Hoover, "None could have done better"

BillJones

In 1932 the country was in an angry mood. The Great Depression, which had started with the Stock Market Crash of 1929 was getting worse, and many people blamed President Herbert Hoover for it. Hoover was beside himself looking for answers. He had attempted to use some economic stimulus with increased government spending. In fact many of things he tried, Franklin Roosevelt would try also, only bigger. None of it was working, and Hoover at one point thought that a good joke might left the national mood.

Hoover was the butt of many jokes. There were "Hoovervilles" the tarpaper shanty towns where the homeless and down and out lived. "Hoovermobiles" which were broken down cars pulled by a horse or mule. And "Hooverblankets" which were old newspapers people used to try to get warm.

In this political atmosphere, the Republican Party made a series of stick pins that the party gave to donors who ponyed up at least a dollar. The obverse featured the GOP elephant with the slogan, "None could have done better." This defensive phrase was about the best the GOP could say about their candidate, who took a drubbing in November, 1932. Here is an example of the die struck token that is on the stickpin with two reverses, from Morgan County, Colorado and Maine.

hammer1

A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage

TopographicOceans

"None could have done better."
Higher praise could not be found I guess.

No matter who wins the 2016 election, I think history will record them as the worst president ever.

fastfreddie

Originally posted by: TopographicOceans

"None could have done better."

Higher praise could not be found I guess.



No matter who wins the 2016 election, I think history will record them as the worst president ever.

Please! Reserve judgment until Chelsea Clinton or Michelle Obama have been elected (or re-elected) president.

coinkat

A state that Hoover managed to carry in 1932... very nice item

BillJones

Originally posted by: coinkat
A state that Hoover managed to carry in 1932... very nice item

And don't forget the 1936 election.... "So goes Maine so goes Vermont." That's all Alf Landon won that year.

ricko

Nice bit of history Bill....thanks....Cheers, RickO

AUandAG

Don't forget that there were successes for Hoover.



His public works programs did plenty to help the unemployed. Hoover Dam on the Colorado River comes to mind.



Times were certainly tough.



bob

coinkat

As for Landon, the Literary Digest conducted a poll in 1936 that showed Landon ahead of FDR-And by a fairly substantial margin. So they predicted a Landon upset. Needless to say they were wrong. Their poll sample was from telephoning which was not a representative sample of the electorate. A telephone was not in every household. Much was learned about polling from this and the Literary Digest did not survive.

BillJones

Originally posted by: AUandAG
Don't forget that there were successes for Hoover.

His public works programs did plenty to help the unemployed. Hoover Dam on the Colorado River comes to mind.

Times were certainly tough.

bob

In many ways Herbert Hoover was a great man. He headed up a wonderful relief plan for Europe after World War I. He was an outstanding engineer. Some of the texts that he wrote were in use in the industry up until the latter part of the 1960s. He made his fortune early in life and tried to dedicate the rest of his life to humanitarian causes. All of this after he was orphaned at an early age, and accomplished great things powered by his own initiative.

The trouble was he didn't have a great personality for the presidency, especially given the extreme economic conditions he faced soon after he took office. He presented too much of a dour face and could not project a more lighthearted, optimistic persona. This 1928 campaign button summed up the way many people, who blamed Hoover for The Great Depression, viewed him. When it came to the presidency, Herbert Hoover was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

johnny9434

nice token bill jones. nice score to

lkeigwin

A close ally and confidant of Hoover's said Hoover felt the opposing party was intentionally sabotaging the economy for the sake of a victory in the next presidential election. Imagine that.



I admire the man. He was bright, loyal, hard working, had strong ethics and a lot of charity in his heart.



Nice token, Bill!

Lance.

dpoole

Hoover was a master organizer and a great humanitarian. Hoover did desperately propose stimulus interventions and other measures to Roosevelt proposing their cooperation during the period between the election and the inauguration, and was ignored.

EagleEye

Except for a little old lady's choice swing of her purse, we might have had President John Garner in 1933. She nudged an assassin's arm and sent the bullet aimed at Roosevelt into Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak who was sitting alongside Roosevelt. The Mayor died. Roosevelt was unharmed. This happened in February 1933, after the election, but before the inauguration.