I believe the best way to end the Depression is to let local governments, along with private business and private charities, work to pull our country back onto its feet. The role of the federal government should only be a supportive one, not the main role. America is a land where we help one another, and that is what needs to happen now. Let's all rally together in the spirit of helping one another, which is the American way.
Explanation/context for answer:
Herbert Hoover served as President of the United States from 1929 to 1933. He was in office when the Great Depression began, and was blamed for the fact that the country struggled as it did. The problems that led to the Depression had been building up for years before Hoover took office, but as the leader of the country when the troubles hit, he was the one who took the bulk of the criticism. And Hoover really had no successful solutions to the problems.
In a radio addressed delivered on February 12, 1931, President Hoover emphasized his approach to let local governments, private businesses and private charities lead the way in addressing Depression conditions. He said this: "Throughout this depression I have insisted upon organization of these forces through industry, through local government and through charity, that they should meet this crisis by their own initiative, by the assumption of their own responsibilities." Hoover believed the federal government should take a secondary, supportive role -- not be the key force in solving the Depression. He said, "The Federal Government has sought to do its part by example in the expansion of employment, by affording credit to drought sufferers for rehabilitation, and by cooperation with the community, and thus to avoid the opiates of government charity and the stifling of our national spirit of mutual self-help."
In the 1932 presidential election, Hoover's approach was rejected. He was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who took over as president on a platform of national measures to combat the Depression -- a program of policies and initiatives that Roosevelt called the "New Deal."
