Herbert Hoover vs Franklin Roosevelt vs Upton Sinclair: Their effect on the Great
Depression
Many notable events have shaped the history of the United States of America. Some
were well-known, others controversial, and yet others we decided to ignore. The Great
Depression, on the other hand, was by far the greatest economic slump in the history of the
industrialized world. Spurred by the stock market crash, the widespread prosperity of the
1920s industrial boom faded with the start of the Great Depression, and the outcome was
disastrous. While many attempts were made by Herbert Hoover, Franklin, and Upton Sinclair
to try and mitigate and resolve the Great Depression, no American policymaker managed to
rescue the nation. The catastrophe impacted millions of individuals for over a decade. It was
a moment of immense upheaval and suffering for the American people as financial
institutions collapsed, people lost their jobs, companies shuttered and farms and houses were
lost to land ownership.
Beginning, while he was in office, after the Stock Market Crash on Thursday, October
24, many believe that President Herbert Hoover held much of the responsibility for the
American Depression. As a master organizer and business executive who had run the
powerful Commerce Department for eight years before his presidential election, it would
appear that he would have been better equipped to lead the country through such trying times.
However, it was clear that he was unprepared for such a role. To many, his downfall was
because his response was hampered by his conservative political philosophy, which followed
a rigid refusal to involve the federal government in providing financial aid to the
unemployed. While he showed more enthusiasm and compassion, unlike his prior executives,
by taking a more hands-on approach, because he could not simply stand by and do nothing as
, the economic economy deteriorated it soon became obvious that a hands-on approach would
not be sufficient to address the economic concerns. When it came down to responding to and
acknowledging the gravity of the problems at the moment, he put in place a series of
unprecedented initiatives that provided indirect aid to banks and that emphasized
volunteering rather than utilizing federal money for direct aid. To begin with, ‘he rallied
business leaders, who pledged to maintain employment, wages, and prices’ (Davidson, 500) –
all of whom eventually backed down as the economy sputtered. He next considered
attempting to persuade Congress to pass tax cuts as a means of getting more money into
people's hands and thereby increasing their purchasing power. However, he discovered that
this was not possible due to the federal budget being imbalanced as a result of the cuts. As a
result, he had to raise taxes again. He also supported the Smoot-Hawley Tariff to defend the
US from cheap imported imports, which was equally destructive. (Davidson 501) This
increased the prices of thousands of imported items, causing not just a wave of retaliation
from other nations, exacerbating the problem, but also shrinking global trade and American
sales abroad. Hoover hoped to begin recovery from the Great Depression by implementing all
of this, but this simply resulted in a massive deficit, which exacerbated the problem. . To
address these issues, large-scale action was needed, which would necessitate increasing
federal participation and investment, which Herbert Hoover's Depression Program
strenuously opposed. As calls for more federal participation and expenditure became louder,
Hoover refused to involve the federal government in imposing fixed pricing, managing
enterprises, or manipulating the value of the currency, believing that all of these actions were
steps toward socialism. The largest flaw in Hoover's program is his timid and introverted
demeanour, as well as his choice not to fundamentally address the Great Depression since he
didn't want to make things worse for many people.
Depression
Many notable events have shaped the history of the United States of America. Some
were well-known, others controversial, and yet others we decided to ignore. The Great
Depression, on the other hand, was by far the greatest economic slump in the history of the
industrialized world. Spurred by the stock market crash, the widespread prosperity of the
1920s industrial boom faded with the start of the Great Depression, and the outcome was
disastrous. While many attempts were made by Herbert Hoover, Franklin, and Upton Sinclair
to try and mitigate and resolve the Great Depression, no American policymaker managed to
rescue the nation. The catastrophe impacted millions of individuals for over a decade. It was
a moment of immense upheaval and suffering for the American people as financial
institutions collapsed, people lost their jobs, companies shuttered and farms and houses were
lost to land ownership.
Beginning, while he was in office, after the Stock Market Crash on Thursday, October
24, many believe that President Herbert Hoover held much of the responsibility for the
American Depression. As a master organizer and business executive who had run the
powerful Commerce Department for eight years before his presidential election, it would
appear that he would have been better equipped to lead the country through such trying times.
However, it was clear that he was unprepared for such a role. To many, his downfall was
because his response was hampered by his conservative political philosophy, which followed
a rigid refusal to involve the federal government in providing financial aid to the
unemployed. While he showed more enthusiasm and compassion, unlike his prior executives,
by taking a more hands-on approach, because he could not simply stand by and do nothing as
, the economic economy deteriorated it soon became obvious that a hands-on approach would
not be sufficient to address the economic concerns. When it came down to responding to and
acknowledging the gravity of the problems at the moment, he put in place a series of
unprecedented initiatives that provided indirect aid to banks and that emphasized
volunteering rather than utilizing federal money for direct aid. To begin with, ‘he rallied
business leaders, who pledged to maintain employment, wages, and prices’ (Davidson, 500) –
all of whom eventually backed down as the economy sputtered. He next considered
attempting to persuade Congress to pass tax cuts as a means of getting more money into
people's hands and thereby increasing their purchasing power. However, he discovered that
this was not possible due to the federal budget being imbalanced as a result of the cuts. As a
result, he had to raise taxes again. He also supported the Smoot-Hawley Tariff to defend the
US from cheap imported imports, which was equally destructive. (Davidson 501) This
increased the prices of thousands of imported items, causing not just a wave of retaliation
from other nations, exacerbating the problem, but also shrinking global trade and American
sales abroad. Hoover hoped to begin recovery from the Great Depression by implementing all
of this, but this simply resulted in a massive deficit, which exacerbated the problem. . To
address these issues, large-scale action was needed, which would necessitate increasing
federal participation and investment, which Herbert Hoover's Depression Program
strenuously opposed. As calls for more federal participation and expenditure became louder,
Hoover refused to involve the federal government in imposing fixed pricing, managing
enterprises, or manipulating the value of the currency, believing that all of these actions were
steps toward socialism. The largest flaw in Hoover's program is his timid and introverted
demeanour, as well as his choice not to fundamentally address the Great Depression since he
didn't want to make things worse for many people.
