Prior to World War II, the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt worked to strengthen Native American tribes by encouraging them to reconstitute their governments and adopt an electoral process. Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act (1934). The state legislature passed the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act (OIWA, 1936); both were considered part of the Indian New Deal to support tribes' reorganizing their governments. The Cherokee began to organize on their own terms. In the meantime, the President of the United States officially appointed Principal Chiefs for the Cherokee; these appointments were made through the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs.