The New DealThe New Deal period has generally - but not unanimously - been seen as a turning point in American politics, with the states giving up much of their autonomy, the president gaining a new authority and new importance, and the growing role of government in the lives of citizens. The extent to which this was planned by New Deal architect Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, has been widely contested. Yet while it is instructive to note the limitations of Roosevelt's leadership, the claims that the New Deal was haphazard, a jumble of opportunistic and populist schemes or, as W. Williams put it, "undirected", don't make much sense. FDR had a clear overall vision of what he wanted to do to America and was willing to make the structural changes necessary to achieve that vision. It is worth examining how the New Deal period represented a significant change from American government and politics up to that point. From the start of Roosevelt's term in 1932, there was a widespread feeling that things would change. In Washington, enthusiasm was in the air, as the first Hundred Days brought a torrent of new initiatives from the White House. The contrast with Herbert Hoover's term could not have been more striking. In 1934, EK Lindley had already written about The Roosevelt Revolution: First Phase. Hoover, meanwhile, denounced what he saw as an attempt to "undermine and destroy the American system" and "shatter the timbers of the Constitution." In retrospect, it was only a “half-way revolution,” as W. Leuchtenburg writes. The radicals were disappointed by the “possible”, in the words of P. Conkin. But Roosevelt never intended to overturn the Constitution, nor did he want the end of capitalism and individualism. He fueled the American dream, as did the millions of people who sent him to the White House a record four times. That was precisely why they loved him so much: because the American dream had deteriorated during the Great Depression, and they believed he would be able to find a way to get back to it. As Europe gave way to totalitarianism, the New Deal sought to show that democratic reform represented a viable alternative. Roosevelt's enthusiasm for his role as head of state established a new convention that the president would lead from the front, and at his first inauguration he warned that he intended to ask Congress for powers most important for implementing its policy.