How did President Hoover handle The Great Depression?

Herbert Hoover to Louis L. Emmerson, July 10, 1931. (Gilder Lehrman Collection) The stock market crashed on Thursday, October 24, 1929, less than eight months into Herbert Hoover's presidency. Most experts, including Hoover, thought the crash was part of a passing recession. read more

By July 1931, when the President wrote this letter to a friend, Governor Louis Emmerson of Illinois, it had become clear that excessive speculation and a worldwide economic slowdown had plunged America into the midst of a Great Depression. read more

Hoover was frightened of creating deficits with spending to buoy the economy with federal money (this at a time with no unemployment insurance or social security program), and people were destitute. the Great Depression was a structural depression, and it could not be solved by simply hoping the soup kitchens could handle all the extra attendees. read more

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), America’s 31st president, took office in 1929, the year the U.S. economy plummeted into the Great Depression. Although his predecessors’ policies undoubtedly contributed to the crisis, which lasted over a decade, Hoover bore much of the blame in the minds of the American people. read more