Herbert Hoover: “Rugged Individualism” Campaign Speech

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

In 1928 Hoover was arguably the most popular Republican in the country, and he easily secured the Republican nomination for the presidency after President Calvin Coolidge announced that he would not seek another term. Hoover had not developed a large or influential political machine, as had his rivals in the Republican presidential race, or, indeed, as had Al Smith, his Democratic opponent in the general election. Smith, the governor of New York, was a populist who opposed Prohibition and whose Catholicism alienated southern Democrats. Most Americans perceived Hoover as a safe, competent administrator with a background in humanitarian causes who would continue the nation's postwar economic expansion. Indeed, in his acceptance speech at the party's convention in Kansas City, Hoover promised that his administration would achieve a final victory over poverty. His campaign slogan pledged a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.

During the general campaign Hoover delivered seven radio addresses and made only select campaign appearances. His campaign did release an emotional film on Hoover that highlighted his background and his contributions during the great Mississippi flood of 1927, when he oversaw federal relief efforts. On October 22, 1928, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Hoover delivered his best campaign speech and outlined his personal and political philosophy for the American people. Unlike many of his other addresses, the speech was based on broad themes and was an effort to draw Americans to him by tying the election to a larger ideological battle between the two parties.

Hoover begins by arguing that Americans had developed a unique governmental and economic system based on personal liberty. He notes that during World War I the government assumed a greater role in the economy and that it had curtailed individual freedom in order to protect national security. Hoover contends that when Republicans took control of Congress and the presidency in 1920, they endeavored to reverse this trend toward centralization and return the “government to its position as an umpire instead of a player in the economic game.”

Hoover contrasts the American ideal of individualism with European “paternalism and state socialism.” He asserts that the economic success of the United States is based on individual liberty and freedom, while Europe's struggles to recover after World War I have their roots in policies that favor elites and undermine commerce through excessive government interference. These policies, he contends, resulted in the “stifling of private initiative on one hand, and overloading of the government with business on the other.” Europe's class system had created barriers to economic growth by elevating one group over others and producing imbalanced economies.

The Republican nominee argues that the Democrats were campaigning on a platform that would lead to the “abandonment of our American system and a surrender to the destructive operation of governmental conduct of commercial business.” Hoover also accuses the Democrats of abandoning their own political ideals to embrace government in an effort to find solutions for the nation's problems. The Democratic Party had traditionally been associated with an emphasis on individual rights, small government, and states' rights, highlighted by the political philosophy of past presidents such as Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809), James Madison (1809–1817), and Andrew Jackson (1829–1837). In many ways, Hoover's arguments foreshadow the main ideological differences between the Republican and Democratic parties for the rest of the twentieth century. The candidate declares that “every step of bureaucratizing of the business of our country poisons the very roots of liberalism” and that “liberalism should be found not striving to spread bureaucracy but striving to set bounds to it.” For example, the Republican candidate acknowledges the problems faced by farmers because of declining prices but decries Democratic proposals to help farm owners by arbitrarily setting prices or buying excess crops in an attempt to keep prices artificially high. For Hoover, if the Democratic initiatives were enacted, then government would find itself in the business of agriculture.

Despite his support for limited government, Hoover does not directly address the issue of Prohibition in his speech. He mentions the policy as one of the nation's most difficult issues, but he does not detail his opposition to the repeal of Prohibition (a policy endorsed by his opponent). Instead, Hoover avoids addressing the inherent contradiction in his support for Prohibition in order to not alienate backers of the policy. Instead, he opposes a proposal by Smith to have the states take over the sale of alcohol.

Hoover qualifies his support for individualism and limited government by noting that Washington has a role to play in regulating and protecting the nation's natural resources on behalf of the people. In addition, he acknowledges that true liberty requires “economic justice as well as political and social justice” and that government has a responsibility to prevent any one group from dominating others. Hoover ends his address by describing how the American system prompts a “degree of well-being unparalleled in all the world” and asserts that the United States has come closer to “the abolition of poverty” than any other civilization.

Hoover was a progressive Republican who believed that government bureaucracies had to be carefully and routinely scrutinized to prevent graft, corruption, and inefficiency. He wanted to develop a balance between regulation and unfettered laissez-faire competition. He believed this was the best way to prevent the boom-and-bust cycle of the U.S. economy and gain higher long-term rates of economic growth. Hoover's message resonated with most Americans at a time when the majority of the country remained prosperous.