The Great Depression: America 1929-1941

by Robert S. McElvaine

One of the classic studies of the Great Depression, featuring a new introduction by the author with insights into the economic crises of 1929 and today.

In the twenty-five years since its publication, critics and scholars have praised historian Robert McElvaine’s sweeping and authoritative history of the Great Depression as one of the best and most readable studies of the era. Combining clear-eyed insight into the machinations of politicians and economists who struggled to revive the battered economy, personal stories from the average people who were hardest hit by an economic crisis beyond their control, and an evocative depiction of the popular culture of the decade, McElvaine paints an epic picture of an America brought to its knees—but also brought together by people’s widely shared plight.

In a new introduction, McElvaine draws striking parallels between the roots of the Great Depression and the economic meltdown that followed in the wake of the credit crisis of 2008. He also examines the resurgence of anti-regulation free market ideology, beginning in the Reagan era, and argues that some economists and politicians revised history and ignored the lessons of the Depression era.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Economics, Business, Politics, Ebooks

450 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 12, 1984

About the author

Robert S. McElvaine is Elizabeth Chisholm Professor of Arts and Letters and Chair of the Department of History at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at the Evanston Public Library a week ago and read it prior to meeting with up with my former professor, political economist Dave Schweickart. It was a quick, easy, enjoyable, well worth the time even though David and I never got around to discussing the topic of the book, the depression of 1929-41.

'The Great Depression' was, like WWII, influential in my household growing up. All the grownups had lived through both, at least as children and, of course, with German occupation and/or domestic rationing, the war was characterized by deprivation just like the years prior to it. Other than the stories and the oft-repeated phrase (and its variants) along the lines of 'you have no idea of how lucky you are!' the Depression lived on in my family in a number of ways. There was a general consciousness of how much everything cost. One did not flush the toilet unnecessarily 'because water costs money'; one did not have snacks or leave anything on one's plate; one did not receive an allowance, one did special chores for a pittance; one got a job once one turned sixteen or one went to summer school; one left home and became self-supporting at eighteen; and so on. There was no family support for college. There was no thought of such a thing and I was later amazed to find some students financially helped by their families. Consequently, the Depression also lives on in me. I'm notoriously frugal, cheap, penny-pinching, miserly...

But that's all legacy. This book is the real deal, an attempt to get at the period from both the top down and the bottom up, an account ranging from the White House and the Congress to the Hobo camps and Hoovervilles. As such, it is sympathetic, sympathetic to the victims and to the often hapless members of government attempting to come to grips with the crisis. As such, it is most certainly not sympathetic to the upper crust and to their representatives, Democrat or Republican, but increasingly Republican. Reading this book, written thirty years ago, is like listening to an extremely long speech by the junior senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. Reading this book, or similar accounts, would likely inspire many to vote for him.

The only flaws to this book are the repeated references to the administration of its time and their 'depression', i.e. to the Reagan presidency. While the comparisons may be substantially valid, they are given in the present tense, detracting from the historical tone of the rest of the text. Perhaps this was corrected in the other, later editions.

And, oh, yeah. Hardcover books at the Evanston Public Library are fifty cents. Dad would approve.

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written book. Although at times Manichean in discussing class, McElvaine is very good at discussing individual actors, such as Hoover, Roosevelt, Hopkins, Long, and the rest. When it comes to discussing America and its values he shows a good deal of nuance and often much more hope and patience than you will encounter among left leaning academia. His long discussion of Depression era cinema is quite good even if he forgets to mention Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz.

This is a fundamentally progressive book in its view of history and humanity, with McElvaine arguing up front that progress can be stalled but never wholly repealed. This informs the worst part of the book. It was published in 1984 and he cannot help but comment and prognosticate on what was then current affairs. So you must suffer through his snide comments about Ronald Reagan, disgust with 1980s America, and his hope that the values of the Depression would have a resurgence. He praises Mario Cuomo and he ended the decade writing a biography of him that was a failed foray into political advocacy. As of 2018, it makes for a good laugh. I cackled when he wrote on page 280 "The 1982 congressional elections indicated that the Roosevelt coalition has life in it still." The coalition was dead soon after as were its values. Individuality has accelerated, living as we do in a world where it is easier to change genders than to get a meaningful pay raise. Indeed, today's Left politics of grievance is not based on broad solidarity but identity camps. Left appeals are couched today in individual and group specific rhetoric instead of those based on nation and class. The Left no longer cares about civic nationalism, cultural cohesion, or the sanctity of labor, while paying only lip service to limiting the power of corporations, all of the above being pillars of the 1930s Left. All in all, I doubt McElvaine feels comfortable with where things have gone because he wanted a return to broad class based politics and the Democrats are no longer in any meaningful way the party of Roosevelt.

I do feel unfair to him though in attacking his presentism. Reading the book I saw many striking similarities with the 1920s, most of all the fact that our economic world has not recovered and nor had theirs recovered from World War I. We have no cushion, so any recession will likely be doubly worse than 2008. Yet, I will say there is one difference. I have almost no hope that we will politically survive the next cataclysm. To do so would require a class politics we do not have. Even in the 1920s labor unions were a force. Today they are the abused housewife of a Democratic husband that sometimes has a lesbian affair with a Republican woman looking for a quick thrill, also known as winning an election and then promptly securing tax cuts for the rich.

But I digress, mainly because reading about the Left's many victories in the 1930s and comparing it to today, I am filled with a steady feeling of hopelessness. Let us return to the book.

McElvaine is not exactly a class reductionist, but it is where he feels most comfortable. It leads to his considering race sparingly but fairly while making a very clumsy attempt at accounting for gender. His attempts are half-hearted and lead to half-baked ideas about male vs. female values and how the former undermines reform.

It is best to return to the good, for in assessing why the New Deal never quite worked, he is at his best. Inherently, Roosevelt was unwilling to go far enough with reform while his attempt to pack the courts and later rid the party of its conservatives backfired. As an aside, the later does much to describe why America is now wholly dysfunctional. The parties are more pure and therefore cannot compromise, a process that started haltingly with Roosevelt in 1938.

That said, the mystery of the New Deal is how did Roosevelt become so popular and influential. McElvaine provides a good answer; Roosevelt was a master politician with no equal in our history, who built a durable majority in breath-taking time. Old hardcore Republican voting blocks, such as Wisconsin and blacks, swung hard for Roosevelt. In addition, his enemies were borderline incompetent. The net result was a political triumph not matched since, and arguably only surpassed by James Monroe's presidency, although that moment of party domination was far too brief by comparison.

If you get by the comments on 1980s America (and his laughable predictions) and take into account his bias towards progressive values and class politics, you have a humane portrait of the era. The book is accessible and provides a compelling and generally fair takes on the people of the era.

[Tom Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is well written and very interesting. My only complaint is that the author is obviously a liberal democrat and all his analysis of the people and events of this time are filtered through this ideology. Liberal, or progressive is good, conservative is bad and the root of all evil. His admiration for FDR and distain for Ronald Reagan comes through loud and clear. Although he makes some good points, his lack of a balanced approach makes most of his conclusions less than convincing. He does, however, seemed to have found a believer in the current White House occupant. Let us hope it does not take another World War to achieve for the economy what his policies have not.

[Sara W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Due to the current economic crisis, I decided to give this book another try. What seemed boring a few years ago seems pretty damn relevant now!

Original Review: I did not finish this book. I was looking for a social history about the Great Depression and this was more of a political history, so I found it pretty boring. I much preferred The Worst Hard Time for a social history about the Great Depression.

[Josh Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific look into the decade plus that made up the depression. Definetly gives one a feel for the dire situation that Americans faced during this time period. Also highlights the many factors that lead to the depression. A good read for those interested in politics and economics, it will enlarge your understanding of these two subjects.

[Billy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like Kennedy, sympathetic towards Hoover, but argues that Hoover’s failures led to the acceptance of later New Deal programs which broke with Hoover’s anti-government in business stance. Still, Hoover pioneered programs for business and agriculture relief, although in these forms the federal government did more organizing than intervening. McElvaine uses letters from ordinary Americans to show how much they supported Roosevelt. With the Great Depression came a new acceptance of cooperation between workers and intellectuals that could not occur in the 1920s. American workers, confused at the prolonged Depression and in shock that so much wealth could be lost, blamed themselves. Most were reluctant to seek help from the government. By 1935, resentment displaced self-blame. Soon, relief recipients felt entitled.

McElvaine’s 1993 revised introduction adds much to Great Depression Historiography. He primarily compares the 1980s with the 1920s and 1930s to show just how much the New Deal Era has drastically changed American life. First, he notes that the stock market crash of 1987, while only a blip on the economic radar, accounted for a greater single day loss than any day of the Great Depression. He argues that America did not plummet into depression in the 80s because of Republican deficit spending which far exceeded any deficit spending of previous Republican administrations. Rhetorically, Reagan-era Republicans attacked the welfare state, but continued to spend upwards of $200 billion per fiscal year. Next, consumption has become so engrained in the American way of life that after the 1987 crash, nobody recoiled from consumption as they did in the 1930s. In fact, FDR and Reagan are similar in that they both popularly had “the government do much more than they asked the people to pay for.” (xix) While during the middle part of the 20th century, democrats rampantly taxed and then spend. Reagan countered this by BORROWING, and then spending. Except, of course, Reagan did not spend on social programs, make a clean break with liberalism.

If TR used Herbert Croley’s idea of Hamiltonian means (big gov’t) to ensure Jeffersonain ends (uplifting the poor), and FDR used Jeffersonain biases (intellectuals) to reach Jacksonian ends (improving the “common man”), Reagan used FDRs deficit spending to uplift the well to do (Hamiltonian). Reagan and Hamilton loved to pay back interest payments, because those payments went to the American rich. Taxes then transfer wealth from the middle class to the rich. This is exactly what happened during the 1980s.

In Short:

Major differences between the 30s and 90s are
- End of Communism
- Rise of Consumption (without hesitation)
- Deficit spending even by Republicans

[shirtley]

probably would have enjoyed it more if i wasn't reading it for my social IA

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I skimmed it to get an over view of the period. Looking forward to going back in via other books and chip away at it all - bit by bit.

[Jim Gulley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interdisciplinary scholarship is inherently difficult because it requires a mastery of multiple fields when mastering one is difficult enough. When a historian tackles a subject like the Great Depression, he must address political science, economics, and history. McElvaine's synthesis of the Great Depression poignantly described the suffering and deprivation of the people most affected by the economic turmoil. He also provided a cogent explanation of the political dynamics that resulted in the vilification of Hoover and the Republican Party and a vindication of FDR, the Democrats, and the New Deal, even though the economy did not improve until WWII. However, the book came off the rails because of the author's seeming ignorance of economic concepts, which led to idiotic conclusions and incoherent arguments.

McElvaine is unabashedly of a Liberal, Progressive political orientation. His political ideology drove his arguments, and they were unsupported by his assembly of research. He argued that the cause of the Great Depression was primarily the "maldistribution of wealth," and that it lingered because the federal government spent too little money combating it. He further argued that the wrong people staffed the agencies the government created to administer the interventionist programs.

From an economic history standpoint, McElvaine hopelessly lost the narrative from the beginning based on his faulty presuppositions. The U.S. economy in the 1920s was not laissez-faire (as defined by a completely free market). The government had begun regulating the economy in the Theodore Roosevelt administration, and these policies accelerated exponentially during the Wilson presidency due to the U.S. entry into WWI. He also overlooked the 1920-21 depression, which started during the Wilson administration, that the market recovered from without government interdiction by the Harding administration. He also misconstrued classical economics as equating laissez-faire, which was inaccurate.

McElvaine went to great lengths to pillory Shlaes, "The Forgotten Man," but his criticisms are unfounded and based on a fundamental ignorance of classical economics. Likewise, he exhibited no comprehension of Friedman and Schwartz's monetary theory of the causes of the Great Depression. He omitted two seminal works from his synthesis: Rothbard's "America's Great Depression" and Hayek's article "The Use of Knowledge in Society."

McElvaine also attempted to make a moral argument that the values of a cooperative economic system were morally superior to a competitive system. However, he admitted that the Democrat Solid South and Jim Crow were the political foundations of the New Deal. He lost his moral argument in this irony. The book is a synthetic editorial that exalts progressivism and denigrates conservatism. Its contributions to the social and political history of the era are worthwhile. However, the economic misconceptions and ideological prattle drown it in self-immolation.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his Foreword to the first edition of this book, the author says, “History has habitually been viewed from the top, that is, through the eyes of elites, by examining the activities of governments and intellectuals.

In recent years there has been a movement to write history ‘from the bottom up.’ Studies from this perspective have added greatly to our knowledge of the past. Few attempts, however, have been made to blend these two approaches. Both vantage points are needed to understand a given historical period.

This is true of all eras, but it seems to me to be especially the case with the Great Depression, a time of enormous upheaval from below and dramatic innovation from above.

This book combines social and political history so as to achieve a fuller comprehension of the biggest crisis Americans have faced in this century, the attempts to deal with that crisis, and the resulting alteration of the nation’s attitudes and politics….”

The Great Depression was a calamitous worldwide incidence that saw millions of people slide into scarcity. Across America, men and women would plunk in bread lines and live in shantytowns.

In Germany, the desolation caused by the Great Depression gave rise to the Third Reich and eventually led to the start of World War Two.

People still rejoice the 1920s as a golden epoch of parties and glamour, but the seeds of the Great Depression were planted in these years of smugness.

Into fifteen chapters this book has been divided:

1. Historical Currents and the Great Depression
2. Who Was Roaring in the Twenties?—Origins of the Great Depression
3. In the Right Place at the Wrong Time?—Herbert Hoover
4. Nature Takes Its Course: The First Years of the Depression
5. The Lord of the Manor: FDR
6. “And What Was Dead Was Hope”: 1932 and the Interregnum
7. “Action, and Action Now”: The Hundred Days and Beyond
8. “Fear Itself”: Depression Life
9. Moral Economics: American Values and Culture in the Great Depression
10. Thunder on the Left: Rising Unrest, 1934–35
11. “I’m That Kind of Liberal Because I’m That Kind of Conservative”: The Second New Deal
12. New Hickory: The WPA, the Election of 1936, and the Court Fight
13. The CIO and the Later New Deal
14. “Dr. New Deal” Runs Out of Medicine: The Last Years of the Depression, 1939–41
15. Perspective: The Great Depression and Modern America

Even though the Stock Market Crash of 1929 is often used as a start date for the Great Depression in the US, it was not the solitary cause of the catastrophe. In Europe in the early 20s, the economy was already threadbare. Most of Europe struggled to repay debts owed to America from World War One; Germany, especially, was paying momentous reparations.

By 1922, Germany was experiencing hyperinflation, as their money became ever more valueless. Workers collected wages in wheelbarrows, and distressed populace burnt cash to keep warm.

At its lowest point in 1923, one trillion German Marks was worth one US dollar.

Germany's trembling economy was for a moment resurrected by a currency reform and the Dawes plan, which relaxed some reparations Germany had to pay. Even so, it was not enough to foil the rise of the far-right during the 20s.

In the US, on the other hand, the economy was booming. Taxes were frequently cut to hearten spending, wages rose, and consumerism flourished. The automobile's rise was a gigantic incentive for the American economy, providing factory jobs and jobs building roads and petrol stations.

America's landscape was everlastingly changed by the car, and many people could now travel further to find work. Many older industries also benefited from car manufacturing, as many factory bosses copied Gerald Ford's sparkling assembly line model to mass-produce goods.

For the wealthiest in society, new contraptions like radios and washing machines became admired consumer items. Some people bought new gadgets on credit, a slip-up which would come back to irk them later.

This decade was incomparable for New York, where Wall Street was a hive of activity.

The Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center were built in this period, and a forest of skyscrapers transformed the landscape. New York's affluence was funded by the new trend of buying stocks and shares.

Many commonplace people, in addition to professional speculators, played the stock market for the first time.

With share-prices climbing fast, people were convinced that the stock market was a great way to make money swiftly, and some people even took out loans to buy stocks.

Even if share prices rose exponentially all through the decade, the economy was slowing down in real terms from at least the mid-20s onwards. Global trade had stalled, and few chief powers could afford to spend on luxury items.

The European market had shrunk significantly due to the strictness caused by World War One. Although the US had done much better due to the war, they would fast reach a dispersion point for the sale of new goods without a booming global market to sell to.

Farming in the US had also slowed down.

Agriculture had expanded massively during the First World War, but demand fell radically after the war ended. The industrialization of farms had put many farmers into debt and many farmhands out of work. Crop yields were at an unsurpassed high, but the market was by now utterly saturated at home, and there was modest prospect for expansion abroad.

Almost one-third of Americans still worked in agriculture in this period, so the industry's collapse would have massive consequences.

Many farmers were already struggling to pay their bills by the middle of the 20s. Knowledge of this challenging reality inexorably hit home in Wall Street, and the markets became shakier as it was more and more evident that the sky-high share prices were based on nothing.

The booming economy caused by stock market speculation was a mere fantasy. Canny investors began to bet against the market. On Thursday, October 24, 1929, after a rush of panic selling when the markets opened, the stock market crashed severely.

Over 12.9 million shares changed hands in one day. Known as ‘Black Thursday’, this crash would cause a flourish of unemployment due to the swift drop-off in spending and investment.

Many industries collapsed in these early days of panic selling, while those who had taken out loans to buy stocks were left destitute. Many stockbrokers committed suicide.

The years 1930 through 1933 would see a wave of banks collapse as investors progressively lost confidence in the economy. In this period, small banks across America did not have enough money in reserve to deal with the unexpected charge of people who tried to remove their cash.

Thousands of banks were forced to close, and many people went insolvent. With banks no longer lending, industry ground to a halt. Jobs were cut across the nation, and unemployment reached record levels.

In 1932, the Depression reached its culmination, and the Dow Jones hit its record lowly point.

The stock market break down in America would have substantial upshots at a global level, worsening the previously dreadful economic stipulations.

Although a wave of new leaders would step up in the 30s to tackle the Depression, they struggled to make an impact.

In the US, Herbert Hoover was inaugurated in 1929 just before the crash, but he had no plan how to fix it. He would be blamed for the rest of his life for the cave in of the American economy.

Somewhere between 20-30% of the labour force were now unemployed, and although Hoover started a novel scheme to provide loans to key industries, it was too little, too late. The global trade situation worsened during Hoover's presidency.

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, designed to protect American interests, put a huge trade tariff on imports, creating a further freeze-up of international trade when other countries retaliated. In the meantime, many ordinary Americans stood in bread lines just to get fed; many more lived as travellers taking to the road to find work anywhere they could.

People were starving in the streets while farmers could not have the funds for harvesting their own crops, leaving them to rot in the fields. Expansive shanty towns spread across America, and they were nicknamed Hoovervilles, in Hoover's honour.

In Germany, the catastrophe swept the Nazis into power. Hitler was made Chancellor of Germany in 1933, with ruinous effects for the German people – and later, the rest of the world.

In the US, Franklin D Roosevelt was sworn in as president in 1933 and would remain president until he died in 1945, due in part to the implausible series of crises with which he would deal.

FDR would introduce "the New Deal," a colossal economic relief program designed to resurrect the economy. This multi-pronged, multifaceted wave of legislation was supposed to provide respite, restructuring, and revival in equal measure.

One innermost element of the New Deal was creating the Public Works Administration, which aimed to create jobs by developing a variety of building projects.

Under Roosevelt's administration, bridges, airports, schools, and other buildings were constructed across the country. The government even went so far as to pay writers and artists to produce works of art. Roosevelt would also act quick to save farmers, a lot of of whom were now entirely ruined.

In the South, the predicament of agricultural workers was made shoddier by the Dust Bowl, caused by a wave of famine and high winds.

Although FDR would bring in much significant legislation, his measures were contentious. Roosevelt's First New Deal in the early 30s resulted in a face-off with the Supreme Court, which tried to overturn his policies.

The AAA, or Agricultural Adjustment Act, aimed to help farmers recover from intricate economic conditions. The NIRA, the National Industrial Recovery Act, were both declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

The second phase of the New Deal, from 1935-36, introduced the Wagner Act and the Social Security Act, which have both been long-lasting and have endured the test of time.

The Wagner Act gave workers more rights, including the right to unionize. The Social Security Act gave unemployment insurance to Americans for the first time and provided for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled. Roosevelt won re-election by a landslide on the back of these reforms. Historians are still very divided on whether Roosevelt's measures helped the economy or had no effect whatsoever.

Some believe Roosevelt did not go far enough to have a significant impact, but he did prevent people from starving to death. In 1936, the renowned economist John Maynard Keynes would argue that governments must intervene more during a Depression to stimulate the economy.

Keynes' economic position was a more extreme version of Roosevelts — Roosevelt was still concerned with balancing the books for most of his presidency. Keynes argued that by massively increasing spending, even if it put countries into debt, the economy would be revived by a renewed wave of economic stimulus.

These economic ideas are still controversial today, and economists still cannot agree on how much intervention is appropriate or necessary to solve a massive economic disaster. Although unemployment had dropped considerably by 1940, it was still very high, and the Great Depression remains the longest-running economic downturn in the industrialized world's history.

Ultimately, the Second World War helped end the Great Depression by creating a vast economic stimulus in the US from 1941 onward. Suddenly, there was no need to create more jobs because everyone was enlisted in the army or busy making bullets or bombs.

To this day, many of Roosevelt's policies remain in place in the US to prevent a repeat of some of the irresponsibility that led to the wild speculation of the 1920s. The disheartenment of FDR's Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 is often identified as one of the culprits behind the financial crisis of 2008.

Formerly prohibited banking activity was abruptly permitted again for the first time since the 1920s. Commercial and investment banks were merged, with catastrophic consequences for the global economy.

The roots of the Depression and the rationales for its end are still debatable topics.

Although there have been other economic disasters since then, the Great Depression remains an unparalleled economic catastrophe with no equal in modern times.

A rocker of a book….. Most recommended.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great history of the Great Depression. I've previously read the first two volumes of Arthur Schlesinger's famous "Age of Roosevelt" series, but found it hard to read and process. This book, however, served as an even better overview. It discussed not only the various programs FDR initiated as part of the New Deal (AAA, NRA, Social Security, the SEC, the Wagner Act, etc), but also how well they worked, and why. The author dives into popular literature and films of the era to build a narrative of the public's changing values, from competition-based acquisitive individualism in the Roaring Twenties to cooperation-based economic moralism (which he differentiates very nicely from the communism and socialism ideologies that conservatives of the time feared were FDR's real goals).

This book also paints great portraits of the leading figures of the times: Calvin Coolidge, aloof, uninvolved, and happy during the great speculation-boom of the mid-'20s; Herbert Hoover, the dumbstruck pragmatist, whose attempts at economic rescue as the Depression started were forgotten and took most of the blame for Harding's and Coolidge's negligences; and Franklin Roosevelt, the skillful politician with a paternalistic streak, pragmatic, always tinkering, charming and warm-hearted, and smart enough to gauge the public's mood and jump in front of it.

The author describes how the FDR administration and the New Deal saved capitalism from the shock of its worst excesses by being pragmatic, and not ideologically rigid. It ends by concluding that nothing the New Deal did ever cured the Depression (which only ended with the start of World War II), but that the emerging values of Depression-era America laid the groundwork for the U.S. government we know today.

The stock market fell another 500 points today. Yeah, it's timely.

[Gregory Blecha]

Having just read "The Forgotten Man" by Amity Shlaes, and "The Great Depression" by Robert McElvaine, back-to-back, I have the opportunity to compare how both authors treat this complex topic.

What struck me is that Shlaes' approach seems to be "top-down" while McElvaine's approach is "bottom-up". McElvaine sprinkles into his text the correspondence from ordinary Americans to the Roosevelts; the language is rich, heartfelt, evocative, and infuses the text with a deep sense of melancholy. Shlaes focuses more on the major players, people in a position of power, thought leaders.

Both authors approach the topic of the New Deal from diametric economic and political camps. McElvaine's commentary is definitely biased toward a liberal belief in government. His swipes at President Reagan may seem anachronistic (I believe the book was published in the early eighties, and then re-published in the early nineties) so Reagan-bashing may have been more au courant at the time, but now it seems like cheap jabs. Fortunately, these remarks are not too distracting.

Shlaes makes a strong case that the New Deal was concident to the easing of the economic downturn, while McElvaine plays both sides - he attributes the New Deal as "saving capitalism" but as having little influence on ending the Depression.

Both books emphasize the experimental nature of FDR's attempts at righting the economy, and ascribe much of the direction of the New Deal to political rather than economic forces. Both books are required reading for the student who wishes to understand how America changed from the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression.

[Cheryl Licata · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is full of facts about FDR and his New Deal programs that his administration tried, to bring the country out of the Great Depression. My favorite chapter had some information about Eleanor Roosevelt who had her own initiatives to help poverty-stricken people and black Americans. One of the personally interesting programs was the Federal Writers' Project which allowed teachers, librarians, other white collar workers and writers to work a 30 hour week for which they were paid. The FWP helped people like Saul Bellow, John Cheever and Richard Wright earn money while also having the time to write books. I learned more about Depression characters like Fr Coughlin, the radio priest, Upton Sinclair and Huey Long. My favorite quote from the book is: "The day of selfishness was over; the day of working together has come and we much learn to work together, all of us, regardless of creed or color...We go ahead together or we go down together." Another quote I read recently has the same thought -- "We may have come over on different ships, but we're all in the same boat now."

[Samsung · Rating 5 out of 5]

gives excellent historical insight into economics, political cycles, and the time when people feared there'd be another Great Depression. Sound familiar?

[Melissa]

Way too political. Not what I was looking for at all.

[Jim Dowdell · Rating 2 out of 5]

very political and liberal mostly about FDR but covers social issues well

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is mostly a political history of the Great Depression, with some small peaks into social histories of how the Depression effected everyday people and how the programs enacted under the New Deals eliviated, in often flawed ways, the suffering of the Depression. But, for the most part, the book traced the fall of the economy in 1929 until things began rumbling again at the beginning of the USA's involvement in the 2nd World War. 

There are two things that is striking about this 1982 big history of the worst economic crisis of capitalism's existence (let alone the US): First, McElvaine takes frequent detours to stake his position on particular historiographies of why things happened and to attack takes by other historians and economists. This is actually nice because you know exactly where he stands (the Depression was caused by bank runs and an overall panic which had cascading effects to collapse the deck of cards of the 1920s economy; the New Deal didn't go nearly far enough and while it didn't end the Depression, it did enable many to survive it and set up long time safe-guards against further calamities, some of which still survive. WWII kicked started the economy to boom with massive spending that absolutely dwarfed the New Deal programs.) The second thing that McElvaine did was relate it to events of the Reagan administration, when he wrote the book, where he argued that Reaganism was a return to Coolidgeism with deficit spending (though he was somewhat off on the coming collapse besides 1987's dip. What he did get right, on hindsite, is that economic downturns would become more frequent and sharper, leading up to the collapse of 2008 and what ensued in its wake.)

I'm a little less interested in the political calculations of Hoover and FDR, though it does make clear that Hoover, originally a progressive, moved to the right at a time when the country moved to the left, while FDR, who was originally a balanced-budgeter, moved with the political winds as necessary and delivered tangible gains for his base of working class people (though within limits of the New Deal coalition.) He faced challenges by both his right (the Liberty League and Father Coughlin) and his left (Townsend and Long), (though I do think he discounts major political movements, amongst them socialists and communists, making demands from below that wond their way into FDR's advisors), that caused FDR to move against the conservative elites in a populist move that cemented some of the long standing programs of the New Deal, such as Social Security and the NLRB.

Overall, this is a top-down history of the Great Depression. I usually prefer bottom-up histories, but it's good to know the arguments of what I'd call a liberal New Deal Democrat (McElvaine certainly reads that way.) Some of his arguments are good against free-market fundamentalist revisionist histories of the Great Depression, but he also ignores mass movements and instead simply looks at opinion polls as his main gauge of the national mood.

[Jacqueline Masumian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good overview of the Great Depression, but the emphasis is on politics and economics rather than on the actual lives of the many Americans who suffered greatly during that time. Told from a decidedly liberal stance, the narrative revolves primarily around FDR and his contributions to a more moral and compassionate approach by government in solving the problems of the poor. In fact, as the author asserts, FDR was more a politician rather than a humanitarian, but the programs that were put in place during his terms made an important stamp on government policies going forward.

Written in 1984, the book draws comparisons between beliefs and behavior during the Depression era and the distinctly conservative attitudes of the Reagan years. But it was interesting to me the parallels that exist between the Depression years and the current time (2021) in regard to the extreme inequity of wealth distribution, which has certainly not gone away, as well as the struggles between arch conservatives and progressive liberals (along with the expected name-calling) and the pressures on politicians from both extremes.

McElvaine draws a conclusion about one of the benefits derived from the Depression - a more moral approach to alleviating economic suffering of the lower classes - and he expresses a desire to go back to the sense of community and shared humanity that those bad times engendered. I kept wondering as I read how he would react to the divisive world in which we currently find ourselves.

McElvaine's often dry writing style made getting through this book a tough haul, but his description of the FDR era was interesting and left me wanting to read more about the Roosevelts.

[Debbie Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reviewing the original version written in the 80s. It was a book I was supposed to have read in my college political history class. I actually didn't read it then, but kept the book believing I would some day. And so I finally did.
It was a fascinating read. I enjoyed the different viewpoints of the great depression from the various politicians to the average person to those from other nations. The author injects his opinions as well as other expert opinions. He doesn't hide his liberal thoughts and at times takes some good jabs at Reagan. I didn't agree with everything, for example, the idea that people tire of social programs and vote out politicians who advocate to the poor. I think it only looks that way on the surface. The conservatives have always fought against social programs, even fighting against FDR in all legislation to help the poor in the midst of the great depression. The author even mentioned that fact in the book. Also, people want change no matter what it is in politics. They hate change in the rest of their life, but their government must always be in constant change, I think because people are never satisfied with the state of the current government.
I learned a lot from this book and will be looking at other books written by this author.

[Edward Champion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly readable synthesis of a significant period in American history. I was amazed by how much McElvaine was able to pack into this relatively small volume. The book is very good at describing FDR's political strategizing while also liberally quoting from the desperate people who starved and suffered during this era. I also appreciated McElvaine's tendency to play a doubting Thomas at times, calling into question other people's assumptions about the Great Depression while also cross-examining his own. McElvaine is a lively thinker and a solid historian. And if you're looking for a good 300 page book to brush up, this isn't a bad one to choose.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Throughout the entire book, one thing is very clear, the author is lost and confused.

Also, the book's title is misleading. You'd think you'd be reading a book that talks about economy and the Great Depression but literally 98% of the book talks about nothing but party politics. The entire book is "Hoover said this, Roosevelt said that, Republicans argued this, Democrats argued that" with hardly any mention of the actual topic the book was supposed to be about.

[Corban Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very even, thorough, and readable account of one of the the greatest economic crisis ever. From the beginning in 1929 all the way to it's effective finish in 1941, McElvaine looks at the depression from a broad lens, analyzing its effects from a cultural, political and historical standpoint. This is one of the classic studies of the Great Depression and one that I enjoyed reflecting on.

[Liquidlasagna]

Robert S. McElvaine, a Millsaps College historian and author of The Great Depression: America 1929-1941, said the spotlighting of Smoot-Hawley has been articulated most aggressively by conservative, free-market advocates because it takes the focus off 1920s-era tax cuts and general income inequality during that decade.

[Tomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting read, but the author’s biases come through too clearly. Could you lay off Ronald Reagan?

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roosevelt is a politician.
Difference between Hoover and FDR is FDR can restore hope in a credible fashion.

[Emory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my film/history class. Extremely detailed, sometimes a little too much. Learned a lot about The Great Depression that I did not know before.

[Jerry Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been meaning to read more history of the US for ever - probably something that I should continue to do for ever as well as there is always more to learn and different angles to examine. Looking at the Great Depression through the lens of 80 years or so is interesting, although it should be noted that this book was first published 25 years ago. As well as providing inherent interest in events passed, history has a lot to teach us, should we care to listen. Most of the time of course, we choose not to do so.

McElvain clearly writes from a left wing viewpoint which is in some ways good for me since I share that worldview, but in other respects this doesn't get me as emotionally involved as is the case when I passionately disagree with a particular line of reasoning. I wish I could say that I sought alternative views more often but alas, I am not as enlightened in that area as I feel I should be. The new intro to this addition clearly ties the depression era to mistakes that were repeated during the 80s and continue to this day.

Wealth inequality is essentially the cause of the depression among a number of other things according to this analysis, and it is persuasive. The folly and fallacy of "trickle down" is laid bare here, although I am sure there will be many a reader who hankers after the apparently halcyon days of Reagan when he tried it in the 80s. Clinton is also rightly criticized for signing legislation to untie merchant and retail banking that was originally put in place to prevent many of the worst excesses of the 1920s. We saw the results of these policies in the early 21st Century but I doubt we will learn from that either.

The early chapters of the book were more interesting to me than the latter, which concentrated more on what life was like during the Depression and it was just that: depressing. Often leading to many social ills and personal despair. We must try to avoid another episode like that but I sadly fear that it will come again. Interesting book, somehow I found it rather heavy going and I am not sure why. Probably more to do with the reader than the author.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting reading about the some of the causes of the depression, about the presidential administrations of the 20s, Roosevelt and his presidential campaigns. He builds an interesting picture of Roosevelt as a pragmatist, progressive, and a skilled politician.

Some interesting discussions on the various agencies, why they succeeded and why they failed, I found it particularly interesting to learn that most of them just went away at the end of the 30s with little fanfare. I found myself wanting more discussion on these agencies though.

This book has almost no description of the life and struggles of "the Forgotten Man" but rather the people's perception of Roosevelt and Roosevelt's ability to relate to them. I found it interesting to learn that Roosevelt actively exploited class divisions, distrust of the rich and big business, and cultivated the support of the African American community.

I liked his analysis of how Hoover's and Roosevelt's respective upbringing, personalities and philosophies impacted their policies.

The author occasionally goes into the psyche and morality of the time. I found his approach in developing his points a little confusing although he usually finishes on an interesting point.

However, I think that the author left some things out. For example, I was disappointed at how he mostly ignored the effects of the dust bowl on the depression and didn't go more into the effects of WW1 and tariffs in creating conditions for a depression.

One other thing to note. I was really put off by the author's running commentary. He wrote the book during the early 80s recession years, and was critical of Reagan in the text. I'm reading this book to learn more about the depression years, not Reagan. I'm not a supporter of Reagan, just really put off by the author's obvious dislike. I didn't mind the perspective between eras, but I thought that he took it a step too far and that his personal opinion was a little too present.

[Luis Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Great Depression
By: Robert S McElvaine

My experience with this book was very eye opening. This book takes you through the life of several people during the Great Depression. The book showed many perspective, including the person who barely suffered or were barely affected to the people that were the most affected by this time period. The wealthy people were the ones not much affected. What made this book interesting was the different point of views during this period of history depending on your personal situation.

The most interesting quote in this book for me was, "We have hit bottom and are on the upswing.(125)" This quote demonstrates how devastated some people were during this period of time and how at the same time they believe it could not get any worse and had to get better from that point on.

This book really focused on the chaos and ordered questions. One question it really focused on was, “How does an individual's point of view affect the way he deals with conflict?”. There were many views on the conflict, in this case the Great Depression. It showed how most people were completely devastated as a consequence of this event and how people dealt with life before, during and after the Great Depression. Some people were affected and had to slightly change their lifestyle but we're not completely devastated by this event. Very seldom were wealthy people affected, mostly their life did not change notably throughout the period.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Great Depression. This book showed many point of view of this historic event from the very poor and to the major changes they underwent to the population barely affected or not affected at all. It showed how unpleasant life was during this time for some people. This book can give many life lessons and help us see how blessed we are today to not live during the time period of The Great Depression.

[Kristine Lenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really interesting. Great background for my history paper.