Which name was given to the series of federal programs led by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to help the nation recover from the Great Depression?

• A. Square Deal
• B. New Deal
• C. New Frontier
• D. Great Society

Answer: (B)

You're being asked to identify the name of FDR’s broad set of federal programs aimed at pulling the U.S. out of the Great Depression. The best fit is the New Deal. This label was used to describe the series of relief, recovery, and reform initiatives launched starting in 1933—think of job programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration, social insurance through the Social Security Act, agricultural reform, and large infrastructure projects. These efforts marked a shift toward greater federal involvement in the economy and everyday Americans’ welfare.

Other names you might hear belong to different times and leaders. Square Deal is tied to Theodore Roosevelt, New Frontier to John F. Kennedy, and Great Society to Lyndon B. Johnson, not the FDR era. So the name that specifically refers to FDR’s responses to the Great Depression is the New Deal.