President Hoover

Our 31st president who took office in 1929 was one of the most highly blamed people for the Great Depression, which lasted over a decade. He was thought to be insensitive towards the suffering of the American people during this time which lead to his defeat by Franklin Roosevelt in the 1932 election. He became an orphan at the age of 9 and was raised by his uncle in Oregon until he became one of the first people to enter Stanford in 1891. He was a mining engineer with a degree in geology. He became a millionaire mining around the world and extracting resources before he got married and had two sons. Hoover worked as a humanitarian. He helped 120,000 Americans return home safely after the hostilities broke out in Europe, as well as delivering food and supplies to the Belgians after Germany invaded, as he was head of the food administration. He was also head of the American Relief Administration and sent "Hoover lunches," over to Europe after the war. He also laid the groundwork for Hoover Dam. In his inaugural speech Hoover said, "I have no fears for the future of our country. It is bright with hope." Little did he known one of the biggest depressions in American History was about to occur under his leadership. The stock market crashed sending banks and businesses to fail, and in just 3 years the unemployment rate rose 20%. The people lived in cardboard towns nicknamed "Hoovervilles," and all across the country people waited in lines for soup and bread for meals while the rest starved simply due to lack of money to buy food. People lost their savings, theirs homes, their jobs, and it was all blamed on Hoover. Hoover believed the government should not get involved in the economy, which is his reasoning for vetoing many bills that would have helped the struggling citizens. He was quoted saying the people just need to wait it out and everything will be ok. He was not a terrible guy he was just put in charge of a terrible time period. He was widely disliked by the next election and since Franklin Roosevelt was saying he planned to start relief programs Hoover was beat out for office. After he left office he wrote books and articles on Franklins actions and the dangers of them. He rejoined government in 1950 serving on commissions of other presidents.
http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/herbert-hoover
http://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/his1005spring2011/2011/03/10/the-great-depression-breadline-and-worlds-highest-standard-of-living/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/herberthoover