THE PRESIDENCY: First Problems

To the delicate problem of jockeying a Congress no longer his to ride, Franklin Roosevelt last week addressed himself with characteristic adroitness. He delivered to it a stirring Annual Message which made national defense the paramount purpose of the day. He followed his request for a major controversial item of expense—Relief—with a Budget Message which contained an uncontroversial new national defense figure—only $500,000,000 extra instead of the billion many observers had expected. This brought him to his first two problems.

He faced his first issue with Congress over Relief. In asking for...