Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Napolean Bonaparte once stated, “A leader is a dealer in hope.” Hoover and Roosevelt had very different viewpoints on how to handle the Great Depression. Hoover preferred “rugged individualism,” and FDR preferred “helping hand” philosophies. Hoover believed in assisting business in hope that this support would create a trickle down impact which would lead to investment and more jobs. FDR, on the other hand, wanted to provide people with jobs to increase confidence and correcting failures in certain economic institutions, leading to a bubble up scenario. It is ironic that Hoover knew how it felt to suffer in poverty as a child, yet FDR better handled the job of reassuring citizens that he was the man to get the nation out of its slump. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the man to turn to. FDR is the president who dealt hope to the citizens of the United States during the Great Depression and gave them a reason to believe that everything would be okay.

One of Hoover’s big mistakes was the acts that he passed in “attempt” to help the U.S. Herbert Hoover is known as a president who allowed the United States to continue to slide into its worst depression ever. Though Hoover did take some action, it was too little, too late. Hoover did intervene after the Stock Market crash, but the acts passed by Congress and signed by Hoover were the worst kind of interventions. They worsened the problem. The most infamous of these is known as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. Raising tariffs at this time was the worst possible thing that they could have done to cure a depression. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff was guaranteed to worsen the depression and stifled international trade. Other acts passed during Hoover’s administration had similar effects of either raising prices or keeping them artificially high when they should have been dropping. Also, his Agricultural Marketing Act had little impact on the prospects of American farmers. Hoover obviously handled the Depression the exact wrong way and in effect, brought the nation into an even bigger slump.

The economic crisis that struck the United States in the late 1920s was all-encompassing. Having both domestic and international causes and effects, the Depression afflicted almost every part of the American economy. This revealed many serious structural weaknesses that resulted in high unemployment, low economic growth, and financial instability. Most important, the Depression sapped the American people’s confidence and will. 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.

Though Hoover’s reputation is forever tarnished in the public’s view, it has risen over time. Though he is no longer blamed for causing the Depression, Hoover’s efforts to combat its aftermath were pathetic. He portrayed himself as an efficient engineer, a successful self-made man, a careful businessman, and a skilled administrator. Hoover's worst mistake may have been the way he dealt with the Bonus Army. In 1924, World War I veterans had been given certificates that the government promised to redeem with money in 1945. When the Great Depression hit, however, many veterans demanded immediate payment, and in June 1932, about 17,000 veterans marched on Washington to demand their payment. The Senate refused to pay off the certificates, and most of the World War I veterans went home. About 2,000 of the stubborn men refused to leave the capital, and in return, Hoover sent federal troops under General Douglas MacArthur. General Douglas MacArthur evicted the remaining 2,000 stragglers forcefully by using tear gas and bayonets. With the public’s viewing Hoover completely opposite of how