The Great Depression changed the US in more ways than people realize today. Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president as the economy sank further and further. His New Deal programs were designed for the three "R"s: relief, recovery, and reform. There were many programs the government rolled out between 1933 and 1938, and those that didn't yield results were dropped, while the most effective survive today. The programs that worked gave us affordable mortgages, electricity in rural areas, the minimum wage and the 44-hour work week (since changed to 40), protections for bank accounts, national park amenities, old age pensions, protection for our natural resources, rules for Wall Street trading, and a lot more. All this required massive government spending, but it got us through the decade. After World War II boosted the American economy into the black, some Depression era programs were considered so important that they were made permanent. Read about those New Deal programs and how they changed America at Mental Floss.
(Image source: Library of Congress)