The Great Depression: A look at Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt Hoover and Roosevelt had very different ideas on how the Depression should be handled. This was almost entirely a result of two integral differences in their lives. Hoover was a Republican, and had basically worked his way through life, while Roosevelt was not only a Democrat, he had basically been born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. As one can easily see, in many ways these two are complete opposites. If one looks at both their upbringing and their political affiliation, it seems that Roosevelt's and Hoover's policies must have been different in a many ways. Hoover was brought up in a poor family, and worked almost his entire life. His father was a blacksmith and they lived in a small house. However, through hard work his father was able to move the family into a much bigger house soon after his birth. He learned early in his life the importance of self- reliance and hard work. In 1880 his father, Jesse, died and four years later his mother passed on. At age 11 he went west to Oregon to live with his Uncle. His uncle worked with him, and later became rich. Hoover had endured a great many hardships in his life, and knew what it was like to do without. With Hoover having and education and a past like his, one would think that he would know how to run the country like a business, so that it would stay afloat. But when confronted with the Depression, he repeatedly cut taxes. Hoover was basically a hard working Republican, and a self made man. He graduated as a mining engineer from Stanford. After capably serving as Secretary of Commerce under Presidents Harding and Coolidge, Hoover became the Republican Presidential nominee in 1928. He said then: "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land." His election seemed to ensure prosperity. Yet within months the stock market crashed, and the Nation spiraled downward into depression. Roosevelt, on the other hand, had been born into a very rich family. He grew up with education at Harvard and Columbia Law School, and had everything basically taken care of for him in his childhood by his mother. This gave him a sense of security, of being able to do anything he wanted, most simply because he didn't fail early on.
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 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.
Hoover believed the root cause of the depression was international, and he therefore believed that restoring the gold standard would ultimately drag the United States out of depression by reviving international trade. Hoover initiated many new domestic jobs programs aimed at creating jobs, but it seemed to have no effect as the unemployment rate continued to rise. The Democrats nominated Franklin Roosevelt as their candidate for president in 1932 against the incumbent Hoover. Roosevelt was elected in a landslide victory in part due to his platform called "The New Deal". This campaign platform was never fully explained by Roosevelt prior to his election, but it appealed to the American people as something new and different from anything Hoover was doing to ameliorate the problem.
The economy during the thirties was very bad in America. At the end of the last century, in 1929, the stock exchange crashed. It is referred to as the Wall Street crash and the collapse of the NY stock exchange, but most importantly it started the Great Depression. Every day there were more bankruptcies and layoffs. Even big, seemingly indestructible companies were in danger. Companies like Industrial Steel. They had to lay off 225,000 workers. The Great Depression hit everywhere and everyone. There was no food and no money. People rushed to the banks to get their savings, but there was no money to get. Nine million savings accounts were wiped out. Bank failures crushed tens of thousands of people. Everyone was selling all they had. Half the families in the United States were facing eviction. Four million United States families were without means for one year after the crash. Hoovers theology was that if America was left alone, it would right itself. So he did nothing. When Roosevelt became president, he closed down all the banks and rushed them two billion dollars, then reopened them. Roosevelt, although this was not enough to fix what the crash had done to America, attempted to bring America back from the brink.
Hoover is also vilified repeatedly for his inaction with the Depression. His personal policy and his party’s policy were designed to let the country find its own way, for if it became dependent on government aide, it would be a weaker nation that if it found it’s own way. This was a flawed assumption on their behalf though, because even in the 1920’s, there was a movement from many of the nation’s younger voters advocating change.
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.
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.
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.
Teddy Roosevelt was a man who liked to creat a stir wherever he went. He loved mingling with people to boost his own self-image.He loved to impress people with his cowboyism, his collection of guns, and his pintsize spectacles.Also, Roosevelt was a direct-actionist.He wanted to keep the country moving foward and preserve his public image at the same time. He wanted to display to his supporters that he could lead the country and be a jovial person simulataneously. His public image seemed to be his first priority, and when the election of 1904 came approaching, he wanted to show that he could be a bully to smaller countries and impress his people back home.
As a society, we often judge people solely by what is said of them or by them; but not by what they did. We forget to take into account the legacy that one leaves behind when they sometimes fail at completing the current task. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the charismatic man who stood at the helm of American government during the most trying decade in our brief history, the 1930s, set out to help the “common man” through various programs. Many historians, forgetting the legacy of the “alphabet soup” of agencies that FDR left behind, claim that he did not fix the Great Depression and therefore failed in his goal. What this essay desires to argue is that those historians are completely right. Through his many programs designed to help the economy, laborers, and all people lacking civil rights, President Roosevelt did not put an end to the Great Depression; however he did adapt the federal government to a newly realized role of protector for the people.
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.
Thesis: Because the Great Depression quickly changed America's view of liberalism, Roosevelt can be considered a liberal and Hoover a conservative, despite occasionally supporting similar policies.
Theodore Roosevelt stepped into head of office on September 19, 1901 when President William McKinley was assassinated. He was the youngest man to become president. His motto was “speak softly but carry a big stick.” President Roosevelt would come into power offering America the square deal. He would take the power away from the industrialists as he controlled big business from the White House. He would soon become known as a TrustBuster. Roosevelt used American power for American interests and was quoted as saying, “I am an American first and last. “ Although some historians argue that Roosevelt acted like a six-year-old throughout his presidency and that he didn’t think things through, ie “he thought with his hips”, one can admire the tremendous leadership qualities that Teddy Roosevelt had. First, he was a very bold man who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. The average citizen was aware of what a “positive, warm and tough, authoritative and funny” president that they had leading them. His leadership qualities stemmed from his time as a New York state Assembly man, a deputy sheriff, a ...
Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt belonged to two different political parties, so it was inevitable that the two would handle the great depression differently. President Hoover, a republican, dealt with the depression in a more conservative manner; in his eyes, the federal government should not intervene. President Roosevelt was a Democrat during the great depression that took initiative and created governmental agencies to create jobs and therefore create and complete public service and infrastructure projects. President Roosevelt dealt with the depression in a better manner than Hoover.
Because the economy was doing so well during the “Roaring 20s”, there wasn’t much of a dispute over this type of leadership. While President Hoover kept that same mindset in his approach to economic recovery, his successor President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took a completely different and pragmatic approach, willing to think outside of what was accepted at the time. President Hoover continually reminded Americans that things would get better if they kept working hard and pushed through. “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.