Editing Herbert Hoover (section)

==Presidency (1929–1933)==
{{Main|Presidency of Herbert Hoover}}
[[File:Taft Hebert Hoover Oath.jpg|thumb|[[Inauguration of Herbert Hoover|Hoover's inauguration]]]]
{{conservatism US|politicians}}
Hoover saw the presidency as a vehicle for improving the conditions of all Americans by encouraging public-private cooperation—what he termed "volunteerism". He tended to oppose governmental coercion or intervention, as he thought they infringed on American ideals of individualism and self-reliance.<ref name="9iopl">{{Citation | title = Biography | date = October 4, 2016 | publisher = Miller center | url = http://millercenter.org/president/hoover/essays/biography/1}}</ref> The first major bill that he signed, the [[Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929]], established the [[Federal Farm Board]] in order to stabilize farm prices.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=65–66}} Hoover made extensive use of commissions to study issues and propose solutions, and many of those commissions were sponsored by private donors rather than by the government. One of the commissions started by Hoover, the Research Committee on Social Trends, was tasked with surveying the entirety of American society.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=84–85}} He appointed a Cabinet consisting largely of wealthy, business-oriented conservatives,{{sfn|Fausold 1985|p=34}} including Secretary of the Treasury [[Andrew Mellon]].{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=81–82}} [[Lou Henry Hoover]] was an activist First Lady. She typified the [[New Woman|new woman]] of the [[Interwar period|post–World War I era]]: intelligent, robust, and aware of multiple female possibilities.<ref>See generally Nancy Beck Young, ''Lou Henry Hoover: Activist First Lady'' (University Press of Kansas, 2005)</ref>

===Great Depression===
{{See also|Great Depression in the United States}}

On taking office, Hoover said that "given the chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, we shall soon with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation".<ref>{{cite book|first1=James L. |last1=Roark |first2=Michael P.|last2=Johnson|first3=Patricia Cline|last3=Cohen|first4=Sarah|last4=Stage|first5=Susan M.|last5=Hartmann|title=The American Promise, Volume C: A History of the United States: Since 1890|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ozj_o6POIssC&pg=PA772|year=2012|publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's|page=772|isbn=978-0-312-56944-0}}</ref> Having seen the fruits of prosperity brought by technological progress, many shared Hoover's optimism, and the already bullish stock market climbed even higher on Hoover's accession.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=80–81}} This optimism concealed several threats to sustained U.S. economic growth, including a persistent [[Farm crisis of the 1920s|farm crisis]], a saturation of [[consumer goods]] like [[Car|automobiles]], and growing [[Income inequality in the United States|income inequality]].{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=65–68}} Most dangerous of all to the economy was excessive speculation that had raised [[Share price|stock prices]] far beyond their value.{{sfn|Kennedy|1999|pp=35–36}} Some regulators and bankers had warned Coolidge and Hoover that a failure to curb speculation would lead to "one of the greatest financial catastrophes that this country has ever seen," but both presidents were reluctant to become involved with the workings of the [[Federal Reserve System]], which regulated banks.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=68–71}}

In late October 1929, the [[Stock Market Crash of 1929|stock market crashed]], and the worldwide economy began to spiral downward into the [[Great Depression]].{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=72–74}} The [[causes of the Great Depression]] remain a matter of debate,{{sfn|Kaufman|2012|p=502}} but Hoover viewed a lack of confidence in the financial system as the fundamental economic problem facing the nation.{{sfn|Houck|2000|pp=155–156}} He sought to avoid direct federal intervention, believing that the best way to bolster the economy was through the strengthening of businesses such as banks and railroads. He also feared that allowing individuals on the "[[welfare spending|dole]]" would permanently weaken the country.{{sfn|Carcasson|1998|pp=350–351}} Instead, Hoover strongly believed that local governments and private giving should address the needs of individuals.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009b}}

====Early policies====

Though he attempted to put a positive spin on [[Wall Street Crash of 1929|Black Tuesday]], Hoover moved quickly to address the [[Stock market crash|stock market collapse]].{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=74–75}} In the days following Black Tuesday, Hoover gathered business and labor leaders, asking them to avoid wage cuts and work stoppages while the country faced what he believed would be a short recession similar to the Depression of 1920–21.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=104105}} Hoover also convinced railroads and public utilities to increase spending on construction and maintenance, and the [[Federal Reserve]] announced that it would cut interest rates.{{sfn|Kennedy|1999|pp=53–55}} In early 1930, Hoover acquired from Congress an additional $100 million to continue the [[Federal Farm Board]] lending and purchasing policies.<ref>Harris Gaylord Warren, ''Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1959), p. 175.</ref> These actions were collectively designed to prevent a cycle of [[deflation]] and provide a [[Stimulus (economics)|fiscal stimulus]].{{sfn|Kennedy|1999|pp=53–55}} At the same time, Hoover opposed congressional proposals to provide federal relief to the unemployed, as he believed that such programs were the responsibility of state and local governments and philanthropic organizations.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=147–149}}

Hoover had taken office hoping to raise agricultural tariffs in order to help farmers reeling from the farm crisis of the 1920s, but his attempt to raise agricultural tariffs became connected with a bill that broadly raised tariffs.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=93–97}} Hoover refused to become closely involved in the congressional debate over the tariff, and Congress produced a tariff bill that raised rates for many goods.{{sfn|Whyte 2017|pp=399–402, 414}} Despite the widespread unpopularity of the bill, Hoover felt that he could not reject the main legislative accomplishment of the Republican-controlled [[71st United States Congress|71st Congress]]. Over the objection of many economists, Hoover signed the [[Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act]] into law in June 1930.{{sfn|Whyte 2017|pp=414–415}} Canada, France, and other nations retaliated by raising tariffs, resulting in a contraction of [[international trade]] and a worsening of the economy.<ref>Kumiko Koyama, "The Passage of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act: Why Did the President Sign the Bill?" ''Journal of Policy History'' (2009) 21#2 pp. 163–86</ref> Progressive Republicans such as Senator [[William E. Borah]] of Idaho were outraged when Hoover signed the tariff act, and Hoover's relations with that wing of the party never recovered.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=91–92}}

====Later policies====
[[File:Herbert Hoover and Ted Joslin.jpg|thumb|Hoover in the Oval Office with [[Theodore Joslin|Ted Joslin]], 1932]]

By the end of 1930, the [[Unemployment in the United States|national unemployment rate]] had reached 11.9 percent, but it was not yet clear to most Americans that the economic downturn would be worse than the [[Depression of 1920–1921|Depression of 1920–21]].{{sfn|Kennedy|1999|pp=58–59}} A series of [[bank failure]]s in late 1930 heralded a larger [[Economic collapse|collapse of the economy]] in 1931.{{sfn|Kennedy|1999|pp=65–66}} While other countries left the [[gold standard]], Hoover refused to abandon it;{{sfn|Kennedy|1999|pp=77–78}} he derided any other [[monetary system]] as "[[Collectivism and individualism|collectivism]]".{{sfn|Eichengreen|Temin|2000|pp=196–197}} Hoover viewed the weak [[Economy of Europe|European economy]] as a major cause of economic troubles in the United States.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=143–144}} In response to the collapse of the [[Economy of Germany|German economy]], Hoover marshaled congressional support behind a one-year moratorium on European war debts.{{sfn|Whyte 2017|pp=441–444, 449}} The [[Hoover Moratorium]] was warmly received in Europe and the United States, but Germany remained on the brink of [[Default (finance)|defaulting]] on its loans.{{sfn|Whyte 2017|pp=450–452}} As the worldwide economy worsened, democratic governments fell; in Germany, [[Nazi Party]] leader [[Adolf Hitler]] assumed power and dismantled the [[Weimar Republic]].{{sfn|Herring|2008|pp=485–486}}

By mid-1931, the unemployment rate had reached 15 percent, giving rise to growing fears that the country was experiencing a depression far worse than recent economic downturns.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=140–141}} A reserved man with a fear of public speaking, Hoover allowed his opponents in the Democratic Party to define him as cold, incompetent, reactionary, and out-of-touch.{{sfn|Carcasson|1998|pp=351–352}} Hoover's opponents developed defamatory [[epithet]]s to discredit him, such as "[[Hooverville]]" (the shanty towns and homeless encampments), "Hoover leather" (cardboard used to cover holes in the soles of shoes), and "Hoover blanket" (old newspaper used to cover oneself from the cold).<ref>{{cite book| title=The Great War and the Origins of Humanitarianism, 1918–1924| last=Cabanes| first=Bruno| page=206| publisher=Cambridge University Press| date=2014|isbn=978-1-107-02062-7}}</ref> While Hoover continued to resist direct federal relief efforts, Governor [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] of New York launched the [[Federal Emergency Relief Administration|Temporary Emergency Relief Administration]] to provide aid to the unemployed. Democrats positioned the program as a kinder alternative to Hoover's alleged apathy towards the unemployed, despite Hoover's belief that such programs were the responsibility of state and local governments.{{sfn|Whyte 2017|pp=457–459}}

The economy continued to worsen, with unemployment rates nearing 23 percent in early 1932,{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=162–166}} and Hoover finally heeded calls for more direct federal intervention.{{sfn|Olson 1972|pp=508–511}} In January 1932, he convinced Congress to authorize the establishment of the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]] (RFC), which would provide government-secured loans to financial institutions, railroads, and local governments.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=153–154}} The RFC saved numerous businesses from failure, but it failed to stimulate commercial lending as much as Hoover had hoped, partly because it was run by conservative bankers unwilling to make riskier loans.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=162–163}} The same month the RFC was established, Hoover signed the [[Federal Home Loan Bank Act]], establishing 12 district banks overseen by a Federal Home Loan Bank Board in a manner similar to the Federal Reserve System.{{sfn|Rappleye|2016|pp=309}} He also helped arrange passage of the [[Glass–Steagall Act of 1932]], emergency banking legislation designed to expand banking credit by expanding the collateral on which Federal Reserve banks were authorized to lend.{{sfn|Whyte 2017|pp=483–484}} As these measures failed to stem the economic crisis, Hoover signed the [[Emergency Relief and Construction Act]], a $2 billion public works bill, in July 1932.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=162–166}}

===Budget policy===
[[File:Debt1929-50.jpg|thumb|left|National debt as a fraction of GNP up from 20% to 40% under Hoover. From ''Historical Statistics US'' (1976).]]

After a decade of [[budget surplus]]es, the federal government experienced a [[Budget deficits|budget deficit]] in 1931.{{sfn|Rappleye|2016|p=303}} Though some economists, like [[William Trufant Foster]], favored [[deficit spending]] to address the Great Depression, most politicians and economists believed in the necessity of keeping a [[balanced budget]].{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=158–159}} In late 1931, Hoover proposed a tax plan to increase [[tax revenue]] by 30 percent, resulting in the passage of the [[Revenue Act of 1932]].{{sfn|Whyte 2017|pp=472, 488–489}} The act increased taxes across the board, rolling back much of the [[tax cut]] reduction program Mellon had presided over during the 1920s. Top earners were taxed at 63 percent on their net income, the highest rate since the early 1920s. The act also doubled the top [[Estate tax in the United States|estate tax]] rate, cut [[Income tax in the United States|personal income tax]] exemptions, eliminated the [[Corporate tax in the United States|corporate income tax]] exemption, and raised corporate tax rates.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ippolito |first1=Dennis S. |title=Deficits, Debt, and the New Politics of Tax Policy |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-85157-2 |page=35}}</ref> Despite the passage of the Revenue Act, the federal government continued to run a budget deficit.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=159–161}}

{{Clear left}}

===Civil rights and Mexican Repatriation===
{{Further|Lily-white movement|Mexican Repatriation}}
[[File:President & Mrs Hoover in Belvidere IL cph.3b12319.jpg|thumb|upright|Herbert and [[Lou Henry Hoover]] aboard a train in Illinois]]
Hoover seldom mentioned [[Civil rights movement (1896–1954)|civil rights]] while he was president. He believed that African Americans and other races could improve themselves with education and individual initiative.<ref>Lisio, Donald J. ''Hoover, Blacks, & Lily-Whites: A Study of Southern Strategies'', University of North Carolina Press, 1985 ([https://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=105110361 excerpt])</ref> Hoover appointed more African Americans to federal positions than Harding and Coolidge combined, but many African American leaders condemned various aspects of the Hoover administration, including Hoover's unwillingness to push for a federal [[Anti-lynching movement|anti-lynching law]].{{sfn|Garcia 1980|pp=471–474}} Hoover also continued to pursue the lily-white strategy, removing African Americans from positions of leadership in the Republican Party in an attempt to end the Democratic Party's [[Solid South|dominance in the South]].{{sfn|Garcia 1980|pp=462–464}} Though [[Robert Russa Moton|Robert Moton]] and some other black leaders accepted the lily-white strategy as a temporary measure, most African American leaders were outraged.{{sfn|Garcia 1980|pp=464–465}} Hoover further alienated black leaders by nominating conservative Southern judge [[John J. Parker]] to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]; Parker's nomination ultimately failed in the Senate due to opposition from the [[NAACP]] and organized labor.{{sfn|Garcia 1980|pp=465–467}} Many black voters switched to the Democratic Party in the 1932 election, and African Americans would later become an important part of Franklin Roosevelt's [[New Deal coalition]].{{sfn|Garcia 1980|pp=476–477}}

As part of his efforts to limit unemployment, Hoover sought to cut [[immigration to the United States]], and in 1930 he promulgated an executive order requiring individuals to have employment before migrating to the United States.{{sfn|Rappleye|2016|p=247}} The Hoover Administration began a campaign to prosecute [[Illegal immigration to the United States|illegal immigrants in the United States]], which most strongly affected [[Mexican Americans]], especially those living in [[Southern California]].{{sfn|Hoffman 1973|pp=206–207}} The federal government also supported the Mexican repatriation which saw anywhere from 300,000 to two million Mexicans and Mexican Americans repatriated, deported, or expelled to Mexico during the 1930s primarily during Hoover's term. Forty to sixty percent of them were [[Citizenship of the United States|American citizens]].<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Byza6YM2bukC|title=The Praeger Handbook of Latino Education in the U.S.|last=Rosales|first=F. Arturo|date=January 1, 2007|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313338304|editor-last=Soto|editor-first=Lourdes Diaz|pages=400–403|language=en|chapter=Repatriation of Mexicans from the US}}</ref><ref name="gratton">{{cite news|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/102163/imre12054.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=Immigration, Repatriation, and Deportation: The Mexican-Origin Population in the United States, 1920–1950|last1=Gratton|first1=Brian|last2=Merchant |first2=Emily|date=December 2013|pages=944–975|publisher=The International migration review|issue=4|volume=47}}</ref>{{sfn|Johnson 2005|p=4–5}} While the federal government encouraged repatriations, they were largely organized by state and local authorities with support from private entities. The Hoover administration deported 34,000 people to Mexico between 1930 to 1933. It was however more common for people to repatriate voluntarily.{{sfn|Hoffman 1973|pp=208, 217–218}}<ref name="gratton" /> Some scholars argue that the mass repatriations was a policy of Hoover's administration.<ref name="gratton" /> According to legal professor Kevin R. Johnson, the repatriation campaign meets the modern legal standards of [[ethnic cleansing]], as it involved the forced removal of a racial minority by government actors.{{sfn|Johnson 2005|p=6}}

Hoover reorganized the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] to limit exploitation of Native Americans.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 15, 2016 |title=The Ordeal of Herbert Hoover |url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/summer/hoover-1.html |access-date=May 2, 2022 |website=National Archives}}</ref>

===Prohibition===

On taking office, Hoover urged Americans to obey the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighteenth Amendment]] and the [[Volstead Act]], which had established [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] across the United States.{{sfn|Whyte 2017|pp=372–373}} To make public policy recommendations regarding Prohibition, he created the [[Wickersham Commission]].{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|p=85}} Hoover had hoped that the commission's public report would buttress his stance in favor of Prohibition, but the report criticized the enforcement of the Volstead Act and noted the growing public opposition to Prohibition. After the Wickersham Report was published in 1931, Hoover rejected the advice of some of his closest allies and refused to endorse any revision of the Volstead Act or the Eighteenth Amendment, as he feared doing so would undermine his support among Prohibition advocates.{{sfn|Whyte 2017|pp=433–435}} As public opinion increasingly turned against Prohibition, more and more people flouted the law, and a grassroots movement began working in earnest for Prohibition's repeal.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Repealing National Prohibition|last=Kyvig|first=David E.|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|year=1979|location=Chicago, IL|pages=49}}</ref> In January 1933, a constitutional amendment repealing the Eighteenth Amendment was approved by Congress and submitted to the states for ratification. By December 1933, it had been ratified by the requisite number of states to become the [[Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-first Amendment]].<ref name=DCHuckabee>{{cite web|last=Huckabee|first=David C.|title=Ratification of Amendments to the U.S. Constitution|url=http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/97-922.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040627015810/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/97-922.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 27, 2004|work=[[Congressional Research Service reports]]|publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]], The [[Library of Congress]]|location=Washington D.C.|date=September 30, 1997}}</ref>

===Foreign relations===

According to Leuchtenburg, Hoover was "the last American president to take office with no conspicuous need to pay attention to the rest of the world". Nevertheless, during Hoover's term, the world order established in the immediate aftermath of World War I began to crumble.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|p=117}} As president, Hoover largely made good on his pledge made prior to assuming office not to interfere in Latin America's internal affairs. In 1930, he released the [[Clark Memorandum]], a rejection of the [[Roosevelt Corollary]] and a move towards non-interventionism in Latin America. Hoover did not completely refrain from the use of the military in [[Latin America–United States relations|Latin American affairs]]; he thrice threatened intervention in the [[Dominican Republic]], and he sent warships to [[El Salvador]] to support the government against a left-wing revolution.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=120–121}} Notwithstanding those actions, he wound down the [[Banana Wars]], ending the [[United States occupation of Nicaragua|occupation of Nicaragua]] and nearly bringing an end to the [[United States occupation of Haiti|occupation of Haiti]].{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=183–186}}

Hoover placed a priority on [[disarmament]], which he hoped would allow the United States to shift money from the military to domestic needs.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|p=58}} Hoover and Secretary of State [[Henry L. Stimson]] focused on extending the 1922 [[Washington Naval Treaty]], which sought to prevent a naval [[arms race]].{{sfn|Herring|2008|pp=479–480}} As a result of Hoover's efforts, the United States and other major naval powers signed the 1930 [[London Naval Treaty]].{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=175–176}} The treaty represented the first time that the naval powers had agreed to cap their tonnage of [[Auxiliary ship|auxiliary vessels]], as previous agreements had only affected [[capital ship]]s.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=117–119}}

At the 1932 [[World Disarmament Conference]], Hoover urged further cutbacks in armaments and the outlawing of [[tank]]s and [[bomber]]s, but his proposals were not adopted.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=117–119}}

In 1931, Japan [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|invaded]] [[Manchuria]], defeating the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]'s [[National Revolutionary Army]] and establishing [[Manchukuo]], a puppet state. The Hoover administration deplored the invasion, but also sought to avoid antagonizing the Japanese, fearing that taking too strong a stand would weaken the moderate forces in the Japanese government and alienate a potential ally against the [[Soviet Union]], which he saw as a much greater threat.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=122–123}} In response to the Japanese invasion, Hoover and Secretary of State Stimson outlined the [[Stimson Doctrine]], which held that the United States would not recognize territories gained by force.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 1844715|title = The Stimson Doctrine and the Hoover Doctrine|journal = The American Historical Review|volume = 59|issue = 3|pages = 513–542|last1 = Current|first1 = Richard N.|year = 1954|doi = 10.2307/1844715}}</ref>

===Bonus Army===
{{Main|Bonus Army}}

Thousands of World War I veterans and their families demonstrated and camped out in Washington, DC, during June 1932, calling for immediate payment of bonuses that had been promised by the [[World War Adjusted Compensation Act]] in 1924; the terms of the act called for payment of the bonuses in 1945. Although offered money by [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] to return home, some members of the "Bonus Army" remained. Washington police attempted to disperse the demonstrators, but they were outnumbered and unsuccessful. Shots were fired by the police in a futile attempt to attain order, and two protesters were killed while many officers were injured. Hoover sent U.S. Army forces led by General [[Douglas MacArthur]] to the protests. MacArthur, believing he was fighting a [[Communist revolution]], chose to clear out the camp with military force. Though Hoover had not ordered MacArthur's clearing out of the protesters, he endorsed it after the fact.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=136–138}} The incident proved embarrassing for the Hoover administration and hurt his bid for re-election.<ref name="dickson1">{{cite magazine|last1=Dickson|first1=Paul|last2=Allen|first2=Thomas B.|title=Marching on History|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/marching-on-history-75797769/|access-date=February 7, 2017|magazine=Smithsonian|date=February 2003}}</ref>

===1932 re-election campaign===
{{Main|1932 United States presidential election}}
By mid-1931 few observers thought that Hoover had much hope of winning a second term in the midst of the ongoing economic crisis.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=193–194}} The Republican expectations were so bleak that Hoover faced no serious opposition for re-nomination at the [[1932 Republican National Convention]]. Coolidge and other prominent Republicans all passed on the opportunity to challenge Hoover.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=194–195}} Franklin D. Roosevelt won the presidential nomination on the fourth ballot of the [[1932 Democratic National Convention]], defeating the 1928 Democratic nominee, Al Smith. The Democrats attacked Hoover as the cause of the Great Depression, and for being indifferent to the suffering of millions.{{sfn|Carcasson|1998|pp=353}} As Governor of New York, Roosevelt had called on the New York legislature to provide aid for the needy, establishing Roosevelt's reputation for being more favorable toward government interventionism during the economic crisis.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=138–140}} The Democratic Party, including Al Smith and other national leaders, coalesced behind Roosevelt, while progressive Republicans like George Norris and [[Robert M. La Follette Jr.|Robert La Follette Jr.]] deserted Hoover.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=211–212}} Prohibition was increasingly unpopular and wets offered the argument that states and localities needed the tax money. Hoover proposed a new constitutional amendment that was vague on particulars. Roosevelt's platform promised repeal of the 18th Amendment.<ref>"Prohibition After the 1932 Elections" [https://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1932081100 ''CQ Researcher'']</ref><ref>Herbert Brucker, "How Long, O Prohibition?" ''The North American Review'', 234#4 (1932), pp. 347–357. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25114102 online]</ref>

[[File:ElectoralCollege1932.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|1932 electoral vote results]]
Hoover originally planned to make only one or two major speeches and to leave the rest of the campaigning to proxies, as sitting presidents had traditionally done. However, encouraged by Republican pleas and outraged by Democratic claims, Hoover entered the public fray. In his nine major radio addresses Hoover primarily defended his administration and his [[Political philosophy|philosophy of government]], urging voters to hold to the "foundations of experience" and reject the notion that government interventionism could save the country from the Depression.{{sfn|Carcasson|1998|pp=359}} Historians contend that his radio speeches were not received well in part due to his monotone, awkward delivery.<ref name=":0" /> In his campaign trips around the country, Hoover was faced with perhaps the most hostile crowds ever seen by a sitting president. Besides having his train and motorcades pelted with eggs and rotten fruit, he was often heckled while speaking, and on several occasions, the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] halted attempts to hurt Hoover, including capturing one man nearing Hoover carrying sticks of dynamite, and another already having removed several spikes from the rails in front of the president's train.<ref name="time 2008">{{Cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1857862,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081111030347/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1857862,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 11, 2008|magazine=Time|date=November 10, 2008|title=When New President Meets Old, It's Not Always Pretty|first= Nancy|last=Gibbs}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=April 2025}} Hoover's attempts to vindicate his administration fell on deaf ears, as much of the public blamed his administration for the depression.{{sfn|Carcasson|1998|pp=361–362}} In the electoral vote, Hoover lost 59–472, carrying six states.{{sfn|Fausold 1985|pp=212–213}} Hoover won 39.6 percent of the popular vote, a plunge of 18.6 percentage points from his result in the 1928 election.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=142}}