1. The Triumph of Herbert Hoover, 1928
a. In 1928, Calvin Coolidge said, “I do not choose to run,” his successor was Herbert Hoover.
b. Hoover talked about his view that America was made great by strong, self-sufficient individuals, like pioneers.
c. Hoover was opposed by New York governor Alfred E. Smith.
d. Radio was important in the campaign.
e. Hoover had never been elected to public office before, but he had made from poverty to prosperity.
2. President Hoover’s First Moves
a. The Agricultural Marketing Act, passed in June of 1929, help the farmers help themselves, it set up a Federal Farm Board to help farmers.
i. In 1930, the Farm Board created the Grain Stabilization Corporation, the Cotton Stabilization Corporation to bolster lower prices by buying surpluses.
b. The Hawley-Smoot Tariff in 1930 raised the tariff to 60%.
i. Foreigners hated this tariff that reversed a promising worldwide trend toward reasonable tariffs and widened the yawning trade gaps.
3. The Great Crash Ends the Golden Twenties
a. On October 29, 1929, a devastating stock market crash caused by over-speculation and overly high stock prices struck the nation.
b. Losses, even blue-chip securities, were unbelievable by the end of 1929; stockholders lost over $40 million in paper values (more than the cost of World War I).
c. By the end of 1930, 4 million Americans were jobless, two years later, that number went up to 12 million.
d. Over 5,000 banks collapsed in the first three years of the Great Depression.
e. Lines formed at soup kitchens and at homeless shelters.
4. Hooked on the Horn of Plenty
a. The Great Depression might have been caused by a lot of farm products and factory products.
b. Britain and France’s situations from World War I, worsened.
c. In 1930, a terrible drought scorched the Mississippi Valley and thousands of farms were sold to pay for debts.
d. By 1930, the depression was a national crisis,