Transcript Document 7289745

Why did Herbert
Hoover become so
unpopular?
Was this fair?
Who was Herbert Hoover?
1874-1964
• 31st President of the
United States (March
1929 to March 1933)
• Major careers:
engineering,
international relief,
government and politics
• Republican
• Defeated by FDR in 1933
elections
• President during the
Great Depression
Hoover’s
unpopularity
• General feeling
of frustration
and resentment
among
Americans
• Protests and
riots reflected
negative feelings
• Shanty towns
were nicknamed
“Hoovervilles”
Hoover’s (lack of) policies and
actions
• Hoover had expected that the depression was
not going to last long
• Although it was not totally true to say that
Hoover did nothing at all, the effort he put in was
relatively small.
•Hoover’s idea was that the state governments
should be responsible for providing relief for the
hungry and the homeless. The state
governments were not wealthy enough.
• Food prices and the demand for goods were
falling, but Hoover failed to supply a suitable
solution for this problem.
Cont.
• The policies that Hoover did choose to adopt in
order to counter the depression had little or no
use:
•He encouraged employers to make voluntary
agreements with their workforce to keep
production steady. It however did not work.
•New building programmes such as the
construction of the Hoover Dam provided new
jobs, but it was not sufficient to solve the
problem.
HOOVER had believed in self-help and “rugged
individualism, just like he had succeeded in
doing so himself.
Hoover’s beliefs
• Quakerism
– inflexible approach when
dealing with problems
• American Individualism
– belief that prosperity of 1920s
was due to the spirit of
individualism among Americans
– thought that American economy
would solve its own problems
• Voluntarism
– encouraged people to continue
businesses and to continue
hiring workers regardless of the
poor economic circumstances
Voluntarism failed, and the
American economy did not
improve, so people became
increasingly frustrated.
Hoover gave the impression
of an uncaring leader because
he seemed to be doing very
little to end the Depression.
His reluctance to use
government intervention was
partly due to his personality
and beliefs. He maintained
that the situation would get
better but when it did not,
Americans became resentful
and Hoover quickly lost his
popularity.
Hoover’s gloomy image
• During his campaign for a second term in
office in 1932, Hoover’s image had already
been quite unpopular among Americans.
•He further expressed his belief that business
was able to take care of the depression as
long as it was left alone. This gave the
impression that he was not doing anything for
the people of America.
• By providing federal aid, he added, the “spirit
of self-reliance that had made America great”
would be destroyed. Unfortunately, that was
not a priority for the hungry and the homeless.
Cont.
• His attitude was portrayed as being cold and
uncaring, which was not necessarily true. But the
image stuck and we can imagine how the people
thought of him when they named the shanty
towns after him [Hoovervilles].
This was a strong contrast to the cheerful
and confident attitude of Roosevelt, his
democratic counterpart in the elections and
soon-to-be president.
He made great speeches and traveled all over
the country, giving the impression that he
actually cared about the people. This was an
important factor in his landslide victory over
Hoover.
The Bonus Marchers
• 1925, Congress agreed to a
veteran’s ‘bonus’ to be paid in
1945
• 1932, veterans decided they
want the grants earlier
• March to Washington
• June 1932, 20,000 camped
• House of Representatives voted
226 to 175 to pay the bonus
but Senate vetoed
• Hoover offered to pay $100,000
for transportation fees
• Marchers refused to
move; some
sympathetic police
gave passive support
• General Douglas
MacArthur sent in
troops
• Tanks, troops, tear
gas used
• Camps destroyed,
marchers injured, two
babies killed because
of the tear gas
• Americans were
shocked and
disappointed with the
violent way Hoover
dealt with the
marchers
The Bonus Marchers
The event worsened Hoover’s already
tarnished reputation. Even though the troops
were under General MacArthur’s command,
Hoover was regarded as responsible.
WAS THIS FAIR?
YES AND NO
(Let’s look at both sides of the argument)
Yes, Hoover’s time is up .
• Hoover never really did become popular among
American. He built his own fortune, reaching
multi-millionaire status by the age of 40, this
made him quite absorbed in the idea that anyone
could emulate his achievements through hard
work. This also caused him to not be empathetic
with the people’s problems, an error which
eventually caused him to lose to Roosevelt in the
1932 elections.
•His other main weakness was his oblivion of the
strength of the mass media, something which his
rival Roosevelt had already identified early on.
No, it was not fair…
• He was unlucky
– He could have made a great President at another
time
– In bad circumstances, people often look for someone
to blame and Hoover became the target
• People had very high expectations of him
– In the 1920s he had a very good reputation so during
the Depression, he seemed to have lost popularity
drastically
• Contrary to the common impression at the time, Hoover
did attempt to counter the Depression
– Advocated voluntarism
– Hawley-Smoot tariff in 1930
– Tried to restore confidence in businessmen e.g.
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Conclusion
• Hoover was partly to blame.
• The impression that he lost significant
popularity was because he contrasted
greatly with FDR.
• His beliefs would probably have been useful
if he served in a more prosperous time. His
personal beliefs prevented him from trying
other methods when dealing with the
Depression.
• He did act. His measures were unsuccessful
and so it gave the impression that he didn’t
do anything to help.