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This political cartoon from January, 1933, shows a horse with very long legs labeled "Cost of Government". One hind leg has a bandage labeled "Billion Dollar Deficit". Uncle Sam carries a ladder to help him mount the horse, but the ladder is too short to reach the saddle. Down the path in the distance is a shining Capital Building and hoped-for economic recovery. The country was in the midst of a banking crisis in 1933. About one-third of the nation's banks had failed since October, 1929. By March, President Roosevelt had declared a "bank holiday" which halted all bank operations, and on March 9, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act.