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Election Day 1928
After Calvin Coolidge declines to run for reelection, Herbert Hoover defeates Alfred E. Smith to win the presidency. Hoover gained 444 electoral votes to defeat Smith, who only gained 87, in a landslide. -
Inauguration Day
In front of 50,000 people, Hoover proclaims that he "has no fear for the future of this country. It is bright with hope." -
Recession Begins
Beginning sometime in the month of August, this recession is what leads to the Depression. This downward turn in the economy does not end until March 1933. The recession was worsened by the Fed raising the Fed Funds Rate in Spring 1928. -
First Stock Market Plunge
The stock market takes a massive plunge. Those who own stocks begin to sell at a frenzied pace but get back nothing close to what they paid for stocks. This massive sell off sends the stock market into a nosedive. -
Black Thursday
Market lost 11% of it's value at the opening bell. Buying of "blue chip" stocks such as US Steel eased the losses but only temporarily. -
Black Tuesday
The market lost between ten and fifteen billion in stock value as prices took their steepest dive to date. While this event did not cause the Great Depression, it was a contributing factor. -
Period: to
Great Depression in the United States
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Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act Signed Into Law
This act is helped through the House and Senate by Republicans having control of both. The act raises the average tariff rate to the highest in US history, an act which hurts businesses further. Exports fall one fifth from 1929 to 1932.
