Hoover’s Great Moderation

From the August 1928 Republican Nomination Acceptance Speech by Herbert Hoover:

One of the oldest and perhaps the noblest of human aspirations has been the abolition of poverty. By poverty I mean the grinding by undernourishment, cold and ignorance and fear of old age of those who have the will to work. We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among us. We have not yet reached the goal, but given a chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, and [sic] we shall soon with the help of God be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this Nation. There is no guarantee against poverty equal to a job for every man. That is the primary purpose of the economic policies we advocate.

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Little did Hoover know that it was jut the opposite – poverty would skyrocket as the Great Depression hit America with full force.

Great DepressionHerbert Hooverhistorypoverty