When the United States was in the grips of the Great Depression, not only were people lacking in jobs and food, but also access to natural resources. Just two months after assuming office, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Tennessee Valley Authority Act. The government-owned corporation currently supplies electric power to seven states.

In its early years, the Tennessee Valley Authority provided good jobs to unemployed Americans who had a hand in reconfiguring infrastructure and bringing electricity to areas previously without service. It is, without question, one of the most successful New Deal programs.