Compare And Contrast Hoover And Fdr Essay

October, 1929 a period that lives in infamy. In a historic World Series the Chicago Cubs were defeated by the Philadelphia Athletics continuing the great depression of cubs championship drought. As if things couldn’t get any worse the entire United States endured a Great Depression following the crash of the Stock Market on Tuesday October 29. Americans were suffering to live and change was needed. The two people in charge during the depression Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt both had the opportunity to fix it. During the Great Depression Franklin Delano Roosevelt was more effective in addressing the needs of Americans compared to Herbert Hoover. FDR policy of strong government intervention proved to be more effective than Hoover’s

policy of Laissez Faire, this is shown through unemployment during the depression.

The main reason FDR was more successful meeting the needs of Americans during the depression was his differing way of running the U.S. During the Hoover's presidency, Hoover believed in running the economy the “old school” way which was the use of Laissez Faire. Under Laissez Faire Hoover believed “Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement(Document 3).

Through Laissez Faire Hoover remains hands off the economy and believes that things will turn around on their own. Americans believed that this policy was long outdated and elected Roosevelt in 1932 in hopes of major change. Roosevelt took the opposite route believing major change was needed to fix this economic depression. Document 8 shows the major changes that transpired during Roosevelt's term. FDR who is depicted as a baseball manager is arguing with the “umpire” which is the supreme court. “Listen I don’t like your Decisions from now on, You’re going to have to work with someone who can see things My Way!” In addition to the argument laid out are “baseball bats” which state the many forms of new legislation FDR is trying to pass. The bats state “N.R.A out”, “A.A.A out” and many “new deals” that the umpire has called “out” or deemed unconstitutional (Document 8). It has been tradition for hundreds of years in baseball that if a player is wronged the manager will storm out of the dugout and engage in a screaming match with the umpire. Even though the umpire cannot change his call it is a show of force to scream at the umpire till your red in the face. In this cartoon the “player” being defended is all Americans and their needs.

This cartoon shows FDR is willing to fight with the highest authority the supreme court which is depicted at the umpire He knows change is needed and he shows the effectiveness of his power by yelling things will go “my way”. Although many of his reforms have been declared unconstitutional, FDR is willing to fight until Americans receive help, and feels the government should be involved in economy further showing his effectiveness as commander in chief. On the contrary when the same issue arises Hoover continues to go hands off. Hoover in a press statement shows his belief when it comes to government intervention in time of depression. “Once this has happened it is not the cost of a few score millions, but we are faced with the abyss of reliance [trap of relying] in [the] future upon Government charity in some or other”(Document 4). This statement was on February 3, 1931 during the heat of the depression and Hoover is basically holding back from helping Americans. Hoover, a firm believer in “mutual self help” states government intervention will create an “abyss of reliance”. Using the word “abyss” shows Hoover believed that there is no coming back from government reliance. Even the money is not an issue according to Hoover as he states “it is not the cost of a few score millions.” During the depression people were desperate for jobs and money and Hoover refused to integrate the government into the economy causing the needs of Americans to remain unmet. Therefore Hoover has made it clear help will not be coming from the government and the needs of Americans will continue to not be met. In conclusion FDR proved to be more effective in creating change during the depression.
The use of Hoovers and Roosevelt's policies translated directly to the needs of Americans. Arguably the biggest issue during the depression was unemployment. Reaching a peak of close to 40% it became clear that something must be done to aid this issue. Herbert Hoover thought he had an idea to fix it. “In aid to unemployment during the winter. The congress will however, have presented to it numbers of projects,some of them under the guise of, rather than the reality of,their usefulness in the increase of employment during the depression...The government must not undertake works that are not sound economic purpose”(Document 3). When combating the issue of unemployment Hoover believed that congress should create some job opportunities, however they must benefit the economy. Hoover supported the idea of creating projects to decrease unemployment however, he questioned their effectiveness. Describing these projects Hoover illustrates, “some of them under the guise of rather than the reality of their usefulness in the increase of employment.” Using the diction of guise, Hoover feels that some of these projects appear to help unemployment but that is not the case. Once again Hoover is hesitant to integrate government into the economy and continues to be hands off. Roosevelt once again believed to fix unemployment strong government intervention. “Our greatest primary task is to put people to work…It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the government itself...but at the same time, through this unemployment,accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources” (Document 6). When it comes to unemployment Roosevelt once again believes strong government intervention is the answer. FDR thought that “direct recruiting by the government” would help combat unemployment issue. Also FDR unlike Hoover believed that government created “projects” would not only help unemployment but help stimulate the economy. Hoover only believed in these projects if they had a “sound economic purpose”. Both seemed to have justified ways of fixing the depression but Roosevelt proved to me most effective. Document 10 shows a graph of unemployment before during and after the depression. During Herbert Hoover's presidency, unemployment grew rapidly ever year he was in office. After the crash Unemployment grew from below 15% to over 35% in 1932. However during Roosevelt's term in office unemployment only decreased, from close to 40% in 1933 to as 22% in 1937 (Document 10). The data from the graph shows that Roosevelt's policy of strong government intervention helped meet the needs of Americans most effectively. Factually speaking the graph also proves that Hoover’s use of Laissez Faire and hands off management proved to be harmful during the depression. Hoovers lack of change lead to a 20% increase in unemployment. In conclusion when it comes to Unemployment FDR met the needs of Americans and Hoover did not.

During the Great Depression Franklin Delano Roosevelt was more effective in addressing the needs of Americans compared to Herbert Hoover. FDR policy of strong government intervention proved to be more effective than Hoover’s policy of Laissez Faire, this is shown through unemployment during the depression. Although both leaders were giving the same job description, Franklin Delano Roosevelt will go in history as the greater of the two.