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Herbert Hoover (August 10, 1874-October 20, 1964) March 4, 1929-March 4, 1933 Republican Vice President: Charles Curtis

Herbert Hoover stepped into office in 1929 and promised "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage." However, little did Hoover know that during his presidency there would be a depression that would leave Americans without jobs and even without food to eat. Hoover's promise was clearly not kept and is evident in the events during his presidency. Hoover did not help the country during the economic crisis and therefore deserves a D. Herbert Hoover's goals for presidency was to rely heavily on industry, thrift and self-reliance. He primarily wanted to focus on helping the farmers and get the nation to where it needed to b. He wanted to keep a nonintervention foreign policy for the nation and wanted to maintain the protective tariff. Because Hoover wanted to help the farmers, he created the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929 which was designed for farmers to help themselves. This act set up the Federal Farm Board which lent money to farmers who were seeking to buy, sell or store surpluses. However, this act was abolished in 1933 because it was not successful in managing the surplus of agricultural products. In the case of tariffs, Hoover created the Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930 which was an increase on nonfree goods which was raised from arbout 38.5%(Fordney-McCumber Act of 1922) to almost 60%. Hoover believed this would help farmers by protecting them from foreign competition. During Hoovers presidency, Congress had a majority of Republicans, like Hoover himself. However, Congress was not cooperative with Hoover and after two years of his presidency, the majority changed to Democrats in the House and almost completely controlled the Senate. Hoover stated that his cabinet "played politics with human misery." Hoover and Congress debated over many bills waiting to be passed such as the Norris-La Guardia Antinjunction Act of 1932 which outlawed "yellow dog" contracts and forbade federal courts to restrain from strikes, boycotts, etc. However, Hoover and Congress did agree on some acts such as the creation of the Reconstruction Financial Corporation and completion of the Hoover Dam. The best accomplishment during Hoover's presidency was the completion of the Hoover Dam. The dam was to be built on the Colorado River and would call for a man-made lake to be formed to provide irrigation, flood control and electrical power. This not only benefitted the country but also provided work for the unemployed. The worst idea that Hoover made was the Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930. The purpose of this tariff was to protect farmers from foreign competition but ultimately Americans were not able to purchase anything because the tariff was up to 60%. The Hawley-Smoot Tariff was one factor which led to the Great Depression along with buying on credit and purchasing of stocks. The Great Depression left over 4 million unemployed and stockholders lost more than $40 billion dollars. President Hoover thought the best way to deal with the Depression was to assist hard hit railroads, banks and other corporations to relieve those at the top and over time it would be relieved at the bottom of the economic pyramid, eventually helping the unemployed. Hoover's idea primarily only helped the upper class and not those who were effected the most such as farmers. The country did not agree with Hoovers actions and were very upset with the way Hoover was handling the depression and the large amount of unemployed Americans. The way Hoover dealt with the Depression and Stock Market Crash affected the nation greatly. It left the country in debt and 40 million people without jobs. It would take many years and several acts to bring the country back to its feet. The United States was much better off without Hoover as a president. He had good idea of goals that he wanted to accomplish but were not successful with how he carried them out. Hoover did not benefit our nation and ultimately put our nation in an economic crisis. President Hoover hardly helped the United States during his four year term. Hoover deserves a D for his presidency.