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Herbert Hoover’s crusade against New Deal Liberalism

During the 1932 presidential campaign President Herbert Hoover told the nation that “the proposals of our opponents represent a profound change in American life” Hoover argued that the policies being advocated by his opponent, New York Democrat Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, “represent a radical departure from the foundations of 150 years which have made this the greatest nation in the world.” He understood, rather prophetically, that the campaign was “more than a contest between two parties. It is a contest between two philosophies of government.” In fact, Hoover warned that the result of the election meant “deciding the direction our nation will take over a century to come.”

President Hoover, because of the severity of the Great Depression, would lose the election, and the resulting victory by Roosevelt and the Democrat Party would exile the Republican Party into the political wilderness. From a conservative standpoint Hoover’s warnings about President Roosevelt’s policies came to fruition as the New Deal transformed American politics and constitutional government. As the Republican Party tried to oppose Roosevelt’s policies, Herbert Hoover emerged as the leading guardian of constitutional conservatism during the New Deal era.

Hoover’s post-presidency was marked by his political crusade against both New Deal domestic policies and Roosevelt’s and later President Harry S. Truman’s foreign policy. The post-presidency of Herbert Hoover is an incredible record of public service, political involvement and philanthropy. Recently George H. Nash, a leading historian of the American conservative movement and a Hoover scholar, edited two memoirs written by Hoover in his post-presidency. The first, of which scholars were previously aware, was Hoover’s long-term magnum opus Freedom Betrayed, which was a critique of Roosevelt’s and Truman’s foreign policy. While editing Freedom Betrayed, George Nash discovered a forgotten memoir written by Hoover, which focuses specifically on FDR’s New Deal. The Crusade Years, 1933-1955: Herbert Hoover’s Lost Memoir of the New Deal Era and Its Aftermath is Hoover’s memoir on his crusade against New Deal liberalism. The Crusade Years is also personal because Hoover writes about family life, the passing of his wife Lou Henry Hoover, and some of his philanthropic activities.

The majority of The Crusade Years is Hoover’s political involvement within the Republican Party and his campaign to restore constitutional limited government in response to New Deal liberalism. In his memoir, Hoover writes “the period from 1933 to 1938 in America was dominated by a clash in philosophical ideas,” and that he was compelled to break his silence after the presidency to combat “a great error” which “threatened to destroy” the foundations of the American System.

For Hoover, Roosevelt’s New Deal represented collectivism through massive federal power, especially through government spending, taxation and regulation. He believed the regimentation of the New Deal was a serious threat to American liberty. The New Deal represented a direct challenge to constitutional government, and Hoover became the leading conservative spokesman against liberalism during this era.

George H. Nash writes that “in the 1930s and 1940s, both Hoover and his archrival Franklin Roosevelt knew they were engaged in a contest for the American mind and political soul.” Herbert Hoover’s crusade against New Deal liberalism was a voice of one calling in the wilderness to the American people to reverse course and reject collectivist policies. George H. Nash describes Hoover’s contributions to American conservatism as “among the most enduring of his legacies.”

The discovery of Herbert Hoover’s lost memoir, “The Crusade Years,” is timely not only in reminding the nation of his important legacy, but also his crusade against New Deal liberalism – a battle which continues today. Hoover wrote that with the election of Roosevelt in 1932 “the American people were carried away by the promise of utopia and the propaganda and glitter” – something which also occurred with the election of President Barack Obama – and in referencing one of his previous speeches he stated that the “Constitution is indeed under more vivid attack than at any time since the years before the Civil War” Hoover understood that limited government and free enterprise were essential for the preservation of liberty and constitutional government. Hoover’s Crusade Years reminds us of the current battle before the nation today and what is at stake.

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John Hendrickson is a research analyst for the Public Interest Institute in Mount Pleasant. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Public Interest Institute or the Times-Republican.

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