A couple of weeks ago Time magazine asked, “What can Barack Obama learn from FDR?” That got me thinking about the Great Depression. It’s an event I’ve studied a lot over the past three years. There’s one major problem with the Obama as FDR idea though; it doesn’t fit. This idea obviously fits the left’s romantic idea of FDR and Obama, but from a historic perspective it’s a little puzzling. A better question would be, “What can Barack Obama learn from Hoover?” When Roosevelt was sworn into office on March 4, 1933, the depression had been going on for three and half years. Hoover had been president for just seven months when the stock market crashed in October 1929.
Herbert Hoover was an extremely popular guy. It was the reason he elected president. Hoover’s exploits as a mining engineer and a humanitarian had made him an obvious choice for president when Coolidge refused to run for another term. To be sure, no reasonable person would blame Hoover for the stock market crash seven months into his term. This is the same problem Obama faces.
When the crash happened Hoover used every tool at his disposal to mitigate the effects of the downturn. Hoover didn’t have a “hands off” reaction; in fact, many of his policies were later copied by FDR. It is my belief (and I’m not alone) that Hoover’s policies after the crash (followed by FDR) turned a great recession into the Great Depression. This is the lesson Obama must learn. Unprecedented government intervention could make the economy much worse. After three years of meddling Hoover was unable to turn things around and paid the price at the polls. If the economy doesn’t turn around Obama will be viewed as Hoover, not FDR.
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