FDR passed that kind of sweeping legislation almost entirely through, desperation, force of personality, and titanic reinterpreting of the powers of a peace time president and of the federal government. It also helped that for the first few years of his presidency he enjoyed a super majority in congress. He also was able to choose 8 of the 9 supreme court justices over the course of his time in office, and even initially he tried to pack the court. FDR was down right devious. He was well known for never ever telling the complete truth even to his most loyal of supporters.

The truth is he didn't bother to try and sell it to the people in power because he didn't have to. It was readily apparent that if something wasn't done America might not make it. At the time unemployment rate was at almost 30%. Most american's didn't have access to their bank accounts as many were insolvent. Literally the country was on the brink. Congress was going to do whatever it took to drag us out of that hole even if it meant completely rewriting the rules of well everything.

I don't know that any of that is possible today. The regulations we have in place largely prevent us from being able to get back to that sort of dark economic time. And in my opinion it will take either that sort of global catastrophe, or one of our current major parties to fall apart to enable the sort of cooperation in congress New Deal level policy requires.

> How was the New Deal sold in to owners of capital who presumably controlled the press and political system?

Communist parties were gaining steam back then, and we were under threat of having our own Red October if something extreme wasn't done to blunt the effects of the Great Depression.