Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt congressional Democratic leadership was dominated by conservative Southerners, over half of the members of the incoming 73rd Congress had been elected since 1930. Many of these new members were eager to take action to combat the Depression, even if it meant defying the political orthodoxy of the previous years. Roosevelt appointed powerful men to top positions but made certain he made all the major decisions, regardless of delays, inefficiency or resentment. Analyzing the president's administrative style, historian James MacGregor Burns concludes: For his first Secretary of State, Roosevelt selected Cordell Hull, a prominent Tennessean who had served in the House
Henry L. Roosevelt to head the Radio Real Estate Corporation, but was soon selected by Naval Secretary Claude A. Swanson for the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the administration of his distant cousin, President Franklin Roosevelt. He served in the position from March 17, 1933 until his death on February 22, 1936. He became the fourth Roosevelt and fifth member of the Roosevelt family to occupy that office, after Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt (the current president at the time), Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. and Theodore Douglas Robinson. Due to Swanson's poor health, Roosevelt was at times Acting Secretary. He made