Friday, January 22, 2016

FDR the Gold Hater (Who Did All He Could to Grab as Much Gold as He Could for the US Government)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt allegedly always hated gold, but sure did everything possible to keep government vaults filled with the yellow metal.

 He was first sworn into office as president of the United States on Saturday, March 3, 1933. This is the front page of the New York Daily News that day:


On Monday, March 6, Roosevelt stopped the convertibility of the dollar into gold. It was the first of as series of attacks by FDR on any gold that wasn't in the vaults of the US government, culminating in his banning Americans from owning gold as part of the Gold Reserve Act, which was signed into law on January 30, 1934.

The Act actually resurrected the gold standard for international exchange and re-established financial links between America and the rest of the world, but the Act also required that all gold and gold certificates held by the Federal Reserve be surrendered and vested in the sole title of the United States Department of the Treasury and outlawed most private possession of gold, forcing individuals to sell their holdings to the Treasury.

The ban on the private ownership of gold remained intact until Gerald Ford reversed the ban with  Executive Order 11825 on December 3, 1974

 -RW

(photo via The Money Makers)

1 comment:

  1. Flagrant abuse of the US Constitution and yet the people so loved him they kept reelecting him, over and over.

    ReplyDelete