Hoovers Relief Efforts Essay

Herbert Hoover was elected president of the United States on November 19, 1928; unfortunately, less than eight months later, the stock market crashed. Hoover mistakenly considered this crash as only a passing point for America. But it was only three years later when economic slowdown and over speculation brought America into an upcoming Great Depression. This was a devastating blow for Hoover, his administration, and the American people. President Hoover attempted many ways to fix the economy. He founded new government agencies and encouraged cooperation between government and business to try to stabilize prices as well as attempt to balance the budget. These relief attempts might have shown positive outcome in the early years of the depression, but as the economy worsened, calls for more government involvement increased.

It’s the 1930s and the United States of America is in turmoil. Banks are closing, the stock market has crashed and people are losing their homes and jobs. Everyone in America is suffering from the Great Depression. The Great Depression began in 1929 when the stock markets crashed; this was the beginning of ten long years of economic suffering for those in America. With many out of jobs and homes, it was time for a change to happen. With the election of Roosevelt in 1933, something new was on its way. During Roosevelt's first 100 days in office, his administration passed legislation that aimed to stabilize industrial and agricultural production, create jobs and stimulate recovery. (A&E Television Networks, 2013). As his presidency

Herbert Hoover, the president in office when the Great Depression hit the country, did very little to ameliorate the devastating situation. Hoover underestimated the seriousness of the crisis, misdiagnosed the causes of the problems, and clung to his beliefs in individual achievement and self-help. His corrective measures, aimed at inflation and the federal budget, were thus damaging themselves. Furthermore, he hesitated to mobilize government resources to aid Americans and instead appealed to private groups to lend a hand (Encarta). Thus Hoover’s administration did little to mitigate the impact of the Depression.

Towards the end of the 1920’s the economy in America took a drastic turn. This was when Calvin Coolidge’s presidency had ended and changes in the government began to take place. “Just seven months after Herbert Hoover entered the White House, economic trouble mocked his campaign statement about being near ‘the final triumph over poverty.’ On October 24, 1929 panic swept the New York Stock Exchange as nearly 13 million shares changed hands” (Hamilton). The start to Hoover’s presidency was also the start of the Great Depression. His term consisted heavily on working on taking steps to bring America out of the drastic economic fall that they had just entered. He began taking action by launching public works programs, tax reductions, and the formation

The Great Depression was the deepest economic downturn that started soon after the stock market crash in 1929. This was a time period where thousands of homeless people would wander in the streets and workers lived in fear and pressure of running out of money. There are several long term causes, including the overproduction of farm goods and sketchy exchanges in the stock market. The overproduction of farm goods caused a major drop in prices of the goods, creating more pressure on the already in debt farmers. Buying on margins would cause the speculators to go in debt and banks to lose money when the stock goes down. While the stock market and economy crashed in 1929, Hoover believed in rugged individualism, which means one is responsible for their own success, and

President Herbert Hoover had an interesting approach to the great depression. President Herbert Hoover believed in the idea of charity or self-help. Basically this means that when people came to the white house asking for help since they were in a bad situation from the great depression President Herbert Hoover should not give them that help. President Herbert Hoover believed that if he gave handouts to people or helped people when they were down, he thought people would get dependent on the government to help them when things were going bad then having this mind set would lead to people just not doing anything and just keep getting money from the government for the rest of their lives. President Herbert Hoover believed in charities, instead of the government helping, people need to help one another out, so charities were strongly supported by President Herbert Hoover. Even though President Herbert Hoover believed in self-help and charities he did use the government to help out certain areas of work such as agriculture since lots of farmers at the time were dealing with a

The country was going through an ongoing rough depression that the previous President Hoover left in the road for his processor, President Roosevelt. Although not only President Hoover decisions and approval of laws added to the great depression, but the

“No cracked earth, no blistering sun, no burning wind, no grasshoppers are a permanent match for the indomitable American farmers and stockmen and their wives and children, who have carried on through desperate days and inspire us with their self-reliance, their tenacity, and their courage” (qtd. In Lookinbill 89). Thus spoke President Franklin D. Roosevelt during a broadcast campaign in Washington, D.C. in 1936 (89). By the early 1930s the nation was in the grips of the Great Depression (“We are California” 1). Millions of Americans were without food and shelter, and as well suffering to grasp hope when it comes to extreme poverty (1).

At the peak of the Great Depression in 1932 over 12,060,000 citizens were unemployed and the rate of deflation exceeded 10% (John C. Williams1). Millions of individuals were starving on the streets and billions were lost on the stock market (History.com2). When Franklin Roosevelt released the New Deal in 1933, a plan to provide relief, reform, and recovery to the distressed country, Americans were in dire need of relief. President FDR acted quickly and implemented a series of programs aimed towards providing an immediate stop to the economic free fall and providing relief to his people (DPLA3). In his effort to reduce the severity of poverty and unemployment, FDR released programs to aid business and labor, farmers, housing and homeowners,

Under Presidents W.G. Harding and C. Coolidge, he was the Secretary of Commerce and prior to that, he served as the head of both the Food Administration and the American Relief Administration (“Herbert Hoover”). However, all of these qualifications could not prepare him for the peril he would face in the upcoming months. Hoover’s confidence was initially seen as positive, but when things started to clearly go wrong and he remained confident, people grew unhappy. Although the exact person or reason cannot be pinpointed, many historians are in consensus that Hoover’s inability to be proactive was part of why the Depression became the catastrophe it was (“The 1930s”). Just seven months after confidently assuring the people that he had “no fears for the future of our country,” the stock market crashed (“Herbert Hoover”).

Herbert Hoover was known as the Great Humanitarian and the Great Engineer. Yet, he was blamed almost entirely for the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover accomplished much in his life, but it was definitely not an easy journey; he went through the ups and downs of the learning years that paved the path leading to his presidency, and he ultimately faced his fears.

The Great Depression was a test of will for Hoover, one that proved too difficult for him to manage. His “rugged individualism” approach failed to stimulate the consumption and production that was necessary to jump-start the dead economy. Hoover did eventually support some interventionist government programs that aimed at combating the Depression, he feared that government aid would breed a sense of dependence among the poor. Thus, he refused to extend assistance to millions of the nation’s unemployed and hungry who were overwhelming private relief agencies. In the public eye, Hoover appeared uncaring and unwilling to admit that the people of the U.S. were starving and that his ideas and philosophies were failing miserably. He lost significant public support. In 1932, Hoover ran for reelection, anxious to prove that his policies could still revolutionize the economic crisis. Nonetheless, the Americans were captivated by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal. The New Deal vaguely promised a crusade to restore America to its own people. Roosevelt won, with an unprecedented majority.

President Hoover’s term during the Great Depression is criticized heavily because his conservative ways kept him from making any kind of difference for the suffering American population. He is blamed for doing nothing. The causes of the Great Depression are still debatable. The main causes were debt recycling, high tariffs, the federal government, overproduction and under consumption, and the stock market crash. According to document 24-3, one of Hoover’s presidential election speeches said, “My conception of America is a land where men and women may walk in ordered liberty, where they may enjoy the advantages of wealth, not concentrated in the hands of a few, but diffused through the lives of all.” When confronted with the Great Depression he did do something. He organized a meeting with business and labor leaders, in an attempt to encourage

The next morning a larger crowd gathered with the intention of searching the houses of all suspected doctors to find the culprit behind the prank. The even headed for another medical institution. Governor George Clinton, Supreme Justice of Court John Jay, and Secretary of Treasurer Alexander Hamilton, and officials leading the citizens told the mob to disperse. The students were placed in the jail; but in the afternoon a violent party gathered around the jail and demanded the police to surrender the students, this demand of course was denied. This provoked the mental state of the mob. Mayor James Duane feared the mobs violence and called the state out the militia. One party of people went to the jail patiently without any additional force. A second party was arrested and disarmed by the mob, who then attempted to ransack the building. John Jay and others attempted to calm the mob. Yet, Jay was struck unconscious by a thrown stone. The mayor was about to

The Great Depression was a time of high unemployment rates and an unsustained economy that was triggered in part by the stock market crash in 1929, but mostly occurred due to the problems in the industry and agriculture during this time. In the housing industry, there were issues surrounding the shortage of houses that were being built during this time. This lead to an immediate decline in need for glass, wood, and other construction materials subsequently causing these industries to fail as well. The coal industry plummeted about 50% after the recent discoveries of power from hydroelectric sources, natural gas, and oil. This was similar to the decline of the railroad industry due to the rise of trucks, busses, and cars as the primary sources of transportation. Agricultural demand significantly decreased following the end of World War I leaving many farmers (who had taken out loans from the bank to pay for increased production) broke and with an excess amount of produce that they could not sell for a substantial price. President Herbert Hoover was elected in 1928, during which the economy and the country were thriving. However, the Great Depression struck in 1929 which plummeted the country into a state of high unemployment in which many citizens of the country lived in a state of hunger and poverty. Over 90,000 businesses were forced to close and millions lost their savings due to bank failures. During this time, Hoover had several philosophies, all of which