Important People During the Great Depression
Important People of the Great Depression: 1929-1939
By: Alicia Gerrard
The Great Depression was the result of an economic crisis that forever changed the history of America. The time period after October 24th, 1929 affected Americans from every part of the United States. The stock market crash on this date was one of the main factors that led to the economic downfall of the United States. Though Americans were facing hard times during the years of 1929 to 1939, there were a few important people that were responsible for impacting the lives of the American people during the Depression. Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frances Perkins are some of the key people that took action to achieve relief from the Great Depression. These key people and their role during the Great Depression will be the focus of the research and the content presented in this paper. Each person’s role has a significance that is worth mentioning and the measures the each person took to help America out of the Depression will be discussed.
Herbert Hoover was elected president in 1928 and had only been president for eight months when the stock market crashed in 1929. There had been much speculation about how the stock market crash was caused and many experts, who included Hoover, thought that the crash was due to a recession that had not passed yet[1]. The stock market crash was one of the forces that set America into the deepest economic collapse of the 20th century. In a primary source document, a letter from Hoover to his friend and Governor of Illinois, Louis L. Emmerson, he states that awareness of the state of crisis that America was in at the time. “No matter what improvement there may be in our economic situation during the fall, we shall unquestionably have considerable continuance of destitution over the winter,”[2] Hoover identifies in this statement to Governor Emmerson that America is in a level of severe need for aid, yet he time and again refused to provide direct aid to citizens with federal government money. The decision for Hoover to not provide direct aid to the citizens of America was detrimental to his campaign for re-election, as Americans were looking for hope and a way out of economic crisis.
Though Hoover has been criticized for his seeming lack of relief to the American people, he made efforts to turn the economic climate in a positive direction. “He founded government agencies, encouraged labor harmony, supported local aid for public works, fostered cooperation between government an business in order to stabilize prices, and struggled to balance the budget,”[3] Hoover was focused on efforts that did not put federal government money directly into the citizen’s pocket. He steered clear of policies that would force fixed prices, control businesses or manipulate currency. He feared that this could lead to socialism and this was something his advisors warned him to avoid as they felt that economic downturns were a normal part of capitalism. Hoover was defeated in the 1932 election by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Hoover left the presidency as unpopular with Americans and his ineffective policy that advocated volunteering to help economic change, resulted in intolerable living conditions on the outskirts of major cities, later referred to as Hoovervilles[4]. The election of Roosevelt came at one of the worst years of the Depression for Americans, but would lead to the changes that Hoover failed to establish.
The election of 1932 resulted in Franklin Delano Roosevelt as president. The policies and effective changes that Roosevelt made while he held office would change the American government for the foreseeable future. In his first one hundred days in office, Roosevelt established several policies with the help of several key advisors in his administration including: Frances Perkins, Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes and Louis Brandeis. Frances Perkins was Secretary of Labor, Harry Hopkins had been in charge of emergency relief efforts when Roosevelt was serving as Governor of New York, Harold Ickes was Secretary of the Interior and had served on Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive campaign, and Louis Brandeis, who had once offered political advice to Woodrow Wilson, would then do to the same for Roosevelt from the Supreme Court[5]. The administration that Roosevelt oversaw would assist with implementing the policies of The New Deal. These policies included the Emergency Banking Act, the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Agricultural Adjustment Act. The administration would also help to create various agencies that helped to establish these policies, which included: the National Recovery Administration, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Public Works Administration[6]. The policies and agencies that were established during the Roosevelt administration would be the key to the success of the New Deal and would have a positive impact on the American people.
The nomination of Frances Perkins into a cabinet position would be the first time in history that a woman had held such a position. Perkins was responsible for shaping many of the policies in the New Deal. One of the major accomplishments that Perkins achieved was the creation of minimum wage laws, maximum work weeks and Social Security. Perkins had a platform of issues that she wanted the president to support once she was on the cabinet and one of the main reforms she insisted on creating was a form of Social Security. The Social Security Act that Perkins drafted, which continues to benefit Americans, “44 million people collect Social Security checks each month; millions receive unemployment and worker’s compensation or the minimum wage; others get to go home after an eight hour day,”[7]. The major issues that impacted many Americans were relieved by the efforts of Frances Perkins and her platform during the Roosevelt administration.
There are several other significant people who impacted the Great Depression and made strides to change the economic climate and overall well-being of America. These people include Huey Long, who advocated for faster economic recovery and launch the Share Our Wealth Movement; Upton Sinclair, who headed the End Poverty in California movement and advocated for cooperative ventures that would provide more jobs for unemployed Americans; Dorothea Lange, who photographed the Great Depression and provided a perspective on what American life looked like during the Great Depression[8]. Eleanor Roosevelt, who was First Lady to Roosevelt, also impacted the lives of Americans during the Great Depression by focusing on the needs of America’s youth. She organized the National Youth Administration, which gave part-time work to students. During her time as First Lady, she also advocated for human rights and served as a delegate to the United Nations[9].
Huey Long, Upton Sinclair, Dorothea Lange, and Eleanor Roosevelt each had a unique impact on the lives of Americans during the Great Depression and each helped resolve issues in their own way. Though these individuals helped to either resolve issues or shed light on popular issues of the time, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Frances Perkins were responsible for changes that are still in affect in America today. The policies that Roosevelt and Perkins implemented while in office were some of the most effective changes that have been seen in America’s political system. Social Security, minimum wage, 40-hour work weeks, and worker’s compensation are still policies that affect American workers today. The creation of agencies such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and Public Works Administration helped put Americans back to work, which in turn impacted the recovery of the United States. The policies and changes created by these people are those that helped America out of one of the most difficult and challenging times. The actions made by each individual were steps toward relief for the American people during the Great Depression.
[1] Herbert Hoover to Louis L. Emmerson, July 10, 1931, The Gilder Lehrman Collection, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York, accessed April 6, 2015, http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/new-deal/resources/herbert-hoover-great-depression-and-new-deal-1931%E2%80%931933
[2] Herbert Hoover to Louis L. Emmerson, July 10, 1931, The Gilder Lehrman Collection, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York, accessed April 6, 2015, http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/new-deal/resources/herbert-hoover-great-depression-and-new-deal-1931%E2%80%931933
[3] Herbert Hoover to Louis L. Emmerson, July 10, 1931.
[4] “Hoovervilles”, The Great Depression Sets In, last modified 2010, accessed April 6, 2015, http://www.history.com/topics/hoovervilles
[5] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Fourth Edition ( New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2014), 789-814.
[6] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Fourth Edition ( New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2014), 789-814.
[7] Dean J. Kotlowski, 2013. “The woman behind the New Deal: the life and legacy of Frances Perkins- social security, unemployment, insurance, and the minimum wage.” Labor History 54, no.3: 348-350. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost (accessed April 6, 2015).
[8] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Fourth Edition ( New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2014), 789-814.
[9] Mildred W. Abramowitz, 1984. “Eleanor Roosevelt and The National Youth Administration 1935-1943 – An Extension of the Presidency.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 14, no. 4: 569-580. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost (accessed April 6, 2015).
Herbert Hoover was elected president in 1928 and had only been president for eight months when the stock market crashed in 1929. There had been much speculation about how the stock market crash was caused and many experts, who included Hoover, thought that the crash was due to a recession that had not passed yet[1]. The stock market crash was one of the forces that set America into the deepest economic collapse of the 20th century. In a primary source document, a letter from Hoover to his friend and Governor of Illinois, Louis L. Emmerson, he states that awareness of the state of crisis that America was in at the time. “No matter what improvement there may be in our economic situation during the fall, we shall unquestionably have considerable continuance of destitution over the winter,”[2] Hoover identifies in this statement to Governor Emmerson that America is in a level of severe need for aid, yet he time and again refused to provide direct aid to citizens with federal government money. The decision for Hoover to not provide direct aid to the citizens of America was detrimental to his campaign for re-election, as Americans were looking for hope and a way out of economic crisis.
Though Hoover has been criticized for his seeming lack of relief to the American people, he made efforts to turn the economic climate in a positive direction. “He founded government agencies, encouraged labor harmony, supported local aid for public works, fostered cooperation between government an business in order to stabilize prices, and struggled to balance the budget,”[3] Hoover was focused on efforts that did not put federal government money directly into the citizen’s pocket. He steered clear of policies that would force fixed prices, control businesses or manipulate currency. He feared that this could lead to socialism and this was something his advisors warned him to avoid as they felt that economic downturns were a normal part of capitalism. Hoover was defeated in the 1932 election by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Hoover left the presidency as unpopular with Americans and his ineffective policy that advocated volunteering to help economic change, resulted in intolerable living conditions on the outskirts of major cities, later referred to as Hoovervilles[4]. The election of Roosevelt came at one of the worst years of the Depression for Americans, but would lead to the changes that Hoover failed to establish.
The election of 1932 resulted in Franklin Delano Roosevelt as president. The policies and effective changes that Roosevelt made while he held office would change the American government for the foreseeable future. In his first one hundred days in office, Roosevelt established several policies with the help of several key advisors in his administration including: Frances Perkins, Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes and Louis Brandeis. Frances Perkins was Secretary of Labor, Harry Hopkins had been in charge of emergency relief efforts when Roosevelt was serving as Governor of New York, Harold Ickes was Secretary of the Interior and had served on Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive campaign, and Louis Brandeis, who had once offered political advice to Woodrow Wilson, would then do to the same for Roosevelt from the Supreme Court[5]. The administration that Roosevelt oversaw would assist with implementing the policies of The New Deal. These policies included the Emergency Banking Act, the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Agricultural Adjustment Act. The administration would also help to create various agencies that helped to establish these policies, which included: the National Recovery Administration, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Public Works Administration[6]. The policies and agencies that were established during the Roosevelt administration would be the key to the success of the New Deal and would have a positive impact on the American people.
The nomination of Frances Perkins into a cabinet position would be the first time in history that a woman had held such a position. Perkins was responsible for shaping many of the policies in the New Deal. One of the major accomplishments that Perkins achieved was the creation of minimum wage laws, maximum work weeks and Social Security. Perkins had a platform of issues that she wanted the president to support once she was on the cabinet and one of the main reforms she insisted on creating was a form of Social Security. The Social Security Act that Perkins drafted, which continues to benefit Americans, “44 million people collect Social Security checks each month; millions receive unemployment and worker’s compensation or the minimum wage; others get to go home after an eight hour day,”[7]. The major issues that impacted many Americans were relieved by the efforts of Frances Perkins and her platform during the Roosevelt administration.
There are several other significant people who impacted the Great Depression and made strides to change the economic climate and overall well-being of America. These people include Huey Long, who advocated for faster economic recovery and launch the Share Our Wealth Movement; Upton Sinclair, who headed the End Poverty in California movement and advocated for cooperative ventures that would provide more jobs for unemployed Americans; Dorothea Lange, who photographed the Great Depression and provided a perspective on what American life looked like during the Great Depression[8]. Eleanor Roosevelt, who was First Lady to Roosevelt, also impacted the lives of Americans during the Great Depression by focusing on the needs of America’s youth. She organized the National Youth Administration, which gave part-time work to students. During her time as First Lady, she also advocated for human rights and served as a delegate to the United Nations[9].
Huey Long, Upton Sinclair, Dorothea Lange, and Eleanor Roosevelt each had a unique impact on the lives of Americans during the Great Depression and each helped resolve issues in their own way. Though these individuals helped to either resolve issues or shed light on popular issues of the time, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Frances Perkins were responsible for changes that are still in affect in America today. The policies that Roosevelt and Perkins implemented while in office were some of the most effective changes that have been seen in America’s political system. Social Security, minimum wage, 40-hour work weeks, and worker’s compensation are still policies that affect American workers today. The creation of agencies such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and Public Works Administration helped put Americans back to work, which in turn impacted the recovery of the United States. The policies and changes created by these people are those that helped America out of one of the most difficult and challenging times. The actions made by each individual were steps toward relief for the American people during the Great Depression.
[1] Herbert Hoover to Louis L. Emmerson, July 10, 1931, The Gilder Lehrman Collection, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York, accessed April 6, 2015, http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/new-deal/resources/herbert-hoover-great-depression-and-new-deal-1931%E2%80%931933
[2] Herbert Hoover to Louis L. Emmerson, July 10, 1931, The Gilder Lehrman Collection, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York, accessed April 6, 2015, http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/new-deal/resources/herbert-hoover-great-depression-and-new-deal-1931%E2%80%931933
[3] Herbert Hoover to Louis L. Emmerson, July 10, 1931.
[4] “Hoovervilles”, The Great Depression Sets In, last modified 2010, accessed April 6, 2015, http://www.history.com/topics/hoovervilles
[5] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Fourth Edition ( New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2014), 789-814.
[6] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Fourth Edition ( New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2014), 789-814.
[7] Dean J. Kotlowski, 2013. “The woman behind the New Deal: the life and legacy of Frances Perkins- social security, unemployment, insurance, and the minimum wage.” Labor History 54, no.3: 348-350. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost (accessed April 6, 2015).
[8] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Fourth Edition ( New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2014), 789-814.
[9] Mildred W. Abramowitz, 1984. “Eleanor Roosevelt and The National Youth Administration 1935-1943 – An Extension of the Presidency.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 14, no. 4: 569-580. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost (accessed April 6, 2015).