#4 Hoover Struggles with the Depression (14.3 GR) 1. chief function of gov’t: encourage voluntary cooperation among competing interests; federal gov’t should “guide” relief measures but not directly participate (“American economy is sound”) 2. Caution: urged key leaders to work together to provide solutions and to not make the situation worse 3.
a. unemployment continued to rise; more companies went out of business; soup kitchens, shantytowns, and hoboes became common b. Republicans lost control of the House of Reps. and saw their majority in the Senate dwindle to one 4.
a. Directed federal funds into public works projects, such as Boulder (Hoover) Dam, to jumpstart the economy and create jobs; backed a series of federal programs b. Continued to deteriorate 5.
a. Opposed immediate payment of bonuses; ordered an infantry to close their shantytown, led to the gassing of 1,000 people, a baby’s death b. Damaged public image; assured the victory of Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 election