By laying the groundwork for a system centered on home ownership rather than the public housing popular in Europe, the New Deal made possible the great postwar housing boom that populated the Sun Belt and boosted millions of Americans into the middle class, where, ironically, they often became Republicans.

The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2007) - ISBN: 9780743246019