The only one of these programs not created during Roosevelt’s early days in office was the Social Security Administration. Roosevelt was elected at the height of the Great Depression and preached a platform of relief, recovery, and then reform. The idea was that first the government had to provide for relief for the poor and starving masses, and then it needed to assist recovery by creating jobs and encouraging the economy. Reform would follow at a later date to ensure something like the Great Depression could not happen again.