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How did Franklin Roosevelt's leadership compare to Herbert Hoover's?
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Franklin D. Roosevelt's leadership is often contrasted with Herbert Hoover's due to their differing responses to the Great Depression. Roosevelt is praised for his proactive approach, implementing extensive government programs and relief efforts, and effectively communicating with the public through initiatives like the "fireside chats." In contrast, Hoover is criticized for his limited government intervention, focusing on business support rather than direct aid to individuals, and for not effectively addressing economic and racial inequalities.
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover can be understood as examples of liberal and conservative approaches to presidency. FDR is hailed by many as a president who actively worked to address the needs of those affected by the Great Depression. Hoover is generally criticized for not being nearly as active and for openly stating that he believed government should not aid individuals who are struggling economically.
FDR was still the president of a racist, imperialist country, and this reality absolutely still remained relevant through his presidency. For example, FDR chose to ruthlessly turn away thousands of Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, citing national security. FDR also chose to specifically tailor his economic aid to poor whites and actively allowed the economic relief programs to discriminate against people of color.
Hoover was similar in his active engagement in racism and lack of engagement around addressing white supremacy. Hoover, however, took his...
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oppressive policies and lack of policies a step forward with his inaction in economic relief programs. While Hoover did allocate some government spending to economic relief, this spending was not tailored toward individuals, but towards strengthening business. Hoover, unlike FDR, did not believe in using government spending towards social welfare, which certainly did not bode well with working class people. While both men were, at their core, presidents of a racist, imperialist nation, there were some differences in their political decisions.
Franklin D. Roosevelt is typically seen as one of the greatest presidents in US history while Herbert Hoover is seen as one of the worst. This is probably not fair to Hoover, but it is how the two are seen. FDR is seen as much greater than Hoover because he was more willing to experiment to end the Great Depression and because he was better than Hoover at communicating with the people (and because he also led the US through WWII).
Herbert Hoover did realize that the Great Depression called for government action. For example, he had the federal government spending $500 million per year on public works projects by 1932. He also created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to lend government money to businesses. However, he was not willing to do as much as FDR was. Hoover did not believe that the government could or should give money to individuals for relief (in essence, welfare payments). He thought that the private sector should be in charge of taking care of people who had been impoverished by the Depression. He thought that it was a bad idea for the government to run deficits to allow it to spend more to help end the Depression.
Roosevelt, by contrast, was willing to do more things to try to end the Depression. He was willing to expand the role of government tremendously. He spent much more money than Hoover on public works. He had the federal government give out relief funds to individuals. While he did not like deficit spending, he was willing to engage in it since he thought it was necessary. He was even willing to have the government get involved to the extent of paying farmers not to plant crops and setting up the Social Security system. In short, FDR was willing to do whatever it took to end the Depression. In addition, he was a more skilled politician than Hoover was. Through his “fireside chats,” FDR was able to make people have confidence in him and believe that he cared about people like them. Hoover had never been able to accomplish this. In these ways, FDR was different from Hoover and those differences have led to the extreme difference in the way these two presidents are perceived.
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