Succeeding Presidencies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin

¶ … succeeding presidencies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt seem to be categorically and diametrically antithetical from every conceivable angle. Entering the office in 1929, Herbert Hoover's administration marked the end of America's most prosperous period to date. Within nine months of his assumption of office, the country began its tumble into the Great Depression. Clearly, the nation was paying for the good times of the Roaring Twenties. Roosevelt, however, took on the unenviable responsibilities of the president in 1933, and with them, he received a nation ravaged by unemployment, homelessness and starvation. During the worst economic times in recorded American history, he would become the warm, fatherly figure ordained to comfort the citizens. Where Hoover was reserved and conservative, Roosevelt was engaging and progressive. Hoover's reaction to the initial blow of the Depression was one of patience and calculated inaction. He was confident that the problem would right itself. Roosevelt's administration began with a blitzkrieg of policy ratifications and medicinal initiatives. His actions were quick and resourceful as he adopted a troubleshooting approach to ending the economic crisis. Hoover, a businessman at heart, left office as anathema. Shouldering the blame for the Depression, he entered history a perpetual goat, forever associated with his ineffectuality and his critical failure to remedy the nation's problems. Roosevelt stands as the likeliest candidate for induction into Mount Rushmore. His popularity afforded him four consecutive electoral victories and a reputation as the hero of the Great Depression, the champion of the common man and the father of democratic progressivism.

So Parrish's assertion as to the similarity of their ideological tendencies may seem somewhat apocryphal. But the facts speak well to his claims, in spite of the great disparity in their apparent successes and historical standings. While they may have had very little in common in terms of effectiveness, they both attacked the Depression with the measures necessitated by the circumstances, such as elevated government involvement in business affairs and increased implementation of public works projects.

Though Hoover's first line of response to the downward spiral was staid, at best, the situation soon forced desperate measures. In 1932, he pushed legislation to establish the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, whose primary function was to serve as an intermediary between the government and various businesses through which funds could be dispersed. This was a great departure from the policies of recently passed administrations, as well as Hoover's. Of course, throughout the financial highs of the 1920's, such government aid wasn't and inkling of a necessity. The period prompted a widespread proliferation of corporate enterprising and three consecutive republican presidents trusted the businesses to govern themselves, abetting the eventual enormity of industrial America. But by the second half of Hoover's term, banks could not stay afloat themselves and this status threatened to deepen the economic collapse. So Hoover found himself under great pressure to forge stronger ties between government policy and corporate control through the RFC aid package.

Such methodology, though radical by comparison to Hoover's preferred politic, would become a centerpiece to Roosevelt's New Deal. Significant deficit spending buttressed the so-called "hundred days," during which, in the first three months of his administration, Roosevelt pumped act after act through Congress in order to get the ball rolling on recovery. Herein, he expanded exponentially upon Hoover's first steps of government intervention, even strengthening the legislative relationship between federal and state-level governances. Conducing the government to shell out $500 million for relief to state and municipal governments, most of which were unable to fend for themselves at this stage of the Depression, Roosevelt created the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.

To a large degree though, Hoover had paved the way for this kind of direct state aid by more indirect means. He heightened the relationship between the nation and its states in order to address the problem of skyrocketed unemployment, the bane of governing bodies on both levels. Like Roosevelt after him, Hoover viewed public works projects as the key to salvation. Allotting $300 million in funds to state helmed operations, the RFC contributed to the employment of Americans for construction of dams (namely the Hoover Dam), development of waterways, erecting of public buildings and creation of major highways. When Roosevelt was called to address the unemployment problem, he approached it from much the same perspective. The dual purpose of public works, to maintain and improve the standard of living while simultaneously providing work for Americans, made it the ideal route to economic rebirth. FDR recognized this when he created the Civil Works Administration which, in a virtual mirroring of Hoover's RFC aid, supplied money to governors and mayors who in turn enlisted workers for building and maintenance projects. Though the CWA was short lived, its immediate successor, the Civilian Conservation Corps took on another proclivity of Hoover's actions against unemployment, as it dealt with both issues of unemployment and conservation. Increased utilization of forestry and park services in both administrations became an important part of combating unemployment.

None of these similarities resulted in mutual success however. Nor did they establish any connections between the two candidates in the eyes of Texas voters. Roosevelt came into the 1932 election with a considerable advantage over Hoover in Texas, not even considering Hoover's poor track record as president. Though they elected Hoover in 1928, Texans were more traditionally, at that point, resigned to Democratic candidates. And the obvious strengths of Roosevelt, contrasted by the lackluster nature of Hoover's candidacy, made it easy for Texans to vote along the party line. And it certainly didn't hurt that Roosevelt's running mate was Texas Democrat John Garner.