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 * Name:** President Herbert Hoover
 * Birth-Death Date:** August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964
 * Political Party:** Republican Party
 * Terms of Office:** 1(March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933)
 * Vice President:** Charles Curtis

Becoming the 31st president of America, Hoover came into the presidency at a time when the nation was prospering with new industries and productions booming. He supported regulating industries and preferred a voluntary, non- government approach to economic issues. Then suddenly in 1929, just seven to eight months after Hoover took office, the stock market crashed which resulted into the Great Depression. Even though Hoover warned the previous president, Coolidge, about the dangers of excessive stock market speculation, he was partly blamed for the stock market crash. He failed to stimulate the consumption and production that was needed to boost the economy and therefore shall be graded with a C-.

Many of Hoover’s goals included justice, ordered liberty, equality of opportunity, individual initiative, freedom of opinion, integrity in government, peace, growth of religious spirit, and strengthening of the home. Hoover also wanted an examination of the banking system along with laws that would reform and strengthen the system. He tried to stop speculation by convincing bankers to stop making loans to brokers who encouraged speculation. Farmers wanted the government to buy their surplus at fair market prices, but did not want any control over production by the government. Hoover thought otherwise and believed that it would lead to greater surpluses and government control. So to help the farmers out, Congress passed the Agricultural Marketing Act, and set up the Federal Farm Board, which will help farmers, form marketing organizations and help stabilize market conditions. Hoover then passed the Hawley-Smoot Tariff bill, which at first helped farmers but in result turned out to be the highest protetive tariff that slowed down growth and recovery of the nation, increased international finiancial chaos, and promoted economic isolation.  During the Great Depression, the relationship between Hoover and Congress were not so good. Democrats in Congress and progressive Republicans wanted relief bills for farmers and the unemployed. Because progressives and liberals were minorities in Congress, most of these bills failed. Over Hoover’s veto, Congress passed the Bonus Bill which allowed veterans to borrow one half the value of life insuranceBut overall, the relationship between Congress and Hoover was okay. Together they passed many Acts including the Norriss-LaGuardia Act, the Davis-Bacon Act which required local governments to pay union wages on public work projects. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the Emergency Relief Construction Act was to provide government-secured loans to financial institutions, railroads, and farms. At first the Republicans held the majority the first two years, but then friction got in the way so much that the Democrats controlled the house and almost the Senate.

The most positive action done by Hoover would be the Norriss-LaGuardia Act which forbade federal courts to issue injunctions to restrain strikes, boycotts, and peaceful picketing. Another positive outcome was the RFC which became a government lending bank that provided indirect relief to insurance companies, banks, railroads, and agricultural organizations. The most negative outcome was the Bonus army in which veterans went to washington to demand payments of their entire bonus and caused riots that injured former soldiers and killed a baby. This was a negative action on Hoover’s part because the nation was falling deeper into the depression and lots of people panicked.

Hoover had a huge impact on future presidents and Americans. We were left economically isolated as well as caught in a deep depression. The Stimson Doctrine said that the nation would not recognize Japan had taken an independent country and that we would not intervene and just mind our own business. Luckly there was a future president that was able to pull the nation out of the depression.

The country was not better off when Hoover left the presidency because we were still attempting to recover from the crash and depression. Even though he made efforts by passing Acts, Hoover was just an average president because he didn’t try hard enough to keep the nation from falling into the depression. He could have also stopped speculation despite who listened but instead chose to pass acts. He intended to help the nation by keeping everything stabilized but it did not go as planned and that’s why he deserves a C-. Bibliography:

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