Quotes
- "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land."
- "Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!"
- "It is just as important that business keep out of government as that government keep out of business."
- "America - a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose."
- "If the law is upheld only by government officials, then all law is at an end."
- "Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. Economic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body the producers and consumers themselves."
- "I'm the only person of distinction who has ever had a depression named for him.
- "About the time we can make the ends meet, somebody moves the ends."
- "Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!"
- "It is just as important that business keep out of government as that government keep out of business."
- "America - a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose."
- "If the law is upheld only by government officials, then all law is at an end."
- "Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. Economic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body the producers and consumers themselves."
- "I'm the only person of distinction who has ever had a depression named for him.
- "About the time we can make the ends meet, somebody moves the ends."
Hoover's beliefs
When Hoover was elected, the nation felt that prosperity would continue. However, the stock market and the nation fell into a recession which soon became a depression. As the crisis deepened, Hoover asked Congress for the creation of a Reconstruction Finance Corporation. But, he also wanted the people suffering from the depression to only be helped in a local and voluntary way. He preferred a non-government solutions and approaches to economic problems. Hoover believed this was the way to protect "American character". He was also one of the 1920s Presidents who believed in a "laissez faire" approach to the economy. This meant "leave alone" and was the belief in having no government interference with the nations economy or business, even though Hoover supported business regulations. When the Great Depression struck America, Hoover's beliefs of voluntarism to help the economy were proven to be the wrong and not a boost for the failing economy. In time, Hoover did use the government to help the downfall of the economy. He created a program called Reconstruction Finance Corporation which was made to help the nation's banks. However, Hoover still refused to give help with government action to individuals starving or in poverty. He was still a believer in rugged individualism, a philosophy that believed in people succeeding through their own efforts to take care of themselves and their families, rather than having the government help them.