Chapter 24
Section 3
Hoover’s Policies
Pages 728-735
Objectives
• 1. Explain why President Hoover opposed
government sponsored direct relief for need
individuals during the Great Depression.
• 2. Outline the Hoover administration’s attempts
to solve the economic problems of the
depression, and analyze the success of these
efforts.
• 3. Relate how radicals and veterans responded to
President Hoover’s policies.
• 4. Analyze why Franklin D. Roosevelt was such a
popular candidate in the 1932 election.
Hoover’s Philosophy
• The people became frustrated with the
leadership of the government and President
Hoover. Hoover believed that the government if
they became involved it would create a
bureaucracy and increase the federal budget. He
also thought that the American people wouldn’t
take relief/charity.
• Many Americans thought the government should
give direct relief by providing food, clothing,
shelter, and money.
• 1931: Federal Emergency Relief Board: Robert La
Follette Jr. and Edward Costigan introduced a bill to
establish a board to offer states direct relief for the
unemployed. Hoover refused to sign the bill which
would have given $375 million dollars to the states.
• Rugged individualism: success comes through
individual effort and private enterprise. Hoover
believed in character building experiences, local
charities, religious organizations, and communities
could do a better job providing for the people then the
federal government.
Encouraging Voluntarism
• Hoover wasn’t alone in the belief that
voluntarism was better then government
involvement. Many American supported this
idea, but as the depression continued local
resources were not going to be enough.
• 1930: President’s Committee for Unemployment
Relief was established by Hoover to assist in local
relief efforts. The committee encouraged other’s
to give donations to private relief organizations.
Hoover didn’t reverse his policies on direct
federal aid.
Boosting the Economy
• Andrew Mellon: Born in Pennsylvania in 1855,
Andrew Mellon worked in the family bank and
became its president in 1902. A renowned
financier, Mellon invested in industries as varied
as oil, aluminum, and coal, eventually building
one of the largest fortunes in America. In 1921
Warren Harding appointed him secretary of the
Treasury. Mellon remained popular until the
Great Depression, when many Americans blamed
him for enacting policies that helped cause the
downturn.
• Mellon believed that American businesses should deal
with the economic crisis. President Hoover rejected
the advice of Mellon. Hoover believed something
needed to be done to stimulate the economy.
• The National Business Survey Conference and U.S.
Chamber of Commerce were behind President Hoover
idea of maintaining predepression levels of
production, employment, and wages.
• March 7, 1930: Hoover issued an upbeat message
about economic confidence. [ Every time the Hoover
administration spoke the market fell.]
The Hoover Administration and the
Great Depression
• Public-works programs: poured money into public
construction projects such as the Boulder [Hoover]
Dam; failed to affect the entrenched depression.
• Agricultural efforts: created the Federal Farm Board;
made loans, established cooperative, and bought
surplus goods; helped some farmers take advantage of
cooperatives and avoid foreclosure, but failed to end
the farm crisis.
• Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC): loaned
taxpayer money to stabilize industries; helped some
companies avoid bankruptcy; used money for
businesses, not people.
Government Activism
• Until the end of the Depression the policies of the
Hoover administration failed. The exceptions
were the Home Loan Bank Act and the public
works. The executive and legislative branches
realized that the federal government needed to
help the economy in times of crisis
• Secretary of Treasury: Andrew Mellon,
maintained a laissez-faire economy [opposing
governmental interference in economic affairs]
Rumblings of Discontent
• The Socialist and Communist Party put down
the idea of capitalism and how it contributed
to the depression.
• 1931: The Communist Party supplied the legal
defense for nine African American young men
accused of rape. They charged racial injustice.
By 1950 nine were released from jail.
• The Bonus Army: May, 1932 more than 10,000 World War I
veterans and their families marched on Washington D.C. to
support the bill before Congress to allow veterans to
receive pensions early. The veterans were allowed to stay in
empty government buildings and camp along the Potomac
River. Congress rejected the bill, some demonstrators
remained and refused to leave.
• Violence occurred and President Hoover ordered the army
to chase away the demonstrators. General Douglas
MacArthur got rid of the veterans by burning down the
shacks and troops chased away the veterans.
• Americans were angry with Hoover and the government for
their treatment of the veterans.
The Election of 1932
• The Republicans nominated Hoover again for
the president. The Democrats chose New York
governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt
chose a life of service instead of the influence
of wealth. Eleanor Roosevelt his wife was
going to be one of his best assets. His wife
helped him overcome polio he contacted in
1921.
A change in leadership
• 1932: The campaign was centered around the
depression. Roosevelt campaigned around
Hoover’s record and equal distribution of
wealth. The Democrats gained control of
Congress, as Roosevelt promised a “new deal.”