1. HOOVER vs. FDR

2. Causes of the Great Depression
Wages lagging behind the cost of living
Overproduction of consumer goods
Excessive buying on credit
Major characteristic of a depression: Few jobs & Little Demand

3. Republican Government: Hands off
Historically the government has been very hands off the economy.
Laissez-faire approach
The business of government is business
It’s not the government’s job to regulate the economy
American dream is that anyone can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps”

4. Government Involvement in 1920s
Lack of regulation helped contribute to poor financial policies
EX: “Buying on the Margin”

5. Hoover
He continued the tradition of staying out of the economy

6. He thought the government should help foster cooperation
When the stock market crashed Hoover wanted to help but “didn’t think it was the government’s job”
He thought the government should help foster cooperation
Ask businesses to not lay off workers so that they wouldn’t be unemployed
Ask unions not to go on strike for more pay

7. No Welfare Hoover didn’t believe in direct relief (no welfare)
Thought it was too expensive for the gov. to do
Thought local charities and churches could accomplish more
Thought it would cause people to not want to work if they were getting a handout from the gov.
Hoover believed the best way to end the Depression was through voluntary controls by American businesses

8. 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 his cooperation and a sense of its responsibility that we should find solutions for many of our complex problems, and not by the extension of government into our economic and social life… Herbert Hoover campaign speech 1932
Hoover believed that the extension of the government into peoples’ lives was NOT a solution to the problems of the economy.
Hoover believed that through voluntary cooperation among business AND unions would find a way to support the economy.

9. More Action
His ideas didn’t succeed so he moved for more direct action
Hoover (Boulder) Dam: on Colorado River the dam provides not only electricity and flood control, it’s a regular water supply that enabled the growth of California’s massive agricultural economy.
Federal Home Loan Bank Act: Lowered mortgage rates for homeowners and allowed farmers to re-finance
Reconstruction Finance Corporation: Aimed to provide government credit to banks

10. The Bonus Expeditionary Force
A group of World War I Veterans and their families marched on Washington D.C. to try to get the Patman Bill passed
A bonus that was to be paid to WWI vets who had not been compensated adequately for their wartime services.
approved by Congress in 1924 and was supposed to be paid out in 1945 in the form of cash (about $500 per soldier) and a life insurance policy
Some Congressmen thought it should be paid out immediately

11. Hoover Disbands the Veterans
July 28, Nervous that the group could become violent, Hoover orders General Douglas Mac Arthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower to disband the Bonus Army.
MacArthur used force to make the marchers leave the capital.

12. Hoover’s Image Suffers
“The 12th infantry was in full battle dress. Each had a gas mask and his belt was full of tear gas bombs…. At orders, they brought their bayonets at thrust and moved in. The bayonets were used to jab people, to make them move. Soon, almost everybody disappeared from view, because tear gas bombs exploded. The entire block was covered by tear gas. Flames were coming up, where the soldiers had set fire to the buildings to drive these people out… Through the whole afternoon, they took one camp after another.”
An 11-month old baby was gassed and died, an 8-yr. old boy was permanently blinded. Two people were shot and many injured. Most Americans were stunned and outraged at the treatment of the veterans. And Hoover has an election to face in November of that year.

16. 1932 Presidential Election: Should the Federal Government try to fix people’s problems?
People blamed the government and Hoover for the Depression
Hoovervilles: shanty towns built by the homeless in American cities- The name was a slap in the face to Hoovers public policy they saw him as a cold heartless leader
Franklin Roosevelt (Dem. Candidate) promises a “New Deal” for Americans saying the gov. should and would help them out
FDR was elected almost 2-1 with his promise of the New Deal
FDR campaigned on the promise that as president he would attack the Great Depression by experimenting with bold new programs for economic and social reform.

18. The 1932 election served as a turning point in the way Americans viewed the responsibilities of the federal government!
Roosevelt believed that the gov. should spend money in an effort to get the economy moving again, while
Hoover believed that the gov. should stay out of peoples lives

19. FDR’s plan for the economy was successful
What does this graph tell you about FDR’s ‘New Deal’ economic plan? After the 1932 election
FDR’s plan for the economy was successful