ORDER NUMBER 129

The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936.  They were passed by the US Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The programs were responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call the "3 Rs": Relief, Recovery, and Reform.  (WIKI)

___________________________________

Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior and Administrator of the Public Works Administration, acting on direct order from President Roosevelt, demanded that Mayor La Guardia dismiss Robert Moses from the board of the PWA (Public Works Administration). He told La Guardia that he would not approve new Triborough requisitions until Moses resigned. 

___________________________________

Moses publicly compares this situation to the film, "The Old Homestead." The villain (Roosevelt) uses the power of money (federal relief funds - NEW DEAL) to force the Mayor to perform dishonorable acts. 

___________________________________

Al Smith publicly disapproves of the stalemate.  He believes that "The Triborough Bridge is the key tot he success of the whole system." He points out that attempts to hinder its completion were "ridiculous." 

___________________________________

Public opinion favors Moses.  Roosevelt and Ickes attempt to "save face" by denying their true motives.  Robert Moses, only months after falling from grace, regains favorable public opinion. 

___________________________________

Roosevelt hesitantly attends the opening of the Triborough Bridge.  

___________________________________