• public works – building projects funded by the government. Hoover increased the number of public works jobs but wanted state and local governments to pay for it.

• deficit spending – when the government spends more money in programs then what it collects in taxes

• Reconstruction Finance Corporation – set up by Congress to make loans to banks, railroads and farmers but was very selective about who it lent money to.

• foreclosures – what happens when a person cannot make their mortgage payments. This happened to over 1 million farms between 1930 and 1934.

• “Bonus Army” – World War I veterans were promised a $1000 bonus ($15,000 in 1932 money) to be paid in 1945. Needing the money immediately veterans marched on Washington in the summer of 1932 demanding their money immediately.

Ch 17 Sec 3: Hoover Responds

Intro 4

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Chapter ObjectivesSection 3: Hoover Responds

• Evaluate President Hoover’s attempts to revive the economy.

• Analyze the limitations of Hoover’s recovery plans.

College: Stanford University

Height: 5’11”

Religion: Quaker

Children: two sons

Occupation: Engineer

Previous Political Offices: Chairman American Relief Commission (1914-15); Chairman Commission for the Relief of Belgium (1915-18); United States Food Administrator (1917-19); Secretary of Commerce (1921-28)

First President born in Iowa

……born west of the Mississippi River

……to visit China (prior to his Presidency)

Presidential Facts of Herbert Hoover

Sign: Leo

Nickname: Grand Old Man, Chief, Man of Great Heart, World Humanitarian

Campaign Theme: A Chicken in Every Pot

Education: Held 89 “honorary” degrees

Favorite Hobbies: Bone fishing (salt water)

Quotable: Was the first person to refer to a long slump in the economy as a “Depression”

Other Notes of Interest….

-HCH officially approved “The Star Spangled Banner” as the National Anthem

-The Hoover Dam was named after him in 1947, although it was completed in 1936.

-His wife Lou always left a $1000 bill on her dresser in the White House to test the staff.

Fun Presidential Facts of Herbert Hoover

Promoting Recovery

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

• In an effort to promote economic recovery, President Herbert Hoover held a series of conferences bringing together the heads of banks, railroads, big business, labor, and government.

• Hoover received a pledge from industry to keep factories open and stop cutting wages.

• After the pledge failed, Hoover increased public works–government-financed building projects.

(pages 542–544)(pages 542–544)

• Hoover asked the nation’s governors and mayors to increase public works spending.

• At the same time, however, Hoover refused to increase government spending or taxes. He feared that deficit spending would actually delay an economic recovery.

Promoting Recovery (cont.)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

(pages 542–544)(pages 542–544)

• As a result, in the midterm congressional elections of 1930, the Republicans lost 49 seats and their majority in the House of Representatives.

Promoting Recovery (cont.)

(pages 542–544)(pages 542–544)

• Americans blamed the Republican Party for the Depression.

Pumping Money Into the Economy

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

• President Hoover tried to persuade the Federal Reserve Board to put more currency into circulation, but the Board refused.

• Hoover set up the National Credit Corporation (NCC), which created a pool of money to rescue banks, but it was not enough to help.

(page 544)(page 544)

• By 1932 Hoover felt the government had to provide funding for borrowers.

• He asked Congress to set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) to make loans to banks, railroads, and agricultural institutions.

• The economy continued to decline when the RFC was too cautious in its loan amounts.

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Pumping Money Into the Economy(cont.)

(page 544)(page 544)

• Hoover opposed the federal government’s participation in relief–money that went directly to very poor families.

• He felt relief was the responsibility of state and local governments.

• In July 1932, Congress passed the Emergency Relief and Construction Act to get money for public works and for loans to the states for direct relief.

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Pumping Money Into the Economy(cont.)

(page 544)(page 544)

In an Angry Mood

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

• By 1931 discontent over the economy led to violence.

• Looting, rallies, and hunger marches began.(pages 544–546)(pages 544–546)

In an Angry Mood

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

• During a hunger march at the nation’s capital, police denied protestors food, water, and medical treatment.

• Congress intervened, stressing the marchers’ right to petition their government.

• Congress permitted them to march on to Capitol Hill.

(pages 544–546)(pages 544–546)

• Between 1930 and 1934, creditors foreclosed, or took possession of, almost a million farms.

In an Angry Mood (cont.)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

(pages 544–546)(pages 544–546)

• Some farmers destroyed their crops, hoping the reduction in supply would cause the prices to go up.

In an Angry Mood (cont.)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

(pages 544–546)(pages 544–546)

• In 1924 Congress enacted a $1,000 bonus to be paid to veterans in 1945.

In an Angry Mood (cont.)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

(pages 544–546)(pages 544–546)

• In 1932 the “Bonus Army” marched to Washington, D.C., to ask Congress to approve the legislation.

• In 1931 a bill was introduced in the House that authorized early payment of the bonus.

• After Hoover refused to meet with the Bonus Army and the Senate voted the new bonus bill down, some of the marchers left.

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

In an Angry Mood (cont.)

(pages 544–546)(pages 544–546)

• Some marchers stayed, moving into deserted buildings in Washington, D.C.

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

In an Angry Mood (cont.)

(pages 544–546)(pages 544–546)

• When Hoover ordered the buildings cleared, disputes between the remaining people and the police (and later the army) resulted in several deaths.

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

In an Angry Mood (cont.)

(pages 544–546)(pages 544–546)