First 100 days

Whatever your opinion of the 'nation-rocking' David Cameron, Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal shows just how critical the first 100 days can be in a genuinely transformational situation.

While much of the New Deal would subseqently unravel, FDR was able to secure the mandate for radical structural change in his First 100 Days.

'Spinning' the mood of the nation with his introduction of 'Bank Holidays' as a desperate mechanism to prevent a run on the banks, he famously declared 'we have nothing to fear but fear itself'. With cross-party support form congress FDR was able to cut the budget by 10% at a sweep.

Instead of spending his way out of recession, he chose resource reallocation, targeting resources to the areas where they would have greatest impact on future producitivity, and greatest impact on collective confidence.

While his political legacy is tarnished by subsequent economic events, and the necessities of war-time preparation, FDR was able to supply sufficient impetus to kick-start the economic recovery process and give confidence back to a downtrodden nation.