The American middle class is a relatively recent phenomenon. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn into office in 1933, he embarked on a radical new campaign to create the world’s first widespread, more-than-half-of-us middle class. Third, he raised the top income tax rate to 90% for the morbidly rich and 52% for corporations. Corporations could get around their top tax rate by investing in their business. Affirmative Action programs were pulling racial and religious minorities into the mainstream of the American economy, kicking off a widespread Black middle class.