Compare And Contrast Roosevelt And Hoover

Hoover v. Roosevelt Essay

Although today our government provides financial support for those without means, this wasn't always true. Back in the 1900’s around the time of the Great Depression a pressing question was should our government pay to help those less fortunate or should it be left up to charities and local communities to support those less fortunate? Two big debaters of this question were President Herbert Hoover and later President Franklin D. Roosevelt. They each had different views. Hoover believed in charities and people helping other people, while Roosevelt believed that it was the government's responsibility to help those in need. I agree with Roosevelt's philosophy. I believe it is government's responsibility to care

In politics today at times our government officials won't even acknowledge that there is a problem in our nation. Although Hoover did not want the government to spend money to support the impoverished citizens of the country, he acknowledged that there was a big problem in the nation that needed to be fixed. In Hoover's speech he stated “This is not an issue as to whether people shall go hungry or cold in the United States. It is solely a question of the best method by which hunger and cold shall be prevented.”(Hanes and Hanse 9) Unfortunately Hoover’s acknowledgment of the problem was not enough for Roosevelt and Hoover to find common ground. Roosevelt clearly disagreed with Hoover’s methods of depending on charity to pull America out of the Great Depression. He verbalised this in his speech, “We refused to leave the problems of our common welfare to be solved by the winds of change and the hurricanes of disaster.”(Hanes and hanes 9) To reiterate, Roosevelt was saying that he refused to leave the responsibility of the suffering American people up to charities. The government is responsible for its citizens. Hoover and Roosevelt would never have come to agreement on how to aid suffering American