Hoover once said, “We have not yet reached the goal but… we shall soon, with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty shall be banished from this nation.” During the time of Hoover’s presidency and the Depression, he had ups and he had downs as everyone does, but people mainly paid attention to the downs when he was only trying to help the nation out of the Depression in as many ways as possible. Though Roosevelt was seen as the father of the New Deal and a benefit to getting the country out of the Depression, Hoover also attempted to do the same and shouldn’t be completely blamed for the Depression.
Before Hoover was president, he did lots of humanitarian work. He made the Committee for the Relief of Belgium to transfer food to
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He returned to America and was appointed as the food administrator for the United States. He had saved millions of lives and was seen as a hero to all of Europe. In 1921, he became the Secretary of Commerce for Warren G. Harding. He was called “Secretary of Everything” because of the talent he had in this position. After president Harding died in 1923, Calvin Coolidge became president and Hoover continued to be the secretary of commerce. Coolidge stepped down from his position in 1927 and Hoover quit his job and started to begin his nomination for president. Hoover was elected in 1928. He promised to continue the country’s prosperity but that didn’t last long (#1).
On October 9, 1929, the stock market crashed drastically and then began the Great Depression. Hoover and other authorities thought that it was a temporary crash and would pass(#2). Hoover didn’t think that it was a big deal. He would not let federal government be involved in any part of it. He feared that it would lead to socialism. Hoover was seen as uncaring even though he was a philanthropist before he was elected as president. Though he was labeled
...vaulted Hoover from unlikely presidential candidate to dark-horse candidate to the White House in a mere 18 months. At the time, Hoover's coordination of relief efforts re-earned him the title of "The Great Humanitarian" -- a far different image of the man than we have today as we link his name and presidency with the Great Depression.
President Herbert Hoover was the conservative Republican president of America when the Great Depression occurred, and was given the burden of rebuilding the economy. He believed the federal government should not intervene, and instead believed that helping the needy was the obligation of private organizations and donors, whom he pressured. In addition, Hoover granted loans to big businesses, hoping that the money would “trickle down” and that more employees would be hired.
In 1929, the stock market crashed, bringing great ruin to our country. The result, the Great Depression, was a time of hardship for everyone around the world. The economy in the US was lower than ever and people were suffering immensely. During these trying times, two presidents served- Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (F.D.R.) Both had different views on how the depression should be handled, with Hoover believing that the people could solve the issue themselves with no government involvement, and with F.D.R. believing that the government should work for their people in such difficult times.
Because of the plague known as the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover is often seen as one of the worst presidents in American history. He enacted policies such as the Hawley-Smoot Tariff that flushed America deeper into the depression. Hoover didn't understand that to solve a crisis such as a depression, he needed to interact directly with the people by using programs such as social security and welfare. Instead, Hoover had the idea that if he were to let the depression run its course, it would eventually end. There are three things that can be used to define Hoover's presidency during the depression, his actions, his mentality toward fixing things, and the fact that he helped pave the way for the “New Deal”
He quickly moves from the panic of 1929 to the ‘30’s and how many of the popular governmental sentiments during the election were no longer so. Hoover quickly moved from a position of public acceptance and admiration to that of a scapegoat. That the Depression was his fault is not entirely true, though. Hoover did not have much of the information needed to foretell the economic situation. In the laissez-faire form of government he prescribed, there was no place for a department that would document these things for the use of the president’s office.
However, even before the Depression, there were signs that Hoover was becoming more conservative. As Document A suggests, Hoover did not want to be considered completely laissez-faire. He seemed less determined to preserve the extremely capitalistic society of the 1920's which was run, often corruptly, by political machines, such as Tweed. However, the success of the American economy under the private interest beliefs of Harding and Coolidge required him to ensure that the lack of intervention ...
Hoover shared with the nation after the First World War, and he promised to bring continued peace and prosperity. He declared, “I have an abiding faith in their capacity, integrity and high purpose. “…we find some causes for concern. We have emerged from the losses of the Great War and the reconstruction following it with increased virility and strength.” In this regard, he also pushed the nation to take the blame and the initiative to be responsible to make that change needed.
After nearly a decade of optimism and prosperity, the United States took a turn for the worse on October 29, 1929, the day the stock market crashed, better known as Black Tuesday and the official beginning of the Great Depression. The downfall of the economy during the presidency of Herbert Hoover led to much comparison when his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, took office. Although both presidents had their share of negative feedback, it is evident that Hoover’s inaction towards the crisis and Roosevelt’s later eccentric methods to simulate the economy would place FDR in the positive limelight of fixing the nation in one of its worst times. Herbert Hoover was sworn into office when the economic status of the country stood at its highest and the nation was accustomed to a prosperous way of living. When the stock market plummeted and took its toll on the citizens from coast to coast, it was out of his control.
The Great Depression wreaked havoc on the economy, and in light of this President Hoover and President Franklin D Roosevelt Both initiated programs and policies to counter act the effects, however both had very different approaches with varying degree of efficacy. Through their actions, the American people would generally perceive both men quite differently, and cultivated fear in direct respect to both men's approach--both men would earn their critics as the long term effects played out. Hoover and FDR had fairly opposite approaches to solving this horrid depression.
At first Hoover opposed any relief efforts, but as the Depression worsened, he started a few farm assistance programs. Hoover hoped that theses farm programs would help the farmers’ situation with the low crop prices. Unfortunately farmers had to come dependent on this government handout. Hoover also started federal work projects such as the Grand Coulee Dam and the Hoover Dam. These projects provided many jobs for people and provided affordable hydroelectric power for people but the Great Depression was a much bigger problem than a few extra job openings could fix. Hoping that raising tariffs could help American business Hoover created the Hawley-Smoot Tarrif. This actually worsened economy and caused lower export rates. One of Hoover’s big mistakes was that he wouldn’t go off the gold standard. Hoov...
At the start of the Depression, many letters (mostly discouraging) were sent to President Hoover. These letters came primarily from well-to-do citizens, however some leftist workers’ letters found their way in as well. The well-to-do citizens agreed that the ultimate cause of the lower classes’ depression was their laziness and incompetence. On top of that, these well-to-do citizens thanked Hoover, probably because their money had gone unscathed (McElvaine, 38). Some opinions weren’t as favorable for the Hoover administration, however. Some people believed that “engineers may be intelligent but poor presidents” (pp. 43). Finally, the leftist parties did not appreciate the endeavors of the Hoover presiden...
A brief biography, as an introduction to the man will aid us in the understanding of who he was, and through this we may gain incite into the reasons for why he did the things he did. Hoover was born New Years Day 1895 in Washington D.C. the youngest of three children. He had an older brother and sister that lived and an older sister that died as a baby. His mother, Annie Hoover had the greatest influence on him as a child. She was strong willed and militaristic in her approach to raising her children and running a family. She instilled in him a strong sense of right and wrong, and taught him the work ethic for which he would live by. Hoover was a winner, during his school years and beyond. As a boy Hoover was afflicted with a speech impediment. He was so determined to overcome this handicap that he read aloud for hours a day until he no longer stuttered. Hoover was short and slight in stature but he was athletic and quite agile.
The Great Depression America 1929-1941 by Robert S. McElvaine covers many topics of American history during the "Great Depression" through 1941. The topic that I have selected to compare to the text of American, Past and Present, written by Robert A. Divine, T.H. Breen, George M. Frederickson and R. Hal Williams, is Herbert Hoover, the thirty-first president of the United States and America's president during the horrible "Great Depression".
On October 24th, 1929 one of the most devastating events in American history occurred. Nearly half of America’s banks had failed and over 13 million people were unemployed. As a result of the Stock Market Crash of 1929, America spiraled downward into the Great Depression. Many people believed that Herbert Hoover was to blame for the Depression, because Hoover believed that the government should not do anything to the economy because the economy would eventually fix itself.
But for the majority of the country during one of our toughest times, he was what we needed. Without consulting history, it’s impossible to judge what he did very negatively. The old ways weren’t working, and while President Hoover tried to do something, it wasn’t enough. President Roosevelt was more successful with the actions he took for relief during the Great Depression. References: EyeWitness History editors.