Hoover+Discussion+-+SP09

Herbert Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20 , 1964 ) Party- Republican March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933 Vice President- Charles Curtis Herbert Hoover once promised "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land." Months later, the stock market crashed and the U.S. plunged into the most catastrophic depression ever to plague the country. This is a fine example of Hoover’s lack of finesse that would later define his presidency – how he handled the depression. Thus, Herbert deserves a D. In many ways, President Hoover’s main goal was to usher in a “new phase of press relations”, as he promised on his first day. Hoover even “declined to use a spokesman”, instead asking journalists to utilize key phrases and quotes on pre-made handouts. Just in his first 120 days in office alone, Hoover held more press conferences than any other president. These ideals were later changed after the stock market crash, limiting his availability to the press. Overall, Hoover had a good relationship with Congress, due to the republican majority for the first part of his presidency. After two years however, the House switched to Democrat and they almost entirely controlled the Senate. Some acts were passed (even though a lot of them just hurt the country, like the Smoot Hawley Tariff), but a lot weren’t due to bickering and arguing over such laws as the Norris-La Guardia Antinjunction Act. Ultimately, the most positive action(s) of Herbert Hoover’s presidency was his general attempts to improve the country as a whole. In the age of prohibition and gangsters running rampant, he tried to catch them using the IRS and tax evasion. The Hoover Dam was also built during his presidency. He also expanded the national park system and improved our relationship with Native Americans. The worst thing however was Hoover’s response to the stock market crash and great depression, and his passing of the Smoot Hawley Tariff. This tariff was supposed to stimulate the country’s economy, but with its 60% tax it actually forced the world economy down a few notches. The most influential decision of Hoover’s presidency was his response to the Great Depression. His decisions on curing the economy at the start of the crisis actually made it harder to solve it in the long run, and turned the American populace in on itself. Many would go unemployed, and the national debt rose higher than it had ever been. The Great Depression was truly a turning point in American history and Hoover only made it worse. In conclusion, the country was worse off when Hoover left office. Hoover left the country with increasingly high unemployment numbers and decimated a lot of the economy. Although he meant well, President Herbert Hoover wasn’t the right president for the time, and for that he deserves a D.