Switching Ideaologies during the Great Depression - 934 Words

During the Great Depression era, many presidents found themselves sliding between political ideologies. They would identify with one, but also enact policies that fall unto the other side. They slid back and forth between being Liberal (or more Democratic) and being Conservative (or more Republican). The ideologies for each side bore a massive difference. The Democrats would favor help from the government while the Republicans chose to go with the attitude of it’s up to the people to make a difference - hard work and no help. The two presidents of this era, Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had different policies abiding to their different sides. While these policies differed from the expected ideologies, they fall closely into what one would expect from today’s political parties. Herbert Hoover, a Republican, followed the path of less government and went directly against Roosevelt and his liberalism. Hoover considered himself a Republican with liberalistic views. During the 1932 election, Hoover ran the campaign against Roosevelt saying that with Roosevelt’s idea of combining government and business is false liberalism (Document 1). This political ideology most closely identifies with a Democratic view point, which is why Hoover also believed he belonged in every group. (Document 1). Although he identified with Republicans, he tended to slide towards the other half as well. However, during the actual depression, Hoover sided with the Republicans more. During