The Great Depression: Presidents Hoover And Franklin D. Roosevelt

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The Great Depression of late 1929 was a major economic downfall for the United States. Both Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt were presidents throughout the Depression and they had to come up with ways on how to fix the economic downfall. Hoover believed in individualism while Roosevelt helped those marginalized by the economic situation. Hoover was more concerned with the upper class levels of the economy than the common people, while Roosevelt on the other hand thought that government spending to help those in need was necessary. During the crash of the stock market in October 1929, President Hoover had only been in office for about 7 months. Hoover’s policies were more for helping the upper class level of the economy, such as banks …show more content…

After winning the Democratic nomination, Roosevelt went to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where he promised a New Deal to the people that would help the economy. His main focus was to economically help the lower class instead of the rich. One of Roosevelt’s strategies was using fireside chats and press conferences as a way to communicate to the people the issues the country was facing. Even through Roosevelt’s main concern was the people in need; he also tried to help the banks by passing different acts. During the first 100 days of Roosevelt’s presidency, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act, which opened the banks that were safe while forever closing the ones that were the weakest. The Glass-Steagall Act was passed to separate the banks that were commercial and those that were for investment. The Glass- Steagall Act also created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which allowed and made sure there were bank deposits always being made. Roosevelt also helped many people. Congress passed the Civilian Conservation Corps, which gave tons of jobs to unemployed men. Many of them were employed to do different jobs like rural camps and this way they were able to help their families throughout the depression. Roosevelt also passed the Federal Emergency Relief Act, which provided grants for those in need instead of loans previously offered by Hoover. One of the most well-known polices created by Roosevelt to help improve the economy was the Social Security Act of 1935, which by created a payroll tax that allowed people to have retirement