President Hoover

Who was President Hoover?

Herbert Hoover was the Republican president of the USA from 1929 to 1933, at the beginning of the Great Depression.

What were Herbert Hoover's political beliefs?

Hoover's actions in the Depression were based on his beliefs about America.

• ❖ He believed in 'rugged individualism' - that people should be able to look after themselves without relying on the government for help.
• ❖ He believed that the federal government should be laissez-faire and avoid taking too much control over people's lives. Instead, it should encourage state governments and businesses to help the economy.

How did Hoover try to help the banks?

Hoover tried to help the banks that were failing in the Depression in different ways.

• ❖ The National Credit Corporation (NCC) encouraged businesses to help banks, but businesses were already struggling themselves and didn't want to take the risk.
• ❖ The Reconstruction Finance Committee (RFC) used $2 billion of government money to help the banks.

How did Hoover help farmers?

Hoover introduced a number of measure to try and solve the problems in farming.

• ❖ The Agricultural Marketing Act 1929 gave farmers money to support their farms. However, it struggled to make a difference.
• ❖ The Smoot-Hawley Tariffs in 1930 put taxes on imports of foreign food so that people would buy American.
• ❖ The Federal Farm Loan Act provided $125 million for farm mortgages. However, farmers were often still unable to pay them off.

How did Hoover try to help businesses?

The National Business Survey Conference was set up for businessmen to discuss solutions, and the RFC gave money to banks to help businesses.

How did Hoover deal with unemployment?

Although Hoover didn't give money from the federal government for relief, he did introduce measures designed to help the poor.

• ❖ The President's Emergency Committee for Employment (PECE) and President's Organisation for Unemployment Relief (POUR) were set up to encourage donations to help the poor, but couldn't raise enough.
• ❖ The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) allowed the federal government to loan $300 million to states for poor relief. However, only $30 million was actually loaned.
• ❖ The federal government doubled spending on public works, such as the Hoover Dam, to create jobs. However, proportionately it still spent far less than state governments.

What were Hoover's successes in dealing with the Depression?

Hoover took the first steps to resolving the Depression and his actions did make a difference. The economic crisis was so big that perhaps nobody could have found a solution.

Why was Hoover unsuccessful?

Hoover's actions in the Depression were criticised for a number of reasons.

• ❖ His actions didn't go far enough. His solutions were too small to make a difference to America in the Depression.
• ❖ The federal government didn't do enough. Instead it tried to organise states, banks and businesses into taking action instead - and they often didn't.
• ❖ Some solutions just didn't work. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff, for example, caused other countries to put tariffs on American food and made it harder to sell abroad.
• ❖ Some of his measures, such as tax cuts, seemed to help the rich rather than the poor. By helping businesses and banks, he seemed to be ignoring ordinary people in the crisis.
• ❖ His government only advised and encouraged change, rather than forcing anyone to take action.
• ❖ He became bitterly unpopular. Hoovervilles were named after him, and his actions with the Bonus Army were seen as repressive and cruel.