The Great Depression

The Great Depression: Hoover, Roosevelt and American Welfare

There are few periods in the history of the nineteenth century that compare to the Great Depression. With the emergence of stock market crashes, bread lines, bank runs, and wild currency speculation all becoming worldwide phenomena and at the same time all occurring with war looming in the background it becomes a hard aspect of history to ignore.[i] The depression has now in the eyes of many economists provided a remarkable example for studying the links between economic policies and performance.[ii] For this essay the main focus will be on the consequences rather than the causes of the depression within the United States and what approaches were taken to restore the American way of life. This will be done by comparing and contrasting the economic and political strategies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and how they struggled in their attempts to enhance the general welfare of America during these times. All this in a time where these fundamental economic and political policies of the two men both stood out in bold relief against a background of immense human suffering.

After a decade of prosperity within the United States, the roaring twenties came to an abrupt and unpleasant end with the occurrence of the Wall Street Crash on October 24, 1929. While the crash itself brought about the emergence of unemployment, poverty and the failure of businesses and banks, it made one thing very clear, and that was that unimpeded capitalism couldn’t survive without serious economic consequences.[iii] With the occurrence of the crash it was obvious that the mark of American capitalism was collapsing, and it seemed as if no one from bankers to politicians were able to slow it down.[iv] Because of this many feel that the crash and the subsequent years of depression that followed happened because the American economy was run on momentum, rather than careful planning and reality.[v] The crash...