By 1932, there were thirteen million people unemployed. There was no security for the millions who lost all of their savings in the