First One Hundred Days

Federal Government, January 20 through April 30

The political tone, laced with high expectations and anticipation, is set for a newly elected U.S. president to put forth his or her legislative agenda within a time frame known as the "first one hundred days" - an artificial target initiated by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his first administration in 1933. The media have since measured and critiqued all succeeding presidents' legislation against Roosevelt's contributions in that 100-day period, from the presidential inauguration on January 20, through April 30.

That near-surrealistic interval is known as the "Congressional Honeymoon," when the Senate and House of Representatives are more likely to give the president an open, if not favorable, opportunity to present his legislative bills and measures to address real or imagined problems in the nation - as addressed by his campaign promises - and shape America's course of political and social action for the following four years.

For comparative purposes, Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass more than a dozen major pieces of legislation, including unemployment, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and other key elements of the New Deal.