NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION

The National Recovery Administration (NRA) developed out of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's (1933–1945) New Deal initiative. The NRA was created under the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) in 1933. The chief provision of the act was the creation of the National Recovery Administration. Modeled after the War Industries Board, the NRA oversaw the implementation of several core initiatives set out in the Recovery Act.

Among the initiatives was the establishment of business codes of fair competition, which were standards accepted by businesses and industries. The codes included provisions for minimum wages, voluntary union participation (neither encouraging nor discouraging union membership), and shorter work hours. The business codes regarding union participation resulted in a sharp increase in union membership. For instance, the United Mine Workers experienced a jump in membership from 100,000 to 400,000 less than a year after the NIRA became law. Businesses who followed the codes displayed a blue eagle and the motto "We do our part" to advertise their participation to the public.

Despite its strong start, the NRA began to lose public support. The business codes sometimes conflicted with one another and were difficult to comply with. They tended to raise prices and limit production, which, during the hard times of the Great Depression (1929–1939), was the opposite of what the public wanted. In addition enforcement of the business codes was limited.

In 1936 the National Recovery Administration ceased to exist. It ended activity after the United States Supreme Court ruled that the National Industrial Recovery Act, which gave it birth, was unconstitutional on the grounds that the act overstepped the legislative and commercial powers of the federal government.