FDR declared a week-long bank holiday on March 6, 1933, to help deal with widespread bank failures. Customers throughout the country were withdrawing their deposits from banks, and the U.S. struggled to maintain the gold needed to back up the dollar. Sentiments cooled during the holiday as the government passed the Emergency Banking Act and deployed measures to help curb the crisis. The holiday ended on March 13, and within days, deposits far exceeded withdrawals.