I've been unjust to Herbert Hoover He did start a public works program

[No Elephants]

http://www.authentichistory.com/1930-1939/1-hoover/1-leadership/19311018_Herbert_Hoover_On_Unemployment_Relief.html

Okay, it was nowhere near the scale and scope of FDR's programs, but it was something.

[Enthusiast]

1. It was something, alright.

It was mostly an appeal for "private giving". Sounds like a regular Republican solution to me. Every day we hear a Republican somewhere suggesting that the good charitable work of churches can provide a mechanism to take care of those that have no medical insurance. They have not changed.

[No Elephants]

2. Well, there were, according to this speech, 700,000 public works jobs.

That is what I focused on. Could have been bs or funny counting.

But, yes, a lot of Hoover's solutions consisted of deciding the Red Cross or charitable neighbors could do a better job than government could.

A stupid PBS program about Hoover treats those pronouncements as totally sincere. IMO, it could very well have been his nice, neighborly way of saying "I don't care how much suffering there is out there. Government ain't doing squat to help." Either way, there is no way PBS pundits today could read his 1930 heart and stating as fact how he "really" felt is by no means objective analysis.

[Divine Discontent]

3. I have no sexy Hoover photos to spice up this thread, but I love the information you provided.

I didn't know he did this program, but I am pleased to find out he did.