George, You Were No Herbert Hoover

New Republic: Both Are Failed Presidents, But Hoover Was Better Than Bush

(The New Republic)  This column was written by William E. Leuchtenburg.

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At various points throughout his administration, George W. Bush has been likened to Abraham Lincoln and Harry Truman, to Teddy Roosevelt and William McKinley. But during his second term, a consensus has been forming on the president he most brings to mind. As early as the fall of 2006, historian Douglas Brinkley wrote that Bush "has joined [Herbert] Hoover as a case study on how not to be president," and the comparison has only become more commonplace since then. A television ad sponsored by MoveOn.org asserted, "George Bush is going to be the first president since Herbert Hoover to lead an economy that loses jobs," and Senator Charles Schumer of New York declared, "The president's hands-off attitude is reminiscent of Herbert Hoover in 1929 and 1930."

Not until the credit meltdown of the past few weeks raised new doubts about Republican policies, however, did the analogy reach its current pitch of intensity. On ABC's This Week, Cokie Roberts remarked, "Whenever Republicans get into this kind of mess ... the specter of Herbert Hoover comes out to haunt them." During the debate on the bailout, conservative Republican Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, after saying that "this bill offends my principles," announced he was going to vote for it. "This is a Herbert Hoover moment," he explained. "He made some big mistakes in the Great Depression, and we have lived with those consequences for decades. Let's not make that mistake."

But these statements about Hoover provide a grossly distorted view of history. In contrast to George W. Bush, who, as the Yale historian Beverly Gage has said, "stood by and didn't forge a clear direction" as the housing market collapsed around him, President Hoover moved in unprecedented ways to cope with economic calamity. Two days after entering the White House in March 1929, Hoover, who for years had been warning about "the fever of speculation," exhorted Federal Reserve officials to rein in brokers and investment bankers. Following the Black Monday stock market crash that October, he summoned leaders of industry and finance to the White House, where he implored them to maintain wage rates; he urged Congress and state and local governments to accelerate public works spending; he prodded the Federal Reserve Board to expand credit; and he encouraged a newly created Federal Farm Board to bolster crop prices.

Hoover also took pains to assure the nation that "the fundamental business of the country, that is production and distribution of commodities, is on a sound and prosperous basis." In recent days, Bush has echoed these words--as any president seeking to sustain public confidence should. But there is a difference. Hoover spoke less than a year after his landslide victory, near the peak of his prestige. People listened. Bush has been speaking in the waning days of his presidency, and his approval ratings are abysmal. Few heed.

The Depression entered a second phase in the spring of 1931 when the collapse of Austria's foremost bank, Kreditanstalt, sent shock waves through Europe, and, once again, Hoover took command. Alarmed that extremists might seize power in Germany, he hazarded bold initiatives: a moratorium on World War I debts payment and approval of the charter of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), an unparalleled intervention into the market by the federal government in peacetime. To supplement the RFC, he advocated legislation to undergird mortgages and to liberalize requirements for the issue of Federal Reserve notes. Today these measures seem modest, but, at the time, Business Week called the law to ease credit "perhaps the most powerful dose of monetary medicine that has ever been applied to the strengthening of the banking system in a similar period."

So conspicuous was the activism of a man reputed to be a do-nothing president that some historians perceive Hoover to be the progenitor of the New Deal. But that view is absurd. Even during the first two phases of the Depression, Hoover exhibited an almost pathological fear of granting federal relief to the impoverished. By the time the Depression had entered its third phase--the banking crisis of his last weeks in office--he had become a prisoner of economic orthodoxy, obsessed with balancing the budget.

Indeed, Hoover does resemble Bush in a number of regrettable ways. He was stubborn and often myopic. He rejected counsel that did not accord with his misconceptions, and he deceived himself that conditions were far better than they were. He agreed to a massive federal program only after a long period of resistance, and he appointed men to administer it who had small sympathy for government intrusion into the private sector. He favored aid to financial institutions, but not to the victims of hard times. He was nonplused about how to stanch the hemorrhaging when the financial illness became an epidemic. Furthermore, he failed to inspirit the nation. Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, said, "If you put a rose in Hoover's hand, it would wilt." Even revisionist historians who view Hoover kindly concede that his was a failed presidency.

Still, it's unfortunate that commentators and politicians are employing "Hoover" as an epithet for inaction. His White House tribulations consumed only four of more than 90 years studded with extraordinary achievements--as Great Engineer, as World War I Food Czar, and, above all, as Great Humanitarian. During the Great War, Hoover heroically crossed mine-strewn waters from Britain to the Continent on errands of mercy countless times. While Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s, he sped relief to famine sufferers in Soviet Russia despite his loathing of bolshevism. "In the past year," Maxim Gorki wrote him, "you have saved from death three and one-half million children, five and one-half million adults."

Far from being a right-wing zealot, Hoover won the admiration of progressives for his advanced views. In the Wilson era, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called him "the biggest figure injected into Washington by the war," and John Maynard Keynes, reflecting on the Versailles conference, concluded that Hoover was "the only man who emerged from the ordeal of Paris with an enhanced reputation." As the 1920 election approached, Franklin D. Roosevelt said of him, "He is certainly a wonder, and I wish we could make him President of the United States. There would not be a better one."

For a long time after his defeat at the hands of FDR in 1932, Hoover was a pariah, scourged for his behavior in the Great Depression and for the mindless reactionary harangues he delivered as ex-president, but, as his life neared an end, the country came to look at him more charitably. On his 90th birthday, 16 states proclaimed "Herbert Hoover Day." Hoover, an associate reminded the press soon afterward, had "fed more people and saved more lives than any other man in history."

No matter how far into the future we may peer, it's difficult to imagine that there is ever going to be a George W. Bush Day. More likely, posterity will say, "George, you were no Herbert Hoover."

[pdchapin]

That''s when Jimmy Carter was elected and the interest for a home loan went to 21.5%. Yes that''''''''s right 21.5%.

Posted by bunwiper at 05:29 PM : Oct 22, 2008

Sorry, but I bought my first house at the end of the Carter adminstration and paid 12%, not as good as today but no 20+ %. And with inflation running as hot as it was, the real burden dropped quickly. Beside, I was able to buy a relatively nice place for twice my annual income which is pretty hard to do now. (Well, maybe not now after the housing market collapse). Low initial cost results in lower payments.

[koko98-2009]

Well this was a no-brainer. Unlike Bush who was given everything he ever had, Hoover was the classic rags to riches story. An orphan who grew up to be one of the 10 richest men in the world and until the Great Depression one of the most admired. A quote from the 20''s said the only person Hoover would lose a popularity contest with was the Virgin Mary. George W. Bush in his wildest dreams could only be half the person Hoover was.

[taxguydave]

Sadly we don''''t still hang people fo treason against our government when they speak so badly of our President! Posted by bevie79

Gee, we''ve never hanged people for speaking ill of the government or it''s officials in this country. Pesky First Amendment and all.

Since you despise our freedoms I can only assume that you despise our country. You, sir, are the traitor!

You must be thinking of 1930''s Germany, where I think you would have fit in quite well.

[walt1944-2009]

Everyone knows that Herbert Hoover was a bad president and did little if anything to get the country back on its feet after the stock market crash of 1929 and the Bank Holiday.

It is now inspiring to know that there has become a WORSE President than Hoover and that we have all lived thru 8 years of his (mis)rule. The Great Emperor Bush II has become the NEW WORST LEADER, this country has ever had, surpassing Hoover as the ABSOLUTE WORST leader and creating a new "benchmark" for all future Great Emperors to avoid, except possibly John McBush McCain if a miracle happens and he is elected/appointed/annointed!!!

The Great Emperor Bush II, who had been concerned about his "legacy", now has no need to fear that ANYONE with even the smallest amount of intelligence, would even WANT to approach the depths to which the Great Emperor Bush II and, in fact, the entire Bush family, including his idiot father, has shown us they can achieve.

SIG HEIL, I''VE ACHIEVED MY LEGACY!!!, BUSH!!!
sig heil, IT''S THANKS TO THOSE UN-AMERICANS WITH THE "ELITIST ATTITUDE" LIVING IN BLUE STATES!!!, McBush!!!
sig heil, MY TRUNKS ARE PACKED, I''M READY TO GO!!!, Palin!!!

[Please and Thank You]

"I just hope that after the election we can send Bush, Cheney, Rove and Chevron Rice to jail for war crimes. An investigation will also likely implicate at least half the Republican congress. Best way to wipe them out. "

That is way to good for any of them. Guantanamo is to good for any of them and their families.

[hologram5]

@bevie79 at 10:34 AM : Oct 23, 2008
Who are you to call us idiots. Just because I am not voting for McLame doesn''t mean I am voting DEMOCRAP.
Stereotyping sure is the norm with the repugnicon party members. They (both parties) have basically ruined the economy and created the biggest lie with the worst loss of life. Both in war and attacks. I will write in Ron Paul because I want real change and I also don''t want my tax dollars to go to "bail outs" any more. Watch Loose Change and get a clue...

[bevie79]

Sadly we don''t still hang people fo treason against our government when they speak so badly of our President! If we did, all of you idiots would be gone who are supporting the terrorist! I''d really love it if they''d bring back som of the old ways!
You have no respect for this country just like te ZKoolaid drinking follwers of the Brainwasher Obama. You''ll see, it''ll come out later where he is from and what exactly his plan is, since he still can''t make up his mind to tell an exact plan. Go ahead and follow him like the "Pied Piper" right into yourdoom! I will si back and laugh!
Country First!
Go McCain & Palin!!!!

[jsl45]

George Bush, the Herbert Hoover of the 21st Century....what a disaster he''s been. History is going to give him exactly what he deserves!!

[dgal878]

As an independent voter who DID NOT vote for Bush either time, it''s been a deeply troubling ride. I think it''s all too ironic to hear his constituents belly ache now. I fully anticipate hearing the same type of grumblings to follow the next elected official. His constituents will deserve what they get, but I feel sorry for the rest of us.

[timothyone-2009]

And let''s not forget that Charles Manson once helped a little old lady who had fallen while walking her dog. After lifting her to her feet, he stood by and watched to make certain she would be OK.
And Adolf Hitler himself once risked his life by using a large stick to run off a dog that was trying to steal another little boy''s bratwurst. Honest!
I think revisionist history is a wonderful propaganda tool that I use every chance I get!

[dwightdavid2]

You can''t read accounts of the relief effort in Europe at the end of World War I, which Herbert Hoover oversaw, without being impressed. Keynes said that Hoover saved millions of lives. Hoover was also sympathetic to Keynes''s approach to the Treaty of Versailles, I believe. All of this is in D Markwell''s book "John Maynard Keynes and International Relations". There is no doubt in my mind that Herbert Hoover was a person of greater intellectual and moral calibre that George W Bush...

[messiahx4eve]

Joe the wannabe-plumber dies and goes to heaven, as he arrives there, he notices there are clocks all over heaven. He asks Jesus what the clocks are and Jesus replies, "They are the clocks of truth in heaven & lies of h3ll, for every lie told, the big hand spins around once. Joe the plumber is curious about Insane McCain''s, Failin'' Palin''s, shrubbie''s & lil Dikkie Cheney''s clocks. Jesus sadly replies, "they never made it here, their clocks are in h3ll and being used as fans in the kitchen.

[ioweign]

Only problem with your Dad''''s theory is that He must have died before 1976. That''''s when Jimmy Carter was elected and the interest for a home loan went to 21.5%. Yes that''''s right 21.5%. The recession that followed during the first two years of the Reagan andminstration was backlash from that. What your father also failed to tell you Jr. is that Reagan turned the economy around. It was Bush I, Clinton and Bush II and **** senator elite number 1 that are responsible for the crapola we are in now.

Posted by bunwiper at 05:29 PM : Oct 22, 2008

Carter inherited Nixon going off the gold standard...

[adt13t]

demented ronnie spent like a drunken sailor
massively expanding the size of govt.
and of course the national debt (credit
card) which he passed to the next generation
to pay off
uncle demented ronnies fraudulent bedtime
stories so easily digested by the willfully
self deceived bend over pawn crib

[adt13t]

uncle demented ronnie expanded the size of government
(he promised to shrink it but failed)
and instead created a bubble by giving tax breaks
to the rich and massive deficit spending
proving trickle down was a charlatan hoax to
begin with

[marcosis78]

At least Hoover had the Dam built with his name. Bush isnt getting anything except the door and a library to chronicle his abomination...I mean presidency.

[roger3815]

Hoover would be a step up from Bush.

[ubrew12]

Good history lesson.

[observantx]

The real issue is that since Ronny Raygun, there have been no REAL Republicans. You know, small government, fiscally conservative, etc.

We now have "Republicans in name only" RINOs. Reactionary, fiscally irresponsible, government bloating, intrusive into our lives (what library books have you been reading?)(Ooooh, another juicy email!!). What''s most laughable is the "compassionate conservative" label they have tried to use. In no manner shape or form are they conservative.

Eisenhower, Goldwater and Rockefeller must be spinning in their graves so fast, they are a new source of free energy.

Obama looks more like a Republican than this current crop of Wall Street Socialists.

[brianbwb-2009]

"You dumb ars. It will implicate all of congress dems and repubs alike...except Obama whom didn''t vote for the war. He was just getting out of diapers then."
Posted by bunwiper

While that is not a bad idea, Congress was only acting on what the president told them, just as they made the unnecessary bailout based on Bush''s lie that the economy would collapse "within days".

Believing a treasonous liar is only stupid, telling the treasonous lies is a crime.