Herbert Clark Hoover

Birth-Death: (1874 - 1964 ) Term: (1929-1933 )

The Great Depression dominated the course of President Hoover's four years in office. Occurring right after his election, it placed the nation into a course of downward spiral. Morale was low, and technologies such as the radio and movies spread the word of hardship. Hoover tried very hard to bring the nation out of the depression.

Domestic Events of Herbert Hoover

    On October 29, 1929, the stock crashed. The Great Depression had begun in the United States. It had many causes: the plight of the American farmer, over speculation on the stock market, and others. There were several harsh instantaneous results: about 15 million people were unemployed, a third of the total railroad mileage went bankrupt, over 5500 banks closed, and about one forth of all farms were lost due to the nonpayment of taxes or mortgages.

    Hoover reacted to the Depression as the previous leaders before him. He believed that the government need not help the individual, rather everyone should help themselves. However, when he saw that the Depression only worsened, he tried to pass legislation to improve the living conditions of the people. A small public works program was established in 1930 with a budget of about $150 million. In February of 1932 the Reconstruction Finance Corporation was formed. The RFC had the power to lend up to two billion dollars to large companies. The reasoning behind it was that by giving money to the companies, the companies would spend it on their employees, thus improving the conditions around the nation. This technique, known is "pump-priming" is the complete opposite of what Roosevelt presented a few years later to help solve the Depression.