The Progressive Era

Woodrow Wilson:
"We believe that the power of America resides not in the men who have made good and gained a great supremacy in the field of business but in the men who are to make good.  Where is the power, where is the distinction, of the great office of the President of the United States?  Is America going to be saved because George Washington was great, because Lincoln was great, because men of devoted characters have served in that great office?  Don't you know that America is safe only because we do not know who the future presidents of the United States are going to be?  If we had depended upon the lineage of these gentlemen they might have failed to have sons like themselves. But we are not depending on anyone except the great
American people, and we know that when the time comes some figure, it may be hitherto unknown and from some family whose name and fame the country has never heard, will come-a man fated for the great task by the gift of God and by virtue of his own indomitable character."

Wilson is stating that the American people believe that the fate of America is resting solely on the next person to become President.  We, as a whole, believe that those who held office are in the past and that America will be saved when a new president is voted into office.  But what if the presidency was chosen based on blood relation to the previous president?  Then, it wouldn't matter who came into office because we are expecting them to perform in the same fashion as their predecessor.  Wilson is stating that America is saved solely because we do not know who will be voted in next.  If we did know, we would be able to manipulate them (or rather, the government could manipulate them).

The Great Depression: "The presidential campaign of 1932 was chiefly a debate over the causes and possible remedies of the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover, unlucky in entering The White House only eight months before the stock market crash, had struggled tirelessly, but ineffectively, to set the wheels of industry in motion again. His Democratic opponent, Franklin D. Roosevelt, already popular as the governor of New York during the developing crisis, argued that the Depression stemmed from the U.S. economy's underlying flaws, which had been aggravated by Republican policies during the 1920s. President Hoover replied that the economy was fundamentally sound, but had been shaken by the repercussions of a worldwide depression -- whose causes could be traced back to the war. Behind this argument lay a clear implication: Hoover had to depend largely on natural processes of recovery, while Roosevelt was prepared to use the federal government's authority for bold experimental remedies."  

This passage highlights what I stated previously about voting in a new president by the American people.  Roosevelt was innovative and a fresh face.  Many blamed Hoover for the crash of the stock market, when in fact, he was only in office for short period of time.  The fact is, the market was going to crash no matter who was in office.  Roosevelt basically offered a new way of thinking.  Hoover was looking for the economy to remedy itself while Roosevelt was willing to use the government to achieve this economic turnaround.


William Gropper, Miners (1935)
Watercolor, 11"x11"

This picture symbolizes the fear that miners had to endure during the Great Depression.  They had no choice but to work in the mines, risking their lives as there was no work.  This picture shows how the government forced miners to work under unfair and unsafe conditions.  Times were rough and revenue had to be made no matter what the source was.