Which U.S. president signed the Emergency Banking Act during the 1933 banking crisis after the stock-market crash?

Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Banking Act during the 1933 banking crisis that followed the stock-market crash.

Roosevelt became president on March 4, 1933, when widespread bank failures had caused depositors to withdraw cash. He declared a national bank holiday soon afterward, temporarily closing banks while regulators examined their condition. Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act on March 9, and Roosevelt signed it the same day.

The law strengthened federal control over banks and provided a framework for reopening institutions judged financially sound. Roosevelt explained the policy to the public in his first fireside chat on March 12, 1933. Confidence gradually improved, and many banks reopened in the following days.

The act was not the law that created federal deposit insurance; that came later through the Banking Act of 1933, which established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It is also distinct from the 1929 crash itself: Roosevelt was not president when Black Tuesday occurred, but he led the response to the later banking emergency.