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Herbert Hoover
President at the time of the Great Depression. Failed to respond to the suffering going on at the time. He created the President's Committee for Unemployment and the President's Organization for Unemployment relief, which simply encouraged local groups to raise money to help the unemployed. He also established the Federal Farm Board to try to help farmers by created government funded grain storage and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to provide subsidized loans to banks, rail roads, etc. -
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The Great Depression
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Great Depression
The causes of this event included the crash of the stock market, farming recession, unequal distribution of wealth, and overproduction and under consumption. Unemployment rates skyrocketed, and many banks closed. This led to tremendous hardship for the American people, leaving many unable to provide food and shelter for their families. -
Hoovervilles
This is the name for the shanty towns that sprung up around major cities during the Great Depression. -
Bonus Army
Group of WWI veterans that marched to D.C. to demand the immediate payment of their government war bonuses in cash. General Douglas McArthur, under the orders of Hoover, used tanks and flame throwers to dispurse WWI veterans. -
Douglas MacArthur
Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army who led his troops to forcibly evict the 2,000 veterans remaining in the capital from the Bonus Army. He exaggerated the menace of the peaceful demonstrators insisting that they were driven by "the essence of revolution." -
Franklin D. Roosevelt
born in 1882, the former governor of New York. He won the election of 1932 by stating that he had "a new deal for the American People." He severed as president for 4 terms. He unlike presidents before himself he abandoned the Laissez-Faire and aw his role as president as being hands on with the American People. He broadcast "fireside chats" over the radio which millions of Americans listened to. He did many things to help to country to recover from the Great Depression starting with building up -
Frances Perkins
FDR's secretary of labor and the nation's first woman cabinet member, who can be quoted saying "Programs long thought of as merely labor welfare, such as shorter hours, higher wages, and a voice in terms of conditions of work, are really essential economic factors for recovery. -
Eleanor Roosevelt
FDR's distant cousin and wife; niece of Theodore Roosevelt; became an influential advisor and political force on her own; encouraged FDR to continue in politics after his episode with polio; revolutionized the role of the political wife by taking a position involving no institutional duties and turning it into a base for independent action; worked behind the scenes with a wide network of women professionals and reformers; a strong supporter of protective labor legislation for women; convened a W -
New Deal
two series of bills passed by Congress during FDR's time in office, intended to combat the effects of the Great Depression. The first, also known as the 100 days legislation, included the Emergency Banking Relief Act, Civilian Conservation Corps, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, National Industry Recovery Act, and the Public Works Administration. The second took place from 1935-1938 and it included the Emergency Relief A -
Francis Townsend
California- retired doctor- Old Age Revolving Pension Plan-called for payments of $200 per month to all people over sixty-pensions be financed by national 2% tax on all commercial transactions -
John Maynard Keynes
British economist who published "General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money"; favored increased federal spending to stimulate the economy. -
Father Charles Coughlin
He was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience, as possibly thirty million listeners tuned to his weekly broadcasts during the 1930s. Early in his career Coughlin was a vocal supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his early New Deal proposals, before later becoming a harsh critic of Roosevelt as too friendly to bankers. In 1934 he announced a new political organization called the National Union for Social Justice. He wrote a platform calling for monetary -
Father Coughlin
Catholic priest in suburban Detroit- radio talk show with passionate sermons attacking Wall Street, international bankers, and "plutocratic capitalism"- founded National Union for Social Justice- attacked Roosevelt saying New Deal was part of communist conspiracy -
Huey Long
An American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. A Democrat, he was an outspoken populist who denounced the rich and the banks and called for "Share the Wealth." As the political boss of the state he commanded wide networks of .supporters and was willing to take forceful action. -
Huey Long
Louisiana backcountry orator-posed great potential threat to FDR leadership- organized Share our Wealth Society- "Every Man a King " slogan- could have won presidency against FDR but was assassinated in 1935 by a disgruntled political enemy -
Francis Townsend
An American physician who was best known for his revolving old-age pension proposal during the Great Depression. Known as the "Townsend Plan", this proposal influenced the establishment of the Roosevelt administration's Social Security system. -
John L. Lewis
long-time labor leader who organized and led the first important unskilled workers labor union (CIO), called in to represent union during sit-down strike
