The development of the huge Tennessee River basin in the South by the TVA was a model for what a modern nation can accomplish. The plans for the development of this poor, malaria-stricken region,potentially a very rich area because of its minerals and water, plus its labor power,went back to the time of the American Revolution. By stopping the yearly floods of the Tennessee River and making it navigable, an entire area of almost the size of England, could be opened up for development. All plans had failed, mainly because Wall Street's big monopolies didn't want to develop the area. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first President who attacked this problem from a higher level. He proposed to place the development of the entire region, which includes portions of seven states, under one single authority, whose director,the engineer David Lilienthal,reported directly to the President. FDR's plan foresaw "multi-purpose dams" which provided flood control, river navigation, and hydroelectricity at the same time, plus production of fertilizer. In addition, Roosevelt wanted the electricity to be produced,and sold,at low cost; thereby undercutting the monopolies,a policy whose efficiency he had already proven as Governor of New York. Signalling that this project was one of the priorities of his New Deal, FDR, with his friend Senator Norris, the "Father of the TVA," visited the Tennessee area two months before taking office. After inauguration, things went very quickly: In April, he sent the TVA bill to Congress, which passed it in May. This project,a sort of "pilot-project" for the entire New Deal, became a huge success. Not only did the TVA in a few years construct 20 multi-purpose dams, erect power plants and fertilizer factories, produce cheap and abundant electricity, but it completely transformed an entire region and its 3 million people: no more floods, a navigable river, malaria wiped out. The entire area was electrified,both literally and metaphorically: Farming improved; factories were built; industries developed; schools, hospitals, libraries were built; wages increased, the young people of the area remained there, because they found a place to work or study. The people sensuously felt what "increasing the standard of living" meant. In short: Almost overnight, the "poor-house" of the nation became one of its most productive areas. And electricity production in the Tennessee Valley didn't stop with water power: As soon as the possibility of nuclear power became visible, plans were made to use it to secure the region'sfuture. America's first "nuclear city" of Oak Ridge in the Tennessee Valley is one example; the nuclear power plants built here are another. Roosevelt had regarded the TVA only as the beginning; he had similar plans for the entire U.S.In addition, FDR offered the TVA model to other countries all over the world. The projects to develop the "hard" infrastructure of the country were also led by measures to improve its "soft" counterpart: important social measures, which for the first time in U.S. history, established the concept of a minimum wage, created insurance for the unemployed, sick and old, established decent health care, and abolished child labor. The crowning achievement of these measures was the Social Security Act of 1935, which alone, secured FDR a place in history; as well as his support for labor. The much contested "Article 7a" gave American labor the right to organize itself. This law was overturned by the Supreme Court, so that Roosevelt had to pass it in another form the Wagner Act of 1935, the "Bill of Rights" of American labor.
