Herbert Hoover
 Grew up in a poor family in a small
Iowa town
 Trained as a mining engineer
 Ran U.S. Food Administration during
WWI
 Promoted government-business partnerships
 Elected President as a Republican in
1928

“Voluntarism” (or “Volunteerism”)

People are responsible for helping themselves
 No direct federal government aid for the poor

Communities should work together to help the poor

Keep the budget balanced – no deficit spending
 Prosperity “trickles down” from businesses to everyone else

Hoover’s Policies – The Early Years

Asked business not to cut jobs or wages

Reduced taxes to boost consumer demand

Urged the wealthy to give to charity
 Asked state government to increase aid for the poor

Constant optimism – tried to restore confidence in the economy

Problem: this didn’t work
 Unemployment and homelessness continued to rise
 Local governments and charities ran out of money
 Hoover became increasingly unpopular
 Hoovervilles = shanty towns
 Hoover Houses = cardboard boxes
 Hoover Heaters = campfires

Hoover’s Policies – The Later Years
 Reconstruction Finance Corporation
 Created 1932
 Provided loans to banks, railroads, big businesses
 Exemplified trickle-down economics
 Hoover Dam
 Massive public works project on the
Colorado River
 Created jobs in a depressed area

The Bonus Army
 After WWI, Congress promised cash payments to veterans in 1945

The Depression left many veterans unemployed
 Summer 1932: “Bonus
Army” of 15,000 veterans marched to Washington,
D.C., demanding immediate payment

The Bonus Army, continued



Bonus Army camps out in
Washington
July 1932: Hoover orders evacuation of Bonus Army
July 28: U.S. Army forcibly evicts Bonus Army
 Negative publicity destroyed
Hoover’s re-election campaign

The 1932 Election
 Why would Hoover be unpopular?
 Economy still hasn’t recovered
 People think Hoover hasn’t done enough

Bonus Army is terrible publicity
 What do you think people are looking for?
 More decisive, drastic action
 Someone who understands them

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
 Born into a wealthy, wellconnected New York family

Disabled by polio in his forties
 Elected president as a
Democrat in 1932
 Promised a “New Deal” to solve the Depression

The country needs, and unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
-FDR, 1932
How does this differ from Hoover’s philosophy?

Result: The New Deal

Date: 1933-1938
 Definition: series of ambitious federal programs with the goal of ending the Depression
 Significance

Helped end the Depression and reduce unemployment

Radically expanded the government’s role in economic life

Principles of the New Deal
 Relief – help the needy
 Recovery – end the Depression
 Reform – change the economy so that the Depression can’t happen again

Fireside Chats
 Date: 1933-1944
 Series of radio addresses by FDR on national issues and proposed laws
 Significance
 Helped build support for New
Deal programs
 Encouraged Americans to feel closer to the President

Fireside Chats
 How does FDR use the radio to gain the trust of his listeners?

New Deal Policies
 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC)
 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
 Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
 National Recovery Administration (NRA)
 Public Works Administration (PWA)
 Works Progress Administration (WPA)
 Social Security Administration (SSA)