Chapter 14

Part 3Pages 478-483

Terms to Know

• Herbert Hoover• Boulder Dam• Federal Home Loan Bank Act• Reconstruction Finance Corporation• Bonus Army

Herbert Hoover

• Elected in 1928• The Great Humanitarian• China, Belgium, Russia• Sec. of Commerce (Harding and Coolidge)

• A Progressive Republican

Stock Market Crash Sept 1929

• Most believed that depressions were a normal part of the economic cycle

• Hoover encouraged optomism• Prepared to wait it out

• No one imagined the magnitude or duration

Belief that

• The government should do nothing• The economy would correct itself

• Hoover was a progressive BUT objected to direct aid

• He worried about Americans’ self-respect

Hoover’s Trickle Down Theory

• Hoover did want to help• But only indirect help• Labor• Farmers• Banks and Business• Relief

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

• Federal money to Banks, Businesses and States

• Asked Banks to continue to loan out money• Asked Businesses to keep people on the job

and to NOT lower wages• Asked states to give direct relief to those who

required it

The RFC Money

• Was given to Banks, Businesses and states without legal strings attached

• Banks, Businesses and states used the $ themselves

• It did not trickle down• Hoover believed that nothing would work

unless it was voluntary

Hoover’s PWorks Programs

• The government did pay folks to build government buildings, roads, airports, etc. But not enough projects to make a difference

• Biggest project was the Hoover Dam• Aka Boulder Dam

Boulder Dam

• Was proposed by Hoover when he was Sec. of Commerce

• Congress appropriated funding in 1928 and the project began when Hoover was President

• would provide electricity which would be sold to pay for itself

The Colorado River

• shared by 7 states: Colorado, California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming

• Above shared the water rights• Made a big difference in agricultural growth

and prevention of flooding

• Cost $700 million

The Boulder Dam Provided

• Employment for many• Flood Conrol• Electricity• Fresh water supply

BUT by 1932

• vetoed the Garner-Wagner Bill and the Norris Bill

• He did not believe the government should continue to interfere in the economy

• The Garner-Wagner Bill was for more work relief. The Norris Bill was to provide electricity and fertilizer in the Tennessee Valley

Labor

• Hoover DID sign the Norris-LaGuardia Bill which DID attempt to help labor

• Outlawed Yellow Dog Contracts• Did guarantee the right of collective

bargaining

The Farmer

• Hoover vetoed the McNary-Haugen Bill• Coolidge had vetoed it twoce

• Hoover believed that it was too direct with government involvement so he proposed a similar measure

Remember

• The McNary-Haugen Bill would have the federal government buy up farm surplus and sell it abroad

• This was too direct for Hoover

The Agricultural marketing Act

• Would give federal money to new farm organizations and to existing farm organizations

• The Federal Farm Board was a new one• It was given $500 million to buy up farm

surplus (to be sold later in the US when prices recovered

The Federal Farm Board

• Went broke• Farmers were lost

• Many burned their corn and wheat for fuel rather than sell at a loss

• In the cities folks were still eating out of garbage cans

By 1932

• Farmers worked together to prevent farm foreclosures

• Shantytowns were called Hoovervilles• Newspapers were called Hoover Blankets

• Hoover was pretty unpopular

A Depression Jingle

• Mellon pulled the whistle• Hoover rang the bell• Wall Street gave the signal• And the country went to hell

Andrew Mellon

• Secretary of the Treasury for Harding, Coolidge and Hoover

• Was a millionaire• Made a fortune during the war in aluminum • As Secretary of the Treasury he worked for tax

breaks for the wealthy

The Bonus Army

• WWI vetrans had been promised a bonus of about $500 in 1945

• The vets were unemployed and homeless in 1932

• They wanted their bonuses paid early

Bonus Army

• About 17,000 veterans and their families liven in shantytowns outside of the white house and along the Potomic waiting for government response

• They were absolutely peaceful• But conservatives and authorities called them

commies

Hoover

• Asked army headquarters to remove the army from the White House grounds

• Patton, Eisenhower and MacArthur chased them away with tear gas, bayonets and torched their shanties and tents

• Some children died, others wounded

Election of 1932

• Hoover did not have a chance.