The Great Depression had a devastating impact on the United States. The stock market crash in October 1929 marked the beginning of over a decade of high unemployment, poverty, and despair. By 1932, nearly a quarter of Americans were unemployed as banks collapsed and businesses failed. President Hoover initially took a hands-off approach and urged voluntary cooperation between businesses and workers, but the crisis continued to deepen. By the 1932 election, Hoover's popularity had declined greatly, and Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president on promises to take bolder action to fight the Depression.

1. The Great Depression Herbert Hoover and the American People During Hard Times *For more information on the economic causes of the Great Depression, refer to Mr. Kelly’s PowerPoint Economics of the Great Depression