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Hoover's Hands-Off Approach Essay

3862 Words16 Pages

The Great Depression was a milestone in US history. It shows us what a hands-off laissez-faire approach looks like in crisis and what a strong hands-on, intervening government looks like in crisis. It started on Black Tuesday, October 29th, 1929. People couldn’t get their money from banks after the stock market crashed because they didn’t have it. Unemployment rates skyrocketed and America needed a president to lead with a strong grasp over this economic crisis. 2 and a half years later on March 4, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn into office and he was a man with a plan. He was quite the contrary from his predecessor, Herbert Hoover, who used laissez-faire, hands-off tactics when the country needed it least. FDR would come …show more content…

The Great Depression was a time of peril for the strong majority of Americans. Hoover’s main solution was to not do much, to let time pass and hope the problem goes away. Well, that’s being unfair, he enacted some questionable policies. For example, he signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff bill that would tax 40% of trade. As a result, GDP fell 8.5% as this just isolated America’s trade partners. (6.4) Even during his speeches, Hoover pushed responsibility away, hoping that the Great Depression would just go away like magic to retain his hands-off philosophy. During his second State of the Union Address, he said “There are many factors which give encouragement for the future. The fact that we are holding from 80 to 85% of our normal activities and incomes; that our major financial and industrial institutions have come through the storm unimpaired…” He’s completely neglecting the 15-20% of the economy that’s clearly not alright. People are losing jobs and some even becoming homeless. His most significant response was making cardboard villages for homeless people called Hooverville that were only needed because he didn’t do anything to help the economy, so they had no jobs. Other than his obligatory speeches, Hoover would not converse with the people. Roosevelt actually utilized new technology, the radio, to have Fireside Chats. Many people compare this to how modern day politicians utilize social media. On his first chat on March 12, 1933, he assured people how the banking system worked, why they couldn’t get their money, and how he was going to fix it. (6.9) Even during his Inaugural Address, he said “Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive, and will prosper.” Here, he’s admitting to what’s happening with the economy and assuring

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