Who was the 31st president of the United States?

The 31st President of the United States was Herbert Hoover. Prior to becoming President, Herbert Hoover was Secretary of Commerce for both Republican presidents during the 1920s. These were President Harding and President Coolidge.

Herbert Hoover took office during the great prosperity of the 1920s. The stock market was rising, the economy was booming, and many new products were being developed. Shortly after becoming President, the economy came to a screeching halt as we entered the Great Depression. The crash of the stock market and the failure of banks were major factors in the start of the Great Depression.

President Hoover followed a laissez-faire philosophy. He believed the government should not get involved in the economy when it began to slip. He believed the economy goes through good cycles and bad cycles. He also believed that the government should get out of the way and let businesses handle the attempts to get out of economic downturns, including the Great Depression. As the Great Depression worsened, President Hoover altered his philosophy and began to get the government more actively involved in ending the Great Depression. Unfortunately, his actions weren’t enough to reduce the harsh effects of the Great Depression. When he ran for reelection in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated him.