On Ending the Depression
PURPOSE STATEMENT
The presidential campaign of 1932 was a contest not only between two men, but also
between two contrasting views of government. As you read the passages below, try to
identify the similarities and differences between Roosevelt’s and Hoover’s view of
government.
ROOSEVELT’S VIEW OF GOVERNMENT
In a campaign address on October 13, 1932, Franklin Roosevelt explained how he
viewed the duties and responsibilities of the federal government. Below is an excerpt
from the speech.
The first principle I would lay down is that the primary duty rests on the community, through
local government and private agencies, to take care of the relief of unemployment. But we
then come to a situation where there are so many people out of work that local funds are
insufficient.
It seems clear to me that the organized society known as the State comes into the
picture at this point. In other words, the obligation of government is extended to the next
higher unit…
It took the present Republican administration in Washington almost three years to
recognize this principle. I have recounted to you in other speeches, and it is a matter of
general information, that for at least two years after the crash, the only efforts made by the
national administration to cope with the distress of unemployment were to deny its
existence…
I have constantly reiterated my conviction that the expenditures of cities, states, and
the federal government must be reduced in the interest of the nation as a whole. I believe that
there are many ways in which such reduction of expenditures can take place, but I am utterly
unwilling that economy should be practiced at the expense of starving people.
We must economize in other ways, but it shall never be said that the American people
have refused to provide the necessities of life for those who, through no fault of their own, are
unable to feed, clothe, and house themselves. The first obligation of government is the
protection of the welfare and well-being, indeed the very existence, of its citizens…
HOOVER’S VIEW OF GOVERNMENT
In a campaign speech delivered at Madison Square Garden in New York City on
October 31, 1932, President Hoover set forth his view on the causes of and cures for
the Depression.
We are told by the opposition that we must have a change, that we must have a new deal. It
is not the change that comes from normal development of national life to which I object but
the proposal to alter the whole foundation of our national life which [has] been [built] through
generations of testing and struggle, and of the principles upon which we have [built] the
nation…
Our economic system has received abnormal shocks during the past three years,
which temporarily dislocated its normal functioning. These shocks have in a large sense
come from without our borders, but I say to you that our system of government has enabled
us to take such strong action as to prevent the disaster which would otherwise have come to
our nation. It has enabled us further to develop measures and programs which are now
demonstrating their ability to bring about restoration and progress…
Our system is. . . founded on the conception that only through ordered liberty, through
freedom to the individual, and equal opportunity to the individual will his initiative and
enterprise be summoned to spur the march of progress.
It is in the further development of this cooperation and a sense of its responsibility that
we should find solution for many of our complex problems, and not by the extension of
government into our economic and social life. The greatest function of government is to build
up that cooperation, and its most resolute action should be to deny the extension of
bureaucracy.
ROOSEVELT’S VIEW OF HOOVER
In another campaign speech, Roosevelt made the following accusations about his
opponent.
Finally, when facts could no longer be ignored and excuses had to be found,
Washington discovered that the depression came from abroad…
Not for partisan purposes, but in order to set forth history aright, that excuse ought to
be quietly considered. The records of the civilized Nations of the world prove two facts; first,
that the economic structure of other Nations was affected by our own tide of speculation, and
the curtailment of our lending helped to bring on their distress; second, that the bubble burst
first in the land of its origin—the United States.
The major collapse in other countries followed. It was not simultaneous with ours.
Moreover, further curtailment of our loans, plus the continual stagnation in trade caused by
the [Hawley-Smoot] tariff, has continued the depression throughout international affairs.
So I sum up the history of the present Administration in four sentences:
First, it encouraged speculation and overproduction, through its false economic
policies.
Second, it attempted to minimize the crash and misled the people as to its gravity.
Third, it erroneously charged the cause to other Nations of the world.
And finally, it refused to recognize and correct the evils at home which had brought it
forth; it delayed relief; it forgot reform.
HOOVER DEFENDS HIS RECORD: In the last days of the campaign, President Hoover
tried to refute charges that he was a “see-nothing, do-nothing” President.
We have fought an unending war against the effect of these calamities upon our
people. This is no time to recount the battles on a thousand fronts. We have fought the good
fight to protect our people in a thousand cities from hunger and cold.
We have carried on an unceasing campaign to protect the Nation from that unhealing
class bitterness which arises from strikes and lockouts and industrial conflict. We have
accomplished - this through the willing agreement of employer and labor, which placed
humanity before money through the sacrifice of profits and dividends before wages.
We have defended millions from the tragic results of droughts.
We have mobilized a vast expansion of pub. construction to make work for the
unemployed...
We have battled to provide a supply of credits to merchants and farmers and
industries.
We have fought to retard falling prices.
We have struggled to save homes and farms from foreclosure of mortgages; battled to
save’ millions of depositors and borrowers from the ruin caused by the failure of banks;
fought to assure the safety of millions of policyholders from failure of their insurance
companies; and fought to save commerce and employment from the failure of railways. . . .
And, above all, we have fought to preserve the safety, the principles, and ideals of American
life. We have [built} the foundations of recovery.