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Question #2

Hoover's most significant achievments and failures and how well he handled all of the jobs required by the President are as follow:

Commander-in Chief

As Commander-in Chief, Hoover was supposed to be in charge of the army. When the war veterans wanted their bonuses during the Great Depression, he would not give it to them. As a result, they stayed near the White House. Hoover wanted the army to stop the protesting "peacefully," but rather the army went in there with swords and infantry ready to forcefully stop the protesting. Although it was not Hoover's fault that they did not listen to his orders, it shows that he had little to no control over the army, something that is expected of the President.

Chief Executive

Once he became President, Hoover worked with the Department of Interior to improve the conditions for Native Americans on their reservations. The Boulder Canyon Project Act made way for the Hoover Dam, which would help facilities in California. With the help of Horace Albright, he conserved over 200 million acres of forestland to the National Reserve. He tried improving the agricultural aspect of the economy, but it was not as effectful as he would have liked. Farmers were suffering greatly becuase of overproduction and new technology. He started the Federal Farm Board to help farmers in aid. To help this, he raised tariffs on foreign goods. Unforunately, this backfired. after the tariffs were raised, countries stopped trading with the country. this was a factor in the Great Depression. Hoover did a good job with the Department of Interior and the National Reserve, but the econmic side of things was not his greatest achievment.

Chief Diplomat

Hoover was involved in certain parts of the economy. To try to help the farmers, he raised tariffs on foreign imports so more people would buy locally. Because of this, many countries stopped trading with America altogether, which made exporting very difficult. This lead to overproduction and put many businesses in debt. Along with the stock market crash, this was the Great Depression. While Hoover made some efforts to help, he tried comforting Americans saying that they were coming out of the Great Depression and that it "wasn't that bad." This upset many Americans because they felt that he was living in luxury in the White House and did not fully understand what was really going on. Many places were homeless families gathered became known as "Hoovervilles". Other names also came along incorporating the President's name, implying that many Americans were unhappy with the way he handled this situation.

Ceremonial Head of State

President Hoover failed miserably in this position of President. While he thought he was comforting Americans by telling them that the end of the Depression was near, it only showed his ignorance in what was going on in his country. He showed no sympathy to the millions of homeless people. Many homeless families were fed by private organizations like the salvation army and the YMCA. The government gave out very little money to support its people. Also, when the veterans wanted their bonuses, he not only did not give them out, but he sent the army to break up the protest. This showed that he was not able to connect with the way the American people were feeling and what they were experienceing.

Manager of the Economy

This again, is another job that President Hoover failed miserably at. While the Great Depression was not his fault, he could have taken some steps to help soften the economy's fall. Hoover was the one who caused reduced trading with the US. While he was trying to help the local farmers, he did not realize the consequences of his decision. Also, he was the President that interrupted the traditional way of doing this job- laissez faire. He did not believe in this and he was one of the first Presidents to interefere with the economy. He called it the "Hoover New Deal." Many were upset by his new way of doing things. While hoover was only doing it his way, it ended up with businesses and banks going bankrupt and the unemployment rate skyrockteting.

Party Leader

Hoover was the leader of the republican party, the party that had won the presidential elections for over 10 years. Hoover was a respected leader in the party before his election, and many Republicans had the same views on him on many different areas. He was nominated as the candidate for presidency because he was a humanitarian and was known for the things he had achieved in the White House. Also, while he was President, he carried out the things he said he would. The National Reserve added 200 million acres becuase of him. He was a very good party leader in the beginning. And even after his first term, while many didnt think he would be reelected, he was nominated once again for the Presidency by the Republican Party.

National Leader

Hoover achieved many things as President. He did many things that he wanted to do as President. He was an overall good National Leader-in the beginning. He was encouraging and trying to help the economy and the people. He was all for the American Dream and making America rich. The first seven months of his Presidency was quite sucessful. Unfortuantly, the Great Depression came and Hoover lost his sucess. He did not understand what the homeless Americans were going through and was blindsighted by the end. He kept trying to reassure people the the end was near, when really the Great Depression had just begun. He needed to be more sympathetic and try and understand what people were going through. If he had done that, he would have done alot better in his role and the national leader .

Other things that Hoover accomplished:

   - White House Conference on Health and Protection of Children in July 1929 got information         that would help social workers for many years to come

   - Federal Farm Board was a big sucess along with the Agricultural Marketing Act

   - POUR (President's Organization for Unemployment Relief)

   - National Credit Corporation which helped give $500 million to small banks

   - In 1932 signed the Emergency Relief Construction Act, giving over $300 million dollars out to     aid the unemployed

We Want to Thank You Mr. Hoover lyrics from the musical Annie