What was President Herbert Hoover’s response to the Great Depression?
‘During the war [First World War] we necessarily turned to the government to solve every
difficult economic situation… If continued in peacetime it would destroy our progress and
freedom… it would have meant the undermining of individual initiative and enterprise.’
- President Hoover
‘It has been said that the jury on the Hoover presidency is still out – that scholars who seek to
assess American presidents react differently depending on their sources of information, their
times and their values.’
- Historian Martin L Fausold, The Presidency of Herbert C Hoover.
As you have seen so far, the economic crisis led to millions of Americans losing their
jobs and thousands were forced to leave home and move around the country in search
of work. The middle classes lost their savings, banks collapsed, people lost their homes
and farms were repossessed. Churches and charities set up soup kitchens in towns and
cities and as the crisis continued a mood of despair took hold. The suicide rate in the
US rose to its highest level, an increase of 14% between 1929 and 1932. As
unemployment rose the problem for government was: who would provide support, and if
it was the government, how would it finance this? It could raise taxes or it could
increase government debt. In addition, as banks closed, businesses failed and farmers
became destitute, would the government provide loans to forestall closure and
collapse? President Hoover’s core philosophy regarding government was that it should
follow a principle of ‘laissez faire’ and that there should not be any expansion of federal
government power. Hoover’s Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, advised the
A Hooverville, or shantytown, in
Seattle, Oregon. Hundreds of
thousands of people lived in similar
slums during the 1930s. They were
named after President Hoover, who
was largely blamed for the
Depression.
