For and Against Herbert Hoover 1928-32

against Hoover
1. at the time many ridiculed Hoover
  1. shanty towns of homeless called 'Hoovervilles'
  2. a newspaper covering homeless person referred to as 'Hoover blanket'
  3. 1980's musical 'Annie' set in 1932- ridiculed Hoover in a song
2. to deal with the Depression, Hoover thought the main role of federal government should be to coordinate private, state, and local issues, rather than personally take direct action
  1. under the US Constitution, states, rather than the federal government, had responsibility for welfare
  2. by the time of the Depression, only 8 states had any kind of unemployment compensation
    1. instead the poor had to rely on private charities' help
  3. this coincided with his belief in 'rugged individualism' and the American tradition of independent action
3. Hoover argued that relief was a local responsibility
  1. federal involvement would strike at the 'roots of self government' and would destroy 'character'
4. Hoover did have some success in persuading business to help
  1. some companies froze wages to prevent further hardship
    1. had limited success
  2. by 1931- a major corporation (US Steel) introduced a 10% wage cut
5. In his reluctance to use the federal government directly in aiding the poor, Hoover supported by important members of his Administration
  1. Treasury Secretary, Andrew Mellon, declared that as a result of the depression 'people would work harder, live a more moral life' and, so, as 'not altogether a bad thing'
  2. elected in 1930, Mayor Frank Murphy of Detroit created food stations for 14,000 unemployed
  3. in New York State, Governor Franklin Roosevelt successfully organised relief for the unemployed and poor- gaining him national reputation
6. instead of looking for the causes of the depression within the USA, Hoover argued that international economic conditions were the root cause of problems
  1. the breakdown in international trade and the economic crisis in Europe were more important than a lack of federal government involvment
  2. Hoover had been president when Congress passed the Hawley-Smoot tariff in June 1930
    1. raised import duties on the Fordney-McCumber tariffs on average by 30%
7. an episode that displays the heartlessness of Hoover's Administration was the Bonus Army March of 1932
  1. In May and June, WWI veterans marched on Washington DC demanding full payment of their veterans 'bonus' immediately, instead of having to wait until it was due to be paid in 1945
  2. following the Senate rejection of this demand, the Administration used the army (under General Douglas MacArthur) to remove the 21,000 remaining veterans and their families from a shanty town on Anacostia Flats
    1. millions of Americans were horrified by the sight of tanks and cavalry, and the use of tear gas, as troops destroyed shanty town
8. November 1932- Hoover had become the most hated man in USA
  1. hitch-hikers carried signs that said if they didn't receive a lift, they'd vote for Hoover
    1. Hoover had won by a landslide in 1928, and defeated by another landslide in 1932
      1. American electorate for that year had given their verdict on Hoover's efforts
for Hoover
1. the problem for Hoover was that he faced an unprecedented economic situation
  1. Depressions had occurred before, most notably in the 1890s and 1920-22
  2. seen as a normal part of the business and trade cycle
  3. Hoover didn't know how deep this depression would get in 1929-30
2. he did take action
  1. in agriculture (even before Wall Street Crash) he called a special session in Congress, April 1929 to help farmers
    1. the Agricultural Marketing Act established a 9-man Federal Farm Board with funds of $500 million to create farming coopratives
      1. by 1932, Federal Farm Board had failed
  2. however these both of these actions were destroyed by the world collapse in grain prices
3. 1930- he created the Grain Stabilisation Corporation
  1. brought surplus wheat from cooperatives as a way of stabilising grain prices
4. to try to boost international trade, he introduced a moratorium on inter-Allied war debts, in June 1931
  1. moratorium- legally authorised delay in the performance of a legal duty/ obligation
  2. meant the USA would delay collecting debts for 18 months
    1. fortunately it came to late to save Europe from severe depression
5. placed great hope in an international economic conference to be held in London in early 1933
  1. but FDR refused to cooperated with other countries, claiming USA's economic issues were caused by domestic, rather than international problems
6. although an initial opponent of direct federal aid, Hoover did change his policy once he became aware that voluntarism and cooperation were failing
  1. first significant departure in his direction was the creation of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)
    1. approved by Congress- Jan 1932
    2. had the power to lend up to $2 billion to rescue failing banks and insurance companies
      1. 90% of loans went to small- and medium-sized banks
    3. when FDR became president, he continued to use RFC as part of his economic policy towards depression
7. direct federal help for the unemployed came with the passage of the Emergency Relief and Construction Act- 21s July 1932
  1. to receive aid, state governments had to declare they'd run out of money to help unemployed
  2. the corporation set up by the Act had authority to lend up to $!.5 billion to states to fund public works for the unemployed
8. July 1932- Congress also passed the Federal Home Loans Act
  1. federal home loan banks created to provide up to 50% assistance for people who couldn't pay of their mortgage
9. taken together, these measures were as far as Hoover was willing to go to directly involve federal government
  1. introduced only after voluntarism and state action failed
  2. also the result of consistent Congressional pressure from Senators such as Robert Wagner of New York, Robert La Follette Jr from Wisconsin and Edward Costigan of Colorado
too little, too late

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For and Against Herbert Hoover 1928-32

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