Roosevelt had won the elections by promising to the depression-ridden country a „New Deal, eine(...) gerechte Neuverteilung der gesellschaftlichen Chancen.“[217] (transl.: New Deal, a just realignment of society's opportunities.  -B. Wahler)

   The government now was to take active responsibility for the welfare of Ameri- cans and had thus a task at home that would consume all of its energies. Roosevelt let the nation know where his administrations focus would lay as he addressed the people in his First Inaugural Address.

„Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. (...) Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and(...) endeavor to provide a better use for of the land for those best fitted for the land.(...) Finally, (...) there must be a strict supervision of all banking and (...) an end to specu-lation (...) In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor - the neighbor who (...) respects the rights of others.“[218]

Only one short paragraph was dedicated to foreign policy, where the ‘Good Neigh- bor’ was to prevail; a policy that respected the rights of others to a great degree for the simple reason that the Roosevelt administration had no time for quarrelling with other nations. FDR had to lead the nation in the campaign against misery and pover- ty and give Americans back a feeling of togetherness, of solidarity. However, the United States did officially recognize the Soviet Union in 1933 as a result of the ‘Good Neighbor’-Policy.[219]

   As early as the first hundred days of being in office, Roosevelt ignited a fireworks of measures and reforms that rapidly passed through the majorities of Democrats in Congress. Numerous government agencies were created to administrate and over- see all sectors of the economy.[220]

   To increase the competitiveness of U.S. products, Roosevelt decided to follow the example of Britain and many other nations, he gave up the gold standard and thus enabled the Federal Reserve to print more money for Roosevelt’s projects. The fol- lowing devaluation of the dollar served to render American goods cheaper abroad. The domestic market was secured by a raised tariff.[221]

   Before leaving office, Hoover had set up the London Economic Conference to dis- cuss the debt problem, the raised tariffs and fix new currency exchange rates. But Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ policies did not fit into this concept, he renounced partici- pation at the conference. He did certainly not want to abandon his way to economic isolation that was to cure the ills of the nation. Without America participating, the conference failed, relations to the European nations suffered.
Roosevelt had helped to reinforce the tendencies to economic nationalism, the ‘free trade’- wonderland finally fell apart.[222]

   Now, that U.S. goods had been made affordable abroad, and since the domestic market did show no signs of recovery, the president endeavored to push the Ameri- can surplus production into foreign markets. For this task they devised two tools: the Export-Import Bank and the Reciprocal Trade Act.

   The Export-Import Bank, a government institution, was to finance foreign trade, a job that had formerly been performed by now bankrupt private banks. But the bank’s competences were limited as „Congress forbade (...) private or public loans to the many governments that had defaulted on their debts to the United States (...). The bank, however, did obtain special permission to deal with the Soviet Union, and the [Congress decision] did not affect foreign individuals who needed credit to buy U.S. goods.“[223]  The establishment of the ‘Ex-Im Bank’ represented a sophis- ticated form of dollar-diplomacy as a credit was linked to certain obligations that would create an environment favorable to American interests (i.e. the reduction of trade barriers...). The bank, being a substitute for more formal diplomatic relations, was most successful in Latin America.

   The ‘Reciprocal Trade Act’ of June 1934, granted the president the right to negoti- ate for cutting foreign markets’ tariffs. He could reduce the tariff for a country’s goods up to 50% if that country took similar action in its markets concerning U.S. goods. The treaties would be valid for 3 years. The specialty about RTA was that these tariff breaks would automatically extend to all other nations who opened their tariff gates to U.S. products. And the president would not have to consult Congress, he now held the privilege to change the United States’ tariffs. Once more, this tool was particularly successful in South American nations eager to sell their raw ma- terials, and the trade with the Yankees grew along the way. Overall, the Roosevelt administration signed 29 RTA treaties.[224]

   The objective of the scarce foreign relations of the first time of Roosevelt’s presi- dency, was to support the government's programs for re-igniting the American eco- nomy by fostering the demand for the nation’s products abroad while entangling the administration in no formal obligations to foreign countries that might divert American attention from these programs. Foreign affairs had to serve internal affairs.