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Herbert Hoover Republican March 4, 1928-March 4, 1933 Vice President: Charles Curtis Thematic Context: Culture The culture of the United States was changing rapidly at this time. One large change was Prohibition. This completely changed culture because there was such disregard for the new policy and many found ways to break the law without getting caught. One notable way was the rise of gangsters. These gangs manufactured and sold alcohol and committed other crimes for money such as harassment and murder. The institution was rooted in the need for alcohol but eventually spread to encompass other malpractices. The gangs would be numerous but not get caught through bribing and murdering. Other ways of breaking the law in that time were corner saloons called speakeasies and was almost like a secret club that you needed a password to enter and purchase alcohol. Another huge change in culture was immigration. During the early 1920’s, massive amounts of European immigrants washed up on America’s shore, forcing it to put up a “No Vacancy” sign in the form of the Immigration Act of 1924. This all but stopped overseas immigration. The 20’s were also a time of extreme prejudice against all things not 100% American. This forced smaller communities such as Poles and Jews to make little societies to protect themselves.

Thesis: President Hoover’s administration was a tough one based on all of the uncontrollable issues that sparked during his presidency. Chiefly among them was the Great Depression and Prohibition. He attempted to help both causes but ended up ultimately failing at both with his optimism blinding him from the reality of both situations. Because of his failure to alleviate the pain that those events caused America, he should earn a flat out F, but there were also good parts to his administration. He expanded civil service coverage and did much to help stop the uprising of gangsters such as Al Capone. He also helped to set the stage for greater presidents like Franklin Roosevelt and his Good Neighbor policy by taking certain measures such as removing troops from Latin America and proposed that an arms embargo be placed upon it. In the grand scheme of things, Herbert Hoover most definitely earned the grade of a D.

Goals: One of the major goals of Hoover was to change the way people looked at law. He proceeded to address that the selective obedience to law completely ruins the whole system. If citizens chose not to follow one rule, radicals may decide to ignore more important laws such as those safeguarding property and rights. The duty of the people, in Hoover’s eyes, was to abide by all laws and to openly try to have the ones that are unfavorable repealed. This goal was partially accomplished by Hoover’s creation of the National Commission of Law Observance and Enforcement. The enforcement had ultimately failed, though. Another of Hoover’s goals was to help with the issue of poverty but was unsuccessful due to the Great Depression.

Congress: During this four-year period, the majority party in Congress was Hoover’s party, the Republicans. The first two years the Republicans has a substantial lead on the Democrats while in the next two years the gap closed substantially, with only one more Republican in the Senate than the Democrats. Hoover’s relationship with Congress was not a very good one, however. Many plans he put into Congress failed in the long run. One such failure was the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act of 1930 when his party members supported a bill that Hoover was hesitant to sign. When he did sign it, in hopes that farmers would have a better foothold in the world economy, it ended up in an international tariff war that hurt all areas of commerce. Reciprocating the distrust, Congress wanted to repeal the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement that Hoover had high hopes for.

Positive Decision: During his administration, Hoover ended up with few projects that could be labeled as success. The greatest among these was the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It changed the presidential inauguration date to January 20th and allowed Congress to meet on the 3rd of January. The positive significance of this was that it meant that Congress could have more time to pass legislation and to keep the ball rolling during the “lame-duck” period between presidencies.

Negative Decision: By far the worst event in Hoover’s term as president was the Stock Market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression. The big warning signs were ignored and on that fateful day in October of 1929 and there were many things that the Hoover administration could have done to prevent it. A likely reason why the neon signs of impending poverty were ignored was probably due to the large cultural change in America. Everyone was now feeling very secure and prosperous with their new automobiles and radios. The actual cause of the Depression can be found in various economical factors. The surplus of agricultural products slowly lowered prices was caused by the fear of international trade tariffs that spiked in response to America’s own raise in rates. The lack of credit restraints was another cause of the Depression. Many people could now purchase stock margins at low amounts. This raised speculation drastically and when the stocks crashed, many people lost their investments and sent a large amount of people out of work. By 1933, around 12 million people were unemployed. Agriculture was especially hard-hit as the Dust Bowl was occurring and prices were low on products already. During this horrible turn of events, the Hoover administration failed to fully grasp the reality of the situation, most likely another mindset caused by the rapid and positive cultural change. Hoover always thought that the Depression would end soon so he only did a fraction of what he could’ve done to get the nation off the ground. He limited the aid that Washington could give to businesses. He also refused to directly help the people themselves and instead established the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. This barely helped at all as it only loaned out $2 billion to suffering banks. Hoover soon became the symbol of the Depression as many impoverished people blamed him for their misfortune. Their jeers were rightly placed as Hoover could have noticed the signs of future events.

Influential Decision: One of Herbert Hoover’s best contributions to future administrations was his development of foreign policy. His efforts helped to shape Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy. Hoover set the stage by calling all of the American troops home from Haiti and Nicaragua. The Hoover-Stimson Doctrine, devised by Hoover and Secretary of State Henry Stimson, held that America would not recognize any territory that was gained by force. This was in response to Japan’s invasion of a province in China. Another remarkable breakthrough in foreign affairs was the willingness of America to step in and mediate a territorial dispute between Chile and Peru. All of these international affairs helped set the stage for more competent leaders that would champion foreign policy.

Conclusion: As the 31st president of the United States, Herbert Hoover was a little below average in terms of his performance. Many endeavors made by the president failed and the time period was riddled with disaster and tension as the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl left America in a ditch on the side of the road. Due to his overall performance and the outcomes of his presidency, Herbert Hoover undecidedly deserves the grade of a D.

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DeGregorio, William A.. //The complete book of U.S. presidents//. New York: Dembner Books :, 1984. Print.

"Herbert Hoover: Inaugural Address.." //The American Presidency Project//. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. .

"Herbert Hoover - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. .