Which U.S. president signed the Glass-Steagall Act during the aftermath of the 1929 crash?

Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Glass-Steagall Act during the aftermath of the 1929 crash.

The Banking Act of 1933, commonly associated with Glass-Steagall, became law during Roosevelt's first year as president. It separated commercial banking from investment banking and created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, for eligible bank deposits. These measures were part of the New Deal response to widespread bank failures and loss of public confidence.

The act was not itself a stock-market crash measure, and it did not cause the 1929 collapse. It addressed weaknesses in the banking system that became painfully visible during the Great Depression. Commercial banks and securities firms were later allowed to overlap more after key provisions were repealed in 1999.

A frequent mix-up is attributing the law to President Herbert Hoover, who was in office when the 1929 crash occurred. Roosevelt was inaugurated in March 1933, and the Banking Act was signed that June.