What was Hoover’s initial reaction to the veterans marching into Washington? A. He mostly ignored them and their protests B. He
believed they were mostly criminals, but supported their right to protest C. He sympathized with them, and gave them food and places to stay D. He believed they were going to get violent, and kicked them out of the Capital
In the immediate aftermath of Black Tuesday, Hoover sought to reassure Americans that all was well. Reading his words after the fact, it is easy to find fault. In 1929 he said, “Any lack of confidence in the economic future or the strength of business in the United States is foolish.” In 1930, he stated, “The worst is behind us.” In 1931, he pledged federal aid should he ever witness starvation in the country; but as of that date, he had yet to see such need in America, despite the very real evidence that children and the elderly were starving to death. Yet Hoover was neither intentionally blind nor unsympathetic. He simply held fast to a belief system that did not change as the realities of the Great Depression set in.
