The Politics of Hard Times Summary and Analysis

Signs of the Great Depression were staggering in 1932. Steel plants were operating at a fraction of capacity and industrial construction had declined by over 90%. Thirteen million people were unemployed and people were living in tents or in shantytowns called Hoovervilles. Almost every city had at least one. People could not find jobs because there were none. People looking for food were fighting over the contents of garbage cans. This was the Great Depression. It was also an election year. President Hoover was running for re-election and was looking to a certain defeat due to the economic situation in the nation.

In Congress there was an attempt to balance the budget and impose a federal sales tax. The congressional democrats broke with their own party and instead supported an income tax and the estate...