My conclusion as a non-economist, but watcher of society is that the actual downturn may not have been as bad as 1929-1932, but the actions taken to meet that challenge were a lot more active, fulsome, hearty and sincere under FDR.  The workers were put first and all sorts of actions were taken for them, that didn’t happen in 2008-now.  Unions were empowered, minimum wage created, government expanded jobs instead of contracting them, social security enacted instead of threatened and “modified” (ie., cut back), etc., etc., etc.