The Great Depression was an economic downturn of the 1930’s that began on October 29, 1929 with the Wall Street Stock Market Crash. In result of the stock market crash, billions of people began losing their money along their faith in the American economy. This led the American’s back to their national government in hope of a solution. In the White House Herbert Hoover sat as president the first four years of the Great Depression along with President Theodore Roosevelt from 1932 to the end. Both Herbert Hoover and Theodore Roosevelt did their best to improve the poor economic state of United States. Both men had many similarities along with differences: varying from their personalities, to separate political views, and even to the policies they …show more content…
These differences help make the United States’s democracy work. Hoover and Roosevelt had opposing political views about of how to approach the Great Depression. Hoover had a conservative political philosophy and openly referred to the Great Depression as a “passing incident in our national lives.” He believed that patience and self reliance was all the American people needed in order to get through the rough time. Hoover also thought that families should responsible for their own welfare. He limited the federal government’s role and imposed local and states governments to help (History.com“The 1930’s”). Whereas President Roosevelt was full of liberal ideas and believed in power of free market (Boundless.com Staff). Roosevelt’s determined and fearless outlook towards Great Depression helped boost people’s confidence in their National Government. Roosevelt hoped to entered office and take control right away by providing quick and reliable relief for American people (Biography.com “Theodore Roosevelt”). These presidents are an example of how presidents can have different ideas and …show more content…
In fact a couple Roosevelt’s policies were built off of Hoover’s beginning programs (Biography.com“Theodore Roosevelt”). In the first hundred days of his presidency, Roosevelt pushed many legislations and was able to pass 15 major laws. Roosevelt primarly fought the Great Depression in the form of the “New Deal” (Boundless.com staff). The “New Deal” was an overarching name for a program that held multiple smaller reforms and programs. Each of these programs essentially provided public work opportunities along with a form of financial security. United States unemployment was dropped from 25% to 14% with Roosevelt in office (History.com“Theodore Roosevelt”). Roosevelt's programs did not end the Great Depression, but they did have a lasting effect on the United States. The different actions taken by the two different men had different lasting effects on the
Historians claim that Hoovers term during the depression was filled with false promises and accuse the president of doing nothing while the depression worsened. Along with worsening the debt and a fairly aggressive use of government it is clear his approach towards the situation was not the best. FDR’s approach would prove during his administration to suffice in the augmentation of the crisis. Although it seemed like a completely opposite presidency, many ideas came from his predecessor. Roosevelt’s team of advisors understood that much of what they produced and fashioned into the New Deal owed its origins to Hoover’s policies.
In the Roaring Twenties, people started buying household materials and stocks that they could not pay for in credit. Farmers, textile workers, and miners all got low wages. In 1929, the stock market crashed. All of these events started the Great Depression. During the beginning of the Great Depression, 9000 banks were closed, ending nine million savings accounts. This lead to the closing of eighty-six thousand businesses, a European depression, an overproduction of food, and a lowering of prices. It also led to more people going hungry, more homeless people, and much lower job wages. There was a 28% increase in the amount of homeless people from 1929 to 1933. And in the midst of the beginning of the Great Depression, President Hoover did nothing to improve the condition of the nation. In 1932, people decided that America needed a change. For the first time in twelve years, they elected a democratic president, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Immediately he began to work on fixing the American economy. He closed all banks and began a series of laws called the New Laws. L...
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.
The Great Depression is a an era when the US economy was at its lowest. It is after the Roaring 20s. The depression was caused mainly because of the crash of the stock market in 1929 and the government’s failed attempts to help the people. Many people’s belongings are bought with credit so they lost all their money and most of their things when the bank system failed. Others lost their jobs and many men left their families because they felt ashamed that they can’t support their family. The social fabric of the Great Depression changed greatly from the previous era. The changes in the social, the political, and the economic part of the US are part of the change in the social fabric.
In conclusion, Herbert Hoover tried every method he could think of to combat the Great Depression, unfortunately for him, he didn't know what the proper method was. This depression was unprecedented in American History, and Hoover tried to just let boom and bust run its course. He had some good ideas but they were too late in his term, he was too orthodox in his thinking, and he wasn't willing to try anything drastic. Herbert Hoover could have been a great president in a different era, but he just happened to be very unlucky with when he was elected. Hoover may end up being one of the worst presidents in history, but when you look at it closely, he was a victim of circumstance and environment.
...y dismiss the program and start a different program in it place. Hoover on the other hand wanted to wait and think. He wanted to make sure that the programs that he provided money for wouldn’t be a waste and would definitely work. Hoover didn’t want to spend anymore money than he had to. Hoover really didn’t want to raise the national debt no matter what. Roosevelt did whatever it took no matter what the cost. Money was no object to Hoover, as long as he thought that program or agency could have a chance of getting them through the Depression he took a gamble on it and raised the national debt. Hoover made sure that there was enough hard money to back up the paper money in America while Roosevelt played it risky and printed extra money. Hoover and Roosevelt’s policies were extremely dissimilar and they each viewed relief from the Depression very differently.
Some say that the great depression was caused partially by social democracy and planned economies. And although this could be true, it originally started from debts from World War I, and of course the stock market crashing in 1929.
The 1930s were a very rough time for most people. These were hard times because of the Great Depression and the Stock Market crash. The Presidents of the 1930s were Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Both of these Presidents came from different backgrounds and had the responsibility of trying to help people through the Great Depression. The two Presidents of the 1930s, Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt were faced with many problems during America’s Great Depression and had very different approaches at solving them. Franklin Roosevelt was favored by many and Hoover was looked down on by most of America’s people.
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".
President Roosevelt initiated the only program that could pull the U.S. out of the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s New Deal got the country through one of the worst financial catastrophe the U.S. has ever been through. Diggerhistory.info biography on FDR states,” In March 13 million people were unemployed… In his first “Hundred Days”, he proposed, and Congress enacted, a sweeping program to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to the unemployed and those in danger of losing their farms and homes”(Digger History Biography 1). Roosevelt’s first hundred days brought relief to the unemployed. He opened the AAA (Agriculture Adjustment Administration) and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps.). The administration employed many young men in need of jobs all around the country. Roosevelt knew that the economy’s biggest problem was the widespread unemployment. Because of Roosevelt’s many acts and agencies, lots of young men and women around the country were getting jobs so the economy was healing. According to Roosevelt’s biography from the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, “Another Flurry of New Deal Legislation followed in 1935, including the WPA (Work Projects Admi...
...pression. It was this that created Hoover’s conservative image. Moreover, Hoover's opinions changed from being against any government interference in the economy to being in support of the government encouraging employment by creating more jobs. Hoover differed from most presidents represented in Schlesinger's theory because touched upon private interest, transition, and public purpose, all within the one term of his presidency. Roosevelt was falsely credited with ending the Great Depression as a result of the success of his many programs instituted with the purpose of fighting against unemployment. He is therefore recognized by many as the more effective of the two presidents, which would then indicate that liberalism was more effectual than conservative ideas. However, in reality, Roosevelt was little more successful than Hoover in ending the Great Depression.
In response to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt was ready for action unlike the previous President, Hubert Hoover. Hoover allowed the country to fall into a complete state of depression with his small concern of the major economic problems occurring. FDR began to show major and immediate improvements, with his outstanding actions during the First Hundred Days. He declared the bank holiday as well as setting up the New Deal policy. Hoover on the other hand; allowed the U.S. to slide right into the depression, giving Americans the power to blame him. Although he tried his best to improve the economy’s status during the depression and ‘pump the well’ for the economy, he eventually accepted that the Great Depression was inevitable.
Roosevelt immediately gained the public's favor with his liberal ideas. In the first 100 days, Roosevelt stabilized banks with the Federal Bank Holiday. In the New Deal he fought poverty with the TVA, NRA, AAA, CCC, PWA, and CWA. These policies were definitely liberal in the 1930's and because of the new programs, Roosevelt received false credit for ending the Depression. Ironically Roosevelt succeeded only a little more than Hoover in ending the Depression. Despite tripling expenditures during Roosevelt's administration, (Document F) the American economy did not recover from the Depression until World War II.
The era of the Great Depression was by far the worst shape the United States had ever been in, both economically and physically. Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and began to bring relief with his New Deal. In his first 100 days as President, sixteen pieces of legislation were passed by Congress, the most to be passed in a short amount of time. Roosevelt was re-elected twice, and quickly gained the trust of the American people. Many of the New Deal policies helped the United States economy greatly, but some did not. One particularly contradictory act was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was later declared unconstitutional by Congress. Many things also stayed very consistent in the New Deal. For example, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and Social Security, since Americans were looking for any help they could get, these acts weren't seen as a detrimental at first. Overall, Roosevelt's New Deal was a success, but it also hit its stumbling points.
One effect of the Great Depression was the way that he was able to change American culture in such a short time. His actions gave the executive branch of the government an amount of power that they hadn’t ever wielded prior. Presidents of the past would usually just sign what came across their desk. His work with congress initiated all kinds of reform, recovery and relief programs. “Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced programs between 1933 and 1938, designed to help America pull out of the Great Depression by addressing high rates of unemployment and poverty. An array of services, regulations, and subsidies were introduced by FDR and Congress, including widespread work creation programs. The cornerstones of the New Deal were the Public Works Administration and the National Recovery Administration.” (Croft Communications,