On May 18, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Tennessee Valley Authority to provide hydroelectric power to rural areas of six states. Before the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the citizens living in this area, which includes the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee, lived in economic depression. Only three out of a hundred families had electricity. Most of the people received public assistance – there was very little industrial employment. Also, the Tennessee River was navigable by boats with a draft of only three feet or less.