FDR Declares Bank Holiday: Every Bank in America Closes

Every bank in America. Closed. Franklin Roosevelt's first full day as president, March 6, 1933, and he shut down the entire financial system—4,000 banks had already failed, and panicked depositors were draining what remained. His advisors couldn't even tell him if closing the banks was legal. They'd have to invoke a 1917 wartime law meant for fighting Germany and hope the Supreme Court didn't object. The "holiday" lasted four days. When banks reopened on March 13th, people deposited more money than they withdrew—$10 million net in New York alone. Roosevelt hadn't fixed anything structurally. He'd just convinced Americans that belief itself was the foundation holding up their money.