BigNerds.com

• Category: Biographies
• Words: 1146
• Pages: 5
• Views: 57
• Popularity Rank: 1160

Roosevelt And Hoover

President Franklin D. Roosevelt is commonly thought of as a
liberal and
President Herbert C. Hoover as a conservative. The validity of
these accusations,
however, is uncertain.
Before classifying each president in the categories of
"liberal" and
"conservative," it must first be understood what is meant by each
term. During the time
of the Great Depression, a liberal was usually associated with
"political equality, free
speech, free assembly, free press, and equality of opportunity." It
was directly derived
from the word "liberty" which meant freedom. Today, the definition
changes drastically.
A liberal is someone who thinks government can solve problems, and
someone who
trusts government. They believe in more government spending (such as
in social
plans) and are not turned off because of raised taxes, knowing full
well the money taken
away will do the country good. Frankly, liberals believe in more
government in the daily
lives of people. Conservatives believe in directly the opposite of
what liberals do.
They believe heavily in the free enterprise system (private
ownership). Their
economics rely on the theory of supply and demand and profit motive.
Their
lassiez-faire policy was introduced in a book The Wealth of Nations
by Adam Smith.
This economic policy can be seen directly in the rest of what
conservatives believe in.
They are resistant to change, being strong believers of traditional
values. They thought
money should be spent on defense, not social programs. In a nutshell,
they want
government to stay out of people's lives. The modern definitions of
each term will be
used in categorizing Roosevelt and Hoover.
...

You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!

• View Full Essay