The Great Depression

I grew up around grandparents who lived through the Great Depression. They were solid Democrats and said regularly that Roosevelt saved this country. I grew up believing that the New Deal policies had worked. Then in the late 80's or early 90s (I think), I started hearing that the New Deal didn't really help but it was WWII that really pulled us out of the depression.

This chart at the Conversable Economist shows that the New Deal was working and that output had doubled and almost tripled before the war. The war and rebuilding did spur growth but the New Deal worked.