Franklin D. Roosevelt And Herbert Hoover During The Great Depression

The presidents of America have great power and impact on the people and America itself also, Herbert Hoover and Franklin D Roosevelt were in office at the time of the Great Depression, attempting different ways to save America from further turmoil, with both good and bad measures taken on the crisis.

Herbert Hoover with his plans had minimal impact on the Great Depression, although Hoover had a good track record in dealing with shortages, being the Food Administrator that controlled food supply and fed millions in World War I. In 1933, ⅕ of the entire nation's banks had collapsed concerning people continuously withdrawing money to preserve their wealth. At first, Herbert Hoover was active in the Great Depression, asking for businesses

In addition to that, a bigger problem was Hoover didn't promote widespread employment for the whole country, as he was scared of the taxes people were going to pay, instead, this led Hoover to fear direct intervention from another perspective. A large focus on policies and millions of dollar loans for banks plus the economy that wasn't effective, not on the people starving on the streets, made him unpopular also. By the time his presidency ended, things were getting much worse, only with very slight improvements, even though he was praised for his desperate attempts by some people, for the quickly worsening situation, stubborn beliefs, and lack of government or nationwide relief

From his campaigns, there was the promise of a plan called the New Deal, which would improve the lives of people in America, fixing problems that the Great Depression caused, in turn boosting morale and popularity for FDR as well. By the day after he was sworn into office, FDR declared the banks would have something new called a bank holiday, where banks would close down for an indefinite time, where the government would do a thorough inspection,closing banks also.After some banks reopened, people deposited the money that was withdrawn in panic at the stock market crash, restoring a part of America’s currency,in turn stabilizing America. Roosevelt claimed that the banks were safer than “money under the mattress”(Franklin Delano Roosevelt, March 12, 1933). This was the Emergency Banking Relief Act, a program that was to save the banks of the US and stop people from withdrawing money in panic, as well as one of the new acts that Roosevelt implemented in his first 100 days of presidency, with great effect. Compared to Herbert Hoover, FDR was quite fast in acting, as he had time to prepare a solid plan created before. Lives were getting better for the people of America, slowly but