Franklin D. Roosevelt's Response To The Great Depression

The Great Depression was a time during 1929 to 1939, It was the longest lasting economic disaster. The two presidents in term during this crisis, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover, approached this problem in different ways. Hoover’s idea on this was to have private citizens help each others, while Roosevelt believed the government should take care of its people with social programs. Looking at these ideas in more depth we can infer ways our country should go.

. Compare and contrast the responses of Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Great Depression.

The Great Depression was a financial and industrial recession that began in 1929. Two long-term causes of the Depression were the overproduction of crops by farmers, which exhausted the land and spurred a huge decrease in crops’ value, and a large number of people buying on margin in the stock market, forcing banks to lose more money than they could afford. President Herbert Hoover, elected in 1928, believed in rugged individualism, which meant there would be no government handouts, voluntary cooperation, where people help themselves and the government only mediates, and that the economy has cycles and therefore the Depression should not be considered dangerous. These beliefs prolonged the Depression because Hoover did not give aid to citizens nor did he attempt to change the economy. When President Franklin

The depression worsened throughout Hoover’s term in office, but he still made efforts in changing America. As an individual, Herbert Hoover was not prepared for a traumatizing event such as depression, therefore he unfortunately became an unpopular figure countrywide. The main conflict was that Hoover was unable to balance the budget of America, which led to the stock market crash, which triggered The Great Depression. After all, Hoover suffered an intense defeat to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the presidential election of 1933. Furthermore, the depression descended and the future America of prosperity was

During the Great Depression “the currency was becoming more valuable every day, rarer and scarcer” (Shlaes 108). The Great Depression was the reason to change and reform government. Even though Shlaes wrote Roosevelt and his New Deal made the Depression stay longer, but in reality to recover from the Great Depression, Roosevelt New Deal helped economy to get back in track. The New Deal made the government to be more involved in people’s life. New Deal used Government as an agent and started to intervene in the economic institution in order to recover from the failure.

The Great Depression was a major turning point for the United States’s economy because it changed the relationship between the government and the economy. Before the Great Depression, the economy was a Laissez-faire style market where the government had no influence on private party transactions and businesses. After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the people of the United States sought for reliefs from the government. The Government responded by creating tax reforms, benefiting the stock market, wheat prices, employment, and the number of bank suspensions, and providing comfort for the people. As a result of their disparity, the people put their trust in the government in hopes that they would repair the broken economy.

In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the president of the United State after President Herbert Hoover. The Great Depression was also at its height because President Hoover believed that the crash was just the temporary recession that people must pass through, and he refused to drag the federal government in stabilizing prices, controlling business and fixing the currency. Many experts, including Hoover, thought that there was no need for federal government intervention. ("Herbert Hoover on) As a result, when the time came for Roosevelt’s Presidency, the public had already been suffering for a long time. Half of the banks had closed their doors, more than twenty percent of the US population was unemployed, and the economy was lacking regulation. ("The Great Depression.") Therefore, President Roosevelt wanted to bring stability to people’s lives and the economy. Stating “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.”("Franklin D. Roosevelt.") The New Deal was a series of experimental projects and programs, and there were three main programs know

The wealth during the 1920s left Americans unprepared for the economic depression they would face in the 1930s. The Great Depression occurred because of overproduction by farmers and factories, consumption of goods decreased, uneven distribution of wealth, and overexpansion of credit. Hoover was president when the depression first began, and he maintained the government’s laissez-faire attitude in the economy. However, after the election of FDR in 1932, his many alphabet soup programs in his first one hundred days in office addressed the nation’s need for change.

Several factors brought about the Great Depression’s demise. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan for the economy, the New Deal, was one of them. Franklin D. Roosevelt, or FDR, used monetary policy to create inflation. In other words, FDR used monetary policy to boost the economy. He did this through Executive Order 6102, in which Americans had to turn in all of their gold.

The transition between presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt marked the transformation from a weak, to a strong form of government, which became directly involved in the lives of the people. This was primarily caused by the difference in the executive leaders ideologies, where Hoover was more focused on individual responsibility and capitalism, Roosevelt was more concerned with immediate action based on government intervention. Overall, the New Deal sacrificed the amount of personal responsibility that the people had with their own economic security. The power of the federal government was strengthened, but the long-lasting effects based on the social and economic policies was beneficial for the United States. Herbert Hoover began

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s public image has been nothing short of superb. He was the charismatic man who overcame polio and brought back America from the Great Depression and led them to victory in World War II. But, in actuality, Roosevelt was not as great as the history books make him seem. Where he succeeded in some areas, he failed in others. FDR’s lack of moral principles and abuse of federal power, as well as his inept handling of the Great Depression and failure to retain any foresight of his actions, results in an evaluation of a 3 out of 10 rating.

This tragic event sent Wall Street into a complete frenzy and took out millions of investors. Over the next few years, consumer investment and spending decreased. This caused sharp declines in manufacturing production and rising levels of unemployment. By 1933, 13 plus million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks failed (Coker, 2005). Thanks to the reform and relief measures placed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt helped diminish the most horrible effects of the Great Depression.

The Great Depression was a time period in the United States from the late 1920s to early 1940s, marked by severe unemployment rates nationwide. It had many origins, most notably of which was the Stock Market Crash of October 29th, 1929, also known as “Black Tuesday.” The administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the crippling unemployment and poverty rates of the Depression by establishing federal work programs to provide much-needed jobs to millions of Americans. Overall, however, this response was only marginally effective, because there was still rampant unemployment and discrimination throughout the duration of these programs. Through the establishment of these programs, the role of the federal government changed from a capitalist

Many of Hoover’s policies favored big businesses and he believed that the growth of the economy depended on increasing capital given to big businesses would combat the depression, which is also known as the Trickle Down economics. If the government aided big businesses then their investments and success would “trickle-down” to the working class, this improving and expanding the economy (Doc 5). Many people criticized Hoover and his policies for not helping the needy. He refused to provide federal relief programs to help unemployed since he thought people would not be motivated to work if the government aided them (OI).As conditions worsened, makeshift homes popped up all over America and were nicknamed “Hoovervilles”, after Herbert Hoover. Hoover believed that that individual initiative and big businesses would solve the problems of the depression and that the economy would recover on its own (OI).

Millions had lost their jobs, their homes and they were hungry. The nation was in crisis and Roosevelt took advantage of this situation. During the 1932 presidential election, Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised a “new deal for the American people.” Roosevelt sent Congress several proposals to fight the Depression. These proposals collectively would become known as the New Deal.