Did the federal reserve pursue
an expansionary or a contractionary monetary policy?

Expansionary Monetary Policy is pursued by Federal Reserve.

Explanation:

Expansionary Monetary is a macroeconomic policy which takes an action on economic growth of the country. Expansionary policy can be either monetary policy or fiscal policy or combination of both. Its increases the money supply, boosts aggregate demand and lowers the interest rates.

It deters the contractionary phase of the business cycle. It’s even included that policy’s purchases of government securities and reduction in the ration of reserves, the other point is discount rate decreases.