Hoover’s Response

Chapter 22, sec. 3

Hoover’s Response

• As conditions worsened, Hoover hoped to downplay the public’s fears

• Tried to assure the nation that everything was okay

“ECONOMIC DEPRESSION CANNOT BE CURED BY

LEGISLATIVE ACTION OR EXECUTIVE

PRONOUNCEMENT. ECONOMIC WOUNDS MUST BE HEALED BY THE ACTION

OF THE CELLS OF THE ECONOMIC BODY - THE

PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS THEMSELVES”

HERBERT HOOVER

Hoover’s Response• To promote economic

recovery, Hoover held conferences with labor leaders---convinced them to keep factories open and stop cutting wages

• Pledges soon failed

Hoover’s Response

• Hoover then increased public works• Asked governors and mayors to increase

public works• Refused to increase gov’t spending or

taxes, which kept it at a small scale

Hoover’s Response

• Hoover opposed the federal gov’t’s participation in relief

• He felt that was the responsibility of state and local gov’t

Hoover’s Response

• Americans blamed Republican Party for the Depression

• In 1930 elections, Rep. Party lost 49 seats and their majority in the House of Rep.

Riots

• Situation turned worse when revolts/riots swept nation in early 1930s

• Hunger marches were held by the American Communist Party throughout the nation

Riots• Between 1930-1934,

1 million families lost their farms because they couldn’t pay taxes

• To raise crop prices, farmers began to destroy their crops by reducing the supply

The Bonus Army

• In 1924, Congress enacted a $1,000 bonus for each WWI veteran that would be given out in 1945

• In 1931, a Texas congressmen introduced a bill that would allow the veterans to collect it early

The Bonus Army• As it was coming up for

debate in 1932, thousands of vets came to D.C. to help lobby for its passage

• They were dubbed the “Bonus Army”

• Numbers swelled to over 15,000

The Bonus Army

• Bill did not pass• Many vets had no money to return home

and were forced to stay in the capital• Lived in abandoned buildings and built

“Hoverville” communities

The Bonus Army• Hoover ordered the

buildings to be cleared and “Hoovervilles” to be removed

• Douglas MacArthur in charge of military effort to do the job

• Turned into a major disaster

The Bonus Army

• MacArthur had soldiers use bayonets to force people to move

• Ordered tanks and tear gas to help complete task

• The press presented an ugly picture to the nation

• Hoover took responsibility for military actions

Image of Hoover

• Hoover failed to resolve the crisis of the Depression

• He did expand the economic role of the gov’t more than any previous president

• The image of the Bonus Marchers and the lingering Depression shaped the perception of President Hoover