During the political interlude between Wilson and Roosevelt, the United States was under the leadership of the Republican party which adhered to a conservative philosophy. While this regime continued, conservative southerners were content, but in 1933, Franklin Roosevelt, who had campaigned on the need for a "New Deal" was inaugurated President. Although southerners readily accepted the relief and recovery features of the first phase of the Roosevelt program, they opposed his program of sweeping reform because it constituted an impeding threat to intrenched political and economic interests in the South.