Herbert Hoover - Article Example

Preeti 3/5/2008 HERBERT HOOVER Herbert Hoover was the 31st President of the United s, from 1929 to 1933. Priorto becoming the President, he served as the United States Secretary of Commerce. A Republican candidate, Hoover was a propeller of the ideology that any economic situation or condition could be changed with a technical solution.Herbert contested the elections and won over Al Smith, the Democratic candidate who was Roman Catholic. The citizenry did expect immensely from him, owing to his ideology and belief in the Efficiency Movement, that flourished between 1890 to 1932 in the United States.

The Efficiency Movement of the United States, was a major part of the Progressive Era. The ideology championed by those who supported this movement, was that the society, government and the economy contained unwanted elements that bogged things down. In order to cleanse the system, experts must be appointed to identify the errors and to fix them. Hoover was a prominent figure who championed this movement. He held the view that the economy could be fixed and made better by coming up with technical solutions.

However, it so happened that the Great Depression started in 1929, during the first year of Hoover's tenure as President. Since his ideology that the economy could be fixed, could not work in such a situation, he was the centre of criticism and mistrust.Herbert Hoover was a reformer and believed in improving the condition of livelihood of the citizens. He denounced the laissez-faire system and believed in regulating bills through Congress.

In addition to this, he also supported volunteerism. He brought about reforms in the civil services, challenged criminals and revamped the judicial system and also looked at bringing about a better system of taxation, where low-income groups would be expected to pay lesser taxes. He also looked into bringing about self-sufficiency among the Native Americans and gave them the status of citizens. He also drew up the Clark Memorandum, advocating better international relations with the neighbouring countries of Nicaragua and Haiti.

He also came up with the Hoover Plan, proposing arms embargo in Latin America. Thus, Herbert Hoover looked at improving foreign relations, besides concentrating on improving the condition of the American citizenry, in an era when there w as doubt and uncertainty in the air, after the World War I.REFERENCESWebsite: http://www.stanford.edu/group/wais/HooverInstitute/hoover_herbert.htm