682 Chapter 25 From “Normalcy” to Economic Collapse: 1921–1933
please all factions to be a forceful leader. Herbert
Hoover thought he was“ignorant but well-meaning,”
and the political analyst Walter Lippmann, in a now-
famous observation, called him “a pleasant man who,
without any important qualifications for the job,
would very much like to be President.”
Despite his physical handicap—he could walk
only a few steps, and then only with the aid of steel
braces and two canes—Roosevelt was a marvelous
campaigner. He traveled back and forth across the
country, radiating confidence and good humor even
when directing his sharpest barbs at the Republicans.
Like every great political leader, he took as much from
the people as he gave them, understanding the causes
of their confusion and sensing their needs.“I have
looked into the faces of thousands of Americans,”he
told a friend.“They have the frightened look of lost
children.... They are saying: ‘We’re caught in some-
thing we don’t understand; perhaps this fellow can
help us out.’”
On matters such as farm policy, the tariff, and
government spending, Roosevelt equivocated, contra-
dicted himself, or remained silent. Nevertheless
Roosevelt’s basic position was unmistakable. There
must be a “re-appraisal of values,” a “New Deal.”
Instead of adhering to conventional limits on the
extent of federal power, the government should do
whatever was necessary to protect the unfortunate and
advance the public good. Lacking concrete answers,
Roosevelt advocated a point of view rather than a
plan:“The country needs bold, persistent experimen-
tation. It is common sense to take a method and try it.
If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above
all, try something.”
The popularity of this approach was demon-
strated in November. Hoover, who had lost only eight
states in 1928, won only six, all in the Northeast, in- Roosevelt amassed 22.8 million votes to
Hoover’s 15.8 million and carried the Electoral
College, 472 to 59.
During the interval between the election and
Roosevelt’s inauguration in March 1933, the Great
Depression reached its nadir. The holdover “lame
duck” Congress, last of its kind, proved incapable of
effective action.^2 President Hoover, perhaps under-
standably, hesitated to institute changes without the
cooperation of his successor. Roosevelt, for equally
plausible reasons, refused to accept responsibility
before assuming power officially. The nation, curi-
ously apathetic in the face of so much suffering,
drifted aimlessly, like a sailboat in a flat calm.
Hoover,New York Campaign Speechat
http://www.myhistorylab.comReadtheDocument(^2) The Twentieth Amendment (1933) provided for convening new
Congresses in January instead of the following December. It also
advanced the date of the president’s inauguration from March 4 to
January 20.
1921– Washington Conference tries to slow arms race
1922
1923 President Harding dies; Coolidge becomes
president
Teapot Dome and other Harding scandals
are exposed
1924 Dawes Plan restructures German
reparations payments
National Origins Act establishes immigration quotas
Coolidge is elected president
1928 Fifteen nations sign Kellogg-Briand Pact to
“outlaw” war
Herbert Hoover is elected president
1929 New York Stock Exchange crash ends big bull
market; Great Depression begins
Young Plan further reduces German reparations
1930 Clark Memorandum renounces Roosevelt
Corollary to Monroe Doctrine
Hawley-Smoot tariff raises duties on foreign
manufactures
Ten-year Dust Bowl begins in South and Midwest
1931 Japan invades Manchuria
Hoover imposes moratorium on war debts
1932 Federal troops disperse Bonus Army marchers in
Washington, DC
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) lends
to banks, railroads, insurance companies
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president
1933 Japan withdraws from League of Nations
Milestones
Chapter Review