Question

How did many Americans feel about President Hoover's response to the Great Depression

Answer 1

Most Americans felt Hoover had done too little, too late. They blamed him for failing to grasp the crisis and for relying on voluntarism, balanced budgets and limited federal action instead of direct relief. Critics saw his policies as favoring business and the wealthy and as out of touch with ordinary suffering — shantytowns were nicknamed “Hoovervilles,” veterans driven off during the Bonus Army march deepened public anger, and measures like the Smoot-Hawley tariff and his reluctance to provide direct relief reinforced the view that he wasn’t solving the Depression.