Nineteen twenty-nine. It’s a year that feels like a ghost story in American history. If you're asking who was president in 1929, you aren't just looking for a name to win a trivia night. You're looking at the precise moment the "Roaring Twenties" stopped roaring and started screaming.
The answer is actually two people.
Calvin Coolidge started the year in the White House, but Herbert Hoover took the oath in March. It was a handoff that looked perfect on paper. One "New Era" Republican passing the torch to another. But within months, the floor fell out.
The Silent Transition: From Coolidge to Hoover
People often forget how weirdly popular Calvin Coolidge was. "Silent Cal" oversaw a period of insane growth. Radio was the new iPhone. Cars were becoming something everyone owned, not just the rich. By the time 1929 rolled around, Coolidge was ready to get out. He famously issued a one-sentence statement to the press: "I do not choose to run for President in nineteen twenty-eight."
He stayed in office until March 4, 1929.
Then came Herbert Hoover.
Honestly, Hoover was probably the most qualified person to ever hold the job, which makes what happened next so much more tragic. He was a self-made millionaire, a world-class engineer, and a humanitarian who had literally saved millions from starvation in Europe after World War I. He was "The Great Engineer." Americans expected him to keep the party going forever.
The Economic Mirage of Early 1929
When Hoover took over, things looked incredible. The stock market was climbing vertically. If you had a few spare dollars, you threw them into RCA or Montgomery Ward. It felt like a cheat code for life. Hoover’s inaugural address was basically a victory lap. He said, "I have no fears for the future of our country. It is bright with hope."
He wasn't lying. He genuinely believed it.
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But there were cracks. Underneath the surface, the " Coolidge Prosperity" was built on a mountain of margin debt. People were buying stocks with money they didn't have, sometimes putting down as little as 10%. Farmers were already in a depression. They’d been struggling for years because of overproduction and falling prices, but because the Dow Jones was hitting record highs, nobody in Washington paid much attention.
Hoover wasn't a "hands-off" guy like Coolidge. He wanted to fine-tune the engine. He actually worried the market was getting a bit too wild. But by the time he started asking the Federal Reserve to tighten things up, it was already too late to stop the momentum.
The Crash That Defined a Presidency
October 24, 1929. Black Thursday.
Then came Black Tuesday.
If you want to understand who was president in 1929, you have to understand the specific weight on Herbert Hoover's shoulders during those weeks. He didn't cause the crash. You can blame the Fed, or the crazy speculation of the mid-20s, or the global debt from the Great War. But Hoover was the guy in the chair when the music stopped.
He didn't just sit there. That’s a common myth. People think Hoover did nothing, but he actually did a ton—it just wasn't the right ton. He tried to convince business leaders not to cut wages. He started public works projects (including the bridge that eventually became the Hoover Dam). He was terrified of the "dole"—what we now call welfare—because he thought it would ruin the American spirit of self-reliance.
That philosophical stubbornness is what eventually sank him. He believed in "rugged individualism."
It’s a great phrase for a speech. It’s a terrible phrase for a guy whose bank just closed and whose family is living in a cardboard shack. By the end of the year, those shantytowns were already being called "Hoovervilles." The transformation from the hero of 1928 to the villain of 1929 was breathtakingly fast.
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Why 1929 Still Matters for Today's Economy
We still use 1929 as the ultimate yardstick. Whenever the market dips today, pundits start bringing up the 1929 charts.
There’s a reason for that.
The 1929 presidency showed us that "competence" isn't the same as "crisis management." Hoover was a brilliant administrator, but he lacked the political charisma to comfort a terrified nation. He was stiff. He was formal. He stayed in the White House, working 18-hour days, while the public felt he was cold and indifferent.
We also learned about the dangers of protectionism. In late 1929, the gears were moving toward what would become the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. Hoover signed it later, thinking it would help American farmers, but it basically nuked global trade. Most modern economists, from across the spectrum, agree this was a catastrophic mistake. It turned a bad recession into a decade-long depression.
Surprising Facts About the 1929 Administration
Most people assume the 1929 government was just a bunch of guys in suits smoking cigars. While that’s partly true, it was also a year of massive technological shifts.
- The First White House Phone: Believe it or not, the president didn't have a phone on his desk until Hoover had one installed in 1929. Before that, you had to go to a booth in the hallway.
- The First Oscar Ceremony: It happened in May 1929. While the economy was starting to wobble, Hollywood was just beginning its dominance.
- The Bonus Army Seeds: The veterans who would later march on Washington in 1932 were already starting to feel the pinch of the 1929 downturn.
- The Vice President: Charles Curtis was the first person with significant Native American ancestry to serve as VP. He was a member of the Kaw Nation.
How to Research the 1929 Era Yourself
If you want to dig deeper into the 1929 presidency, don't just read history books written in the 90s. Go to the primary sources.
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library has digitized thousands of documents from 1929. You can read the actual letters people sent to the White House as the crash happened. It’s heartbreaking. You'll see the shift from "Congratulations on the win!" to "We can't afford coal for the winter" in the span of six months.
Check out the New York Times archives for October 1929. The headlines didn't say "The World is Ending." They actually tried to stay positive for a few days, claiming the "foundations of business are sound." It’s a eerie reminder of how slowly a catastrophe can unfold.
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Taking Action: Learning the Lessons of 1929
History isn't just about names and dates. It's about patterns. If you're interested in the 1929 presidency, here is how you can apply that knowledge today:
Audit your own "speculation." The 1929 crash was fueled by people playing with money they didn't have. Whether it's crypto, tech stocks, or real estate, ensure your financial foundation isn't built on 10% margins.
Watch the "Lag" in Data. In 1929, the President and his advisors were looking at data that was weeks or months old. Today, we have real-time data, but the psychological lag is the same. Just because things look "sound" doesn't mean the tide hasn't already turned.
Study Hoover vs. FDR. If you really want to understand the 1929 shift, compare Hoover's 1929 speeches with Franklin Roosevelt's 1933 speeches. It’s a masterclass in the difference between technical management and empathetic leadership. One spoke to the "machine" of America; the other spoke to the people.
The year 1929 started with a celebration of the "New Era" and ended with the realization that the old rules of gravity still applied. Herbert Hoover was a man of the 19th century trying to manage a 20th-century disaster. He wasn't a bad man, but he was the wrong man for that specific storm.
To get a better grip on this period, look into the "Liquidationist" theory held by Hoover’s Treasury Secretary, Andrew Mellon. He famously told Hoover to "liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers, liquidate real estate" to "purge the rottenness out of the system." Understanding that mindset explains why the 1929 government acted—or failed to act—the way it did.
Next Steps for Deepening Your Knowledge:
- Read "Lords of Finance" by Liaquat Ahamed. It explains how the central bankers of 1929 (not just the presidents) actually broke the world economy.
- Visit a "Hooverville" site. Many cities have historical markers where these shantytowns once stood. Seeing the physical location makes the 1929 economic shift feel much more real than a line on a chart.
- Examine the 1928 Election Map. Look at how Hoover won in a landslide. It provides the necessary context for how shocked the country was when everything fell apart just months after he took office.