Herbert Hoover: Inaugural Address

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Hoover was inaugurated on March 4, 1929. His address contained many of the themes present in his campaign addresses, and it outlined the new president's priorities. The new president begins by noting some of the achievements of the past decade and thanking Calvin Coolidge, his predecessor. Hoover then presents an overview of the main challenges facing the nation and a brief summary of his plans to deal with those issues. He discusses crime and acknowledges that many Americans were increasingly dissatisfied with the criminal justice system. Hoover notes that the Eighteenth Amendment created new enforcement duties for the nation's justice system and provided new opportunities for criminals; however, he contends that most of the problems existed before the ratification of Prohibition. He proposes reforms to both the judicial and law enforcement systems. Once in office, these would culminate in increased efforts by federal agents to investigate and prosecute leading organized crime figures, such as the Chicago gangster Al Capone. Concurrently, Hoover also instituted reforms to the federal prison system.

The new president declares that his victory was an endorsement of his opposition to an increased government role in the economy, in that it showed “the determination of the American people that regulation of private enterprise and not Government ownership or operation is the course rightly to be pursued in our relation to business.” He differentiates between public utilities and companies that produce or provide consumer goods and services. The latter should be generally free of significant government oversight, but the former, including power and sewage or water companies, were granted a degree of monopoly in providing their services and therefore should have a higher degree of government regulation.

In previewing his foreign policy, Hoover praises the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which sought to outlaw war. He hoped that the accord would lead to disarmament and better relations between states. Hoover also expresses a desire for the United States to play a greater role in global peace efforts and pledges that the country would adopt a less forceful or aggressive foreign policy. The incoming president speaks at length about relations with Latin America and the Caribbean. In the period between his election and the inauguration, Hoover went on a goodwill tour of the region. In his inaugural address Hoover notes that the United States and the other nations of the Western Hemisphere shared a common history and that America had “particular bonds of sympathy and common interest with them.” His remarks foreshadowed efforts by his administration to decrease hostility toward the United States by ending ongoing military interventions and taking a more active role to promote regional peace and stability. For instance, he mediated a territorial dispute between Chile and Peru that resulted in the Treaty of Lima in 1929.

Hoover closes his address by reciting a list of what he perceived to be “mandates” from the election. He declares that the American people wanted to preserve the “integrity of the Constitution” and limit government interference in the economy. He reiterates the need to address the rising crime rate through the “vigorous enforcement” of existing statutes and laws. Hoover also claims that the election was a referendum on the desire of the American people to limit government programs and expenditures, but he pledges to expand public works. The speech succinctly outlines how Hoover would govern for the next four years.