The Great Depression profoundly altered the lives and livelihood of virtually every American no matter their economic class. Some, like much of the upper classes, maintained their lifestyles to a great degree. The grown Middle Classes mostly maintained their status although many did experience privation. The vast population of working-class Americans, including native born whites, migrant blacks moving north, farmers and factory workers, immigrants, and women, however, bore the brunt of the most painful impacts of the Great Depression. The Great Depression forced Americans to consider, and reconsider, what they believed the relationship was and should be between citizens and the Government. The traditional view of this relationship was that of Herbert Hoover’s maintenance of laissez-faire policies of minimal government interference and activism. Franklin Roosevelt, running for the presidency in 1932 during the depth of the Depression however, campaigned on a platform of government action and direct intervention. These two views lay at the heart of how Americans view themselves and their government.
Evaluate speeches by Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt that illustrate two sets of beliefs about what Americans during the Great Depression thought the role of government was or should be.