Description
Following a conversation with Senator Simeon Fess on February 20, 1933, President Herbert Hoover wrote Fess to record his analysis of key events and developments during the first five periods of the Great Depression. Hoover's letter was written during the darkest days of his administration. The banking crisis of 1933 was entering its worst phase and Hoover was trying to reach an understanding with President-Elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt that would prevent a total collapse of the nation's banking system. Hoover also wrote a short letter to transmit his four page analysis in which he cautioned Fess that his letter "should not be communicated to anyone in the present time as it would only increase the conflagration."
Full Transcript of President Herbert Hoover's Letter to Senator Simeon Fess
Transcribed Excerpts from President Herbert Hoover's Letter to Senator Simeon Fess
Source-Dependent Questions
- How does the letter claim or assert that President-Elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt was spreading fear and panic?
- Why did President Herbert Hoover argue for a balanced budget?
Citation Information
Hoover, Herbert, "Herbert Hoover analyzes 5 periods in the development of the history of the Depression," 21 February 1933. Courtesy of National Archives