Herbert Hoover is often portrayed as the villain in the story of the Great Depression, but

this analysis lacks depth of understanding of both his ideological view and the
prevailing views of the time. Instead, popular culture focused on lack of government
assistance to the vulnerable in society and much emphasis was placed on the creation of
Hoovervilles - makeshift communities of people displaced by the economic crisis, and
hoboes - itinerant workers who moved from place to place, often on the railroads, trying
to find employment. However, Hoover was a far more complex leader than his
reputation leads us to believe. Like many powerful men of his generation, he was a self-
made man who believed that Americans were responsible for their own well-being and
prosperity, an idea informed by the Protestant work ethic. He was well known as a
humanitarian, responsible for the assistance the USA provided to Europe at the end of
the Great War. Unlike other politicians of the time, he held only administrative posts,
and the presidency was his first elected position. Hoover was profoundly optimistic
regarding US economic growth; in a 1928 campaign speech he stated: 'We in America
today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any
land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among us. We have not yet reached the goal but
given the chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years we shall very
soon be in sight of the day ... when poverty will be banished from this nation.' A key
component of Hoover's campaign promises in 1928 was the continuation of Coolidge's
policies of minimal government involvement. When the Crash occurred Hoover, like
many politicians and economists of the time, felt that it was the market self-correcting
the economic bubble that emerged in the late 1920s. According to this line of thinking,
the government's duty was to remain passive so that market forces could take effect.
Even after the C rash, the market was still higher than it had been a year previously, so
this did not sound so outlandish. It must also be kept in mind that Hoover's initial
policies were consistent with the economic theories of the time. Governments felt that
their mandate was to reduce government debt, tighten the money supply and protect
domestic production. This meant that most countries raised taxes and lowered
expenditures in the early 1930s. Federal Reserve monetary policy continued to take
money out of the economy rather than increase the supply, mistaking deflation for
inflation. Despite his reluctance to involve the federal government in the economy,
Hoover was sensitive to the plight of Americans. He summoned governors to the White
House and encouraged them to accelerate infrastructure proj ects to employ workers. He
urged corporations to keep employees on the j ob despite surplus inventories, and
advocated that wages remain high to improve purchasing power. Despite how he is
portrayed, Hoover was pro -union as he felt this stabilized the economic system. Farms
continued to lose money and rural banks continued to fail. Hoover believed that the
American people would help each other, that members of communities would fix their
own problems. He did not recognize that devastated communities did not have the
resources to save themselves. While he did not feel that the federal government should
assist individuals, he did see this as the role of individual states. Unfortunately, the
states that were the worst off were unable to provide assistance to their struggling
populations. The rural states had been losing income in the 1920s and this trend only
worsened. The situation was exacerbated by the onset of what came to be known as the
Dust B owl. A drought began in 1930 that would continue throughout the decade,
affecting most of North America, but the central plains region in particular. Years of
farming practices, including removal of native grasses and replacing them with seasonal
crops, deep ploughing and failure to rotate crops to replace nutrients, made the area
vulnerable to any rainless period. As the drought wore on, crops failed, and farm
animals were brought to the slaughterhouse in a desperate attempt to make some
money. Many farms in Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska and neighbouring states were
abandoned as the drought continued. The winds that often blow across the plains picked
up the fine dust that a century before had been held down by tall grasses. The dust
formed into massive clouds that darkened the sky, making breathing difficult and
fouling farm machinery. The Dust B owl was born. Over the next few years
approximately 1 00 million acres ( over 40 million hectares) of topsoil blew away. In
May 1 9 34 a dust storm darkened skies as far away as Washington, DC. The condition
caused more than 2 million farmers, shopkeepers and white - collar workers to leave the
plains for California and other destinations. The Dust B owl was a terrible ecological
disaster that added another dimension to the Great Depression. Legislators reacted to
economic distress by trying to protect the home market from foreign goods. In 1 929
exports accounted for 7% of US GDP and, perhaps more importantly, trade accounted
for nearly one -third of US farm income . In an attempt to save domestic producers, the
Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley tariff in June 1 9 30. Smoot-Hawley, signed by
Hoover, established a high protective tariff. Unfortunately, rather than saving farmers, it
devastated the agricultural sector. As many as 887 existing tariffs were increased and
the number of commodities subject to import duties rose to 3 2 18. Although the
average rate increase varied by sector, in most cases there was at least a 10% increase.
The tariff caused other nations to retaliate with their own high tariffs, reducing exports
by more than 50% and causing a deepening of the Depression. As the farming industry
collapsed, rural banks failed in record numbers and hundreds of thousands of customers
lost their savings. The Federal Reserve System had little control over local banks, so
there was no means of protecting customers or banks. People lost confidence in their
banks and withdrew their money, fearing they would lose it. Most banks lacked
liquidity and could not provide customers with the money they demanded, so even more
banks failed. Between 1 900 and 1933, over 9000 banks closed. To combat this, Hoover
provided monetary assistance to troubled banks, but the government lacked funds to
prevent all bank failures. At the same time, the President established the Reconstruction
Finance Corporation ( RFC), an independent agency that granted loans to banks,
railroads, states and local governments, and also spent more money on federal public
works projects than any president before him. He hoped to create a solid infrastructure
on which a stronger and more resilient economy could rise: during his presidency, the
San Francisco B ay B ridge, the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the Hoover D am all began
construction. Programmes to provide credit to farmers and buy excess crops began, but
these only motivated farmers to grow more crops - consequently prices did not rise and,
once again, there was a problem of overproduction. Although Hoover is often seen as
being fiscally conservative, federal spending increased by over 50% between 1 929 and
1 9 32, the largest increase in federal spending during peacetime. However, to fund
these initiatives, the Revenue Act of 1 9 32 increased taxes, doubling income so that the
top tax bracket escalated to 63%. Further restricting the flow of money, the Federal
Reserve contracted the US supply of money by one -third between August 1 929 and
March 1933. Hoover did not give money to individuals as it was not the government's j
ob to interfere with individual initiative. In fact, j ob loss and poverty was a sign of
individual failure . To give money to the unemployed was to support failure : today that
concept is called 'moral hazard' . It was resurgent American individualism that would
get the country out of the economic downturn. These policies were detrimental to the
already dire situation and the US economy worsened from 1 929 to 1933: • From 1 9 30
to 1931, the federal government's share of GNP soared from 1 6 .4% to 21. 5%. •
Production in US factories, mines and utilities fell by over 50% .
Automobile production, which in 1 929 reached an all-time high of over 5 million
vehicles, fell to 3 million in 1 9 30 and, by 1 9 32, fell even further to 1 331 860. •
Consumer prices declined nearly 25% between 1 929 and 1933. • Wages on average
decreased 15% and real disposable income dropped 28%. • Stock prices collapsed to
one -tenth of their pre - crash value. • Unemployment in 1 929 was 3 .2% (1. 6 million) ;
by 1933 it hovered at 25% ( 1 2.8 million) . Most Americans agreed that Hoover needed
to act to ameliorate the effects of the Depression. There was fear that if the government
did not act the USA would be vulnerable to extremism like that being experienced in
Europe at the time. As a result, Hoover implemented policies that were consistent with
his moral and political views. The Agricultural Marketing Act created the Federal Farm
B oard to limit production and buy surplus, and the Hoover administration distributed
$2 billion to states for them to spend as they saw fit, but these measures were not nearly
extensive enough to affect the economic situation and the Depression worsened. As
mentioned above, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation was created and allocated $ 5
00 million to assist the flailing economy, and the government was granted the right to
borrow up to $5 billion more . This marked a shift to direct government action in the
economy but it came too late and the general public turned against Hoover. One public
relations disaster pertained to veterans of the First World War. For their participation
these men had been promised a bonus to be paid out in 1 945, but given the economic
situation they requested they receive it immediately. When their request was denied the
so- called B onus Army congregated in Washington DC to demonstrate . Two thousand
veterans and their families camped in Anacostia Flats outside of the Capitol. When the
situation became unruly, Hoover requested assistance from the US army and on 28 July
General Douglas MacArthur dispatched troops. As the conflict intensified, MacArthur
exceeded his authority and attacked the veterans and their families with tanks, tear gas
and 1 000 troops. Hoover defended the action by calling the marchers subversives, and
his popularity plunged even further. Unlike other presidents, Hoover was not a
politician and did little to work on his image. A career bureaucrat and successful
administrator and engineer, Hoover was seen as effective but not warm or empathetic.
His view that the Depression could be reversed through traditional means did not work
because the entire system had become unsound. His methods exacerbated the situation,
rather than allaying the effects, and his unwillingness to provide relief made him seem
uncaring. Not surprisingly, Hoover was defeated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in
November 1 9 32 by almost the same margin by which he had defeated Al Smith in 1
928: Hoover received 15 million votes to Roosevelt's 22 million. The era of Republican
dominance of politics ended and a new era began, in which one president was
successfully elected four times, showing the country's confidence in, and support for,
him.
The Hoover Dam
Large recovery projects employing many manual labourers are usually associated with
Roosevelt's New Deal programmes, but in 1931 Herbert Hoover initiated a similar
project that in some respects became a prototype for those completed by the Works
Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps. The area of southern Nevada
was in need of power and there was also a need to irrigate and control flooding of the
Colorado River in the region, so the construction of a large dam was seen as an
important step to help the expanding southwest. Plans for the dam began in 1928 while
Calvin Coolidge was sti ll president, but the project was activated in 1931, in the midst
of the Depression. In addition to creating a dam, engineers had to divert the Colorado
River to an area that was conducive to water catchment, and it took nearly six years
after the dam was completed to fill Lake Mead. Hoping to find work, tens of thousands
of unemployed descended on Las Vegas, Nevada, then a town of 5000.
Dam construction employed over 5000 employees at any given time and 21 000 worked
on it during its construction. Many of these remained in Nevada after the project was
complete, increasing the size of Las Vegas. At the time, it was the tallest dam in the
world at 221 metres and the largest producer of hydroelectric power. Lake Mead has
880 kilometres of shoreline, making it one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.
There was a tradition of naming dams after presidents, and the dam was named for
President Hoover, who was responsible for beginning construction on it. This became
very controversial as Hoover was in creasingly blamed for the Depression, but attempts
to re name it Boulder Dam were never successful and thus it remained the Hoover Dam.
Today, the dam's generators provide electricity for Arizona, California and Nevada.
Why did Hoover's policies fail to solve the Depression?
To what extent did Hoover's policies exacerbate the Depression?
How were Roosevelt's policies similar to those of Hoover?
Why was Roosevelt so popular among the American public?