Liberal Franklin D. Roosevelt vs. Conservative Herbert C. Hoover

Following the progressive era, leading up to the Second World War, two men served as president of the United States that stands out from all the others. These two men are none other than Franklin D. Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge. From opposing parties, these two had strikingly different visions for the nation. After serving multiple terms, both men would demonstrate not only differences in vision, but leadership style as well. Coolidge served in a prosperous era. Roosevelt would serve in a very deprived era, and had the responsibility to fix the Great Depression. In General, the vision of one president was quite the polar opposite of the others.

In the first two decades of the twentieth century the national political scene reflected a growing American belief in the ideas of the Progressive movement. This movement was concerned with fundamental social and economic reforms and gained in popularity under two presidents. Yet Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson espoused two different approaches to progressive reform. And each one was able to prevail upon congress to pass legislation in keeping with his own version of the progressive dream. These two people, although they had different principles in mind, had one goal: to make changes to the nation for the better of the people and the country. Setting out to reach this goal, Roosevelt came to be a president of the common man while

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the thirty-second president of the United States, was a central figure for the United States in the 20th Century. While leading his country out of The Great Depression, he also led the nation through World War II. Herbert Hoover, the thirty-first President, led the country during the Great Depression and his policies enforced at that time eventually led to his downfall because of their inability to end the downward economic spiral. Both of these Presidents greatly contributed to the nation by using different policies and tactics that classified them as either liberal or conservative. Although there are some exceptions because of the acts passed by Hoover, the characterizations of President D.

Compare and contrast Hoover and Roosevelt’s actions in the aftermath of the Crash of 1929. How did both administrations attempt to deal with the economic stagnation, social hardship and psychological impact of the depression? What needed to be fixed and which approach proved more successful? In your essay you should address not only the underlying economic and social problems that both administrations had to deal with and the various corrective measures they adopted, but also the underlying philosophical approaches of Hoover and Roosevelt and their supporters.

The Great Depression quickly altered America's view of liberalism and therefore, Roosevelt can be considered a liberal and Hoover a conservative, despite the fact that they did occasionally support very similar policies. The United States experienced political shifts during the Great Depression, which are described by Arthur Schlesinger’s analysis of eras in which public objectives were placed before personal concerns. It seems that the public view of what constitutes as liberal beliefs versus what is thought to be conservative beliefs shifts in a similar way.

The former presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover had similar views on how the government should be, that differed from Franklin D. Roosevelt. How the presidents decided to manage the economy with their power, shows how they thought the government should be ran. President Coolidge and President Hoover had many ineffective ideas throughout their presidency, while President Roosevelt managed to change the economy. Calvin Coolidge was a republican president that believed that the government should stay away from controlling the people. He was known for not doing much to better our country; he thought it would happen naturally, so he didn’t feel the need to pressure the congress into passing legislation, and didn’t create any plans of action to benefit our country.

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.

However, the New Deal was unable to break through the depression. Although the two did not have vast differences between their ideologies, the policies enacted as response to the Great Depression by Hoover and later his successor FDR were drastically different; Hoover opposed direct federal relief given to individuals and pursued a limited republican government, passing little effective legislation, while FDR was proactive in passing legislation through Congress that would grant social welfare to the people and stabilize the economy via a centralized government, highlighting key political differences between democrats and republicans. The Republican Administration under Hoover believed that operating the post war US via European philosophy of paternalism and state socialism would have meant the destruction of self government through the centralization of government (Document A). President Hoover and Congress responded to the downturn by drawing on traditional American beliefs, the first of which stated economic outcomes were the product of individual

When discussing modern day politics, it is hard to ignore two former presidents that shaped the core policies of their respective parties. Upon first look, Lyndon Johnson and Ronald

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and President William Clinton had similar and contrasting viewpoints on domestic policy. Both presidents took office which there was an economic struggle and unemployment was low. Also, the unemployment rate was declining, business’s were going bankrupt and an international crisis they had to deal with to maintain free trade. President Roosevelt had the more severe circumstances with the Great Depression that occurred because of the Stock Market crash in 1929, and fighting a two front in World War II. When President Roosevelt took office, the unemployment rate was 25 %, which is historically the worst depression in history.

Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt were both presidents during one of the most difficult times in American history, the Great Depression. To try and ease the hardships that many Americans were facing, each President developed many different programs. The different actions that each took to lessen the blow of the depression classified them as either a liberal or conservative. If their actions focused on helping the economy, they would be considered a conservative. If they were more focused on helping the lives of the American people, they would be classified as a liberal. Neither President can be labeled as strictly one. Although Franklin Roosevelt was

Following World War I, Americans were left with scarce amounts of job openings and a poor economy. Several were left fearing the communists, who the Americans believed were going to overthrow the government. This caused Americans to resent those who were not accepting to return to the “traditional” American values. With the 1920’s, there came both a rise in conservatism and liberalism, but only one was revolutionary, described by Merriam-Webster.com as,”Constituting or bringing about a major or fundamental change.” Furthermore, different presidents advocated for different political stances. Republican Presidents, Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, advocated America to have a conservative government and return to normalcy, while Republican

In the 19th century, liberalism and conservatism were two very different political parties fighting for their version of what South America should become. These two parties had many different views that would ultimately shape the nations into what they are in the modern day. In this triumphant battle between the two parties, South America was at a turning point. Many countries were on the forefront of independence and this meant a chance to make a change in the government these countries had. Conservatives and Liberal beliefs appealed to different types of groups such as classes, races, industries and even gender. Although Conservatives and Liberals had many different views, both parties were fighting for what they thought was the better future for the nations of South America. These parties were very important to the advancement of South America and the stride towards independence.

The legacy that President Hoover passed to his successor was disastrous. The country experienced an unprecedented economic depression. However, in his speech during the presidential campaign in 1936, he expressed a deep concern that the New Deal is directed against the interests of ?poor Americans?[footnoteRef:2]. He also blamed the Roosevelt policy in violation of ?fundamental American ideals and liberties?[footnoteRef:3]. While Roosevelt was rebuilding America, Hoover attacked

Roosevelt felt President Taft was too conservative and pro-business (Robinson, 2003). In reaction to that, he met with Progressive leaders after returning from Africa and began plotting a political comeback (Robinson, 2003).