Herbert Hoover Presentation.

1. Herbert
Hoover: The
Calamity of
presidents
Unit: The Roaring Twenties
US History (11th Grade)
Presentation by Dylan Bloxham

2. Learning Objective and
Standards
• Lecture Objective: Gaining a greater
understanding of Herbert Hoover with an
emphasis on his failures as president. Student
should formulate an argument on why his
presidency failed to properly address the Great
Depression.
• CA Standard: 11.5 Students analyze the
major political, social, economic,
technological, and cultural developments of
the 1920s.
1. Discuss the policies of Presidents
Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and
Herbert Hoover.

3. Let’s Think About Our
Own Struggles!
• Please take out a piece of paper. Now in
the next sixty second please write down
as many words that you associate with
difficulty or struggle.
• Examples: Adversity, frustration, anger,
confusion, etc.
• Now please turn to a neighbor and
discuss how you personally have
overcome struggles in life. This can be
about a school, friendship, or any
applicable situation!

4. Who is Herbert Hoover? • 31st President of the United
States (1929-1933).
• Presided over the beginning of
the Great Depression and the
end of the Roaring Twenties.
• Hoover did not believe in
federal assistance programs
and signed the Hawley-Smoot
Tariff, which decreased
American exports and
worsened the Depression.
• Lost reelection to Franklin D.
Roosevelt (FDR) in 1932 and
settled into retired life as an
unpopular man.
https://www.usitc.gov/documents/dataweb/ave_table_1891_2016.pdf

5. Herbert
Hoover and
the
Depression

6. Hoover’s Early Response
Stock Market
crashes and
unemployment
spikes.
Hoover
believes in
laissez-faire
and
individualism.
Depression
continues
to worsen,
and families
need
assistance.
Hoover signs
protection
tariff, which
makes the
Depression
worse.
Unemployment
continues to go
up and banks
close.
Limited federal
response
continues, and
the Depression
just gets worse.

7. Now You Try!
• Take out a piece of paper.
• In the next two minutes, write
down one way that President
Hoover did not respond to the
Depression.
• Just write down one bullet points.
• Now in the next sixty seconds
discuss with a partner this
question: Why did Hoover not take
a more active role in easing the
Great Depression?

8. Unemployment
spike with Hoover's
policies

9. Life under Hoover's
Watch
• Homeless encampments deemed
“Hooverville's”.
• Individuals seeking employment
across the country migrate from
state to state.
• Long bread lines and soup
kitchens to feed the hungry.
• Massive unemployment and bank
failure.
• Poverty.

10. Hoover’s Other
Accomplishments
• Helped build dams in California and Tennessee
Valley.
• Helped establish the Veterans Administration
(VA).
• Led Child Welfare Reform at the State Level.
• Made the “Star-Spangled Banner” the National
Anthem.
• Refuses to pay veterans an early bonus and
dispersed them from the capital.
• Sadly, these accomplishments are overshadowed
by his failure to properly address the Great
Depression.

11. Now You Try!
• What would have you have done
if you were Herbert Hoover?
• Would you have asked the
federal government to do more?
• Could the Depression have
solved itself if the American
people gave Hoover another
term?
• Discuss with a partner these
questions and then we will
reconvene for a class discussion.

12. Life After the White House
• Hoover would loss in a landslide to Roosevelt in 1932, and
he would be the last Republican president for nearly two
decades.
• Hoover led an active retirement in California as a vocal
critic of Roosevelt’s policies and the expansion of the
presidency.
• He would pass away at the age of ninety in 1964 from
cancer. He was laid to rest in his home state of Iowa.

13. Hoover’s
Legacy
• Hoover is remembered as a below
average president, who failed to
confront the Great Depression.
• Historian critique his stubbornness
to compromise his views in order to
save the economy.
• Hoover’s legacy will forever be
overshadowed by Franklin
Roosevelt’s New Deal and shaping of
the presidency.

14. Review of the Depression and Hoover
• Watch his video for a refresher on the Great
Depression’s origins and Herbert Hoover’s
response to the crisis.

15. Let’s Wrap It Up!
• Complete the following
chart on the
corresponding handout
that I have provided.
• Answer the last question
in three to four sentences
and pass your worksheet
to front of the class.
Causes of
Depression
Other Hoover
Accomplishments
Hoover’s Legacy
1.
2.
3.
Does Hoover deserve criticism?