What if Hoover Was President Earlier?

Herbert Hoover is considered one of the worst presidents in US history. And he was a bad president. But things could have been far different if he simply decided to run for office eight years earlier. Despite his bad reputation now, Hoover was once popular for his charity and philanthropy. What if he had ran in 1920 instead of 1928?
What if Lincoln Didn't Win: • What if Abraham Lincol...
What if Henry Clay Became President?: • What if Henry Clay Bec...
Alternate President Playlist: • Alternate President El...
Twitter: / althistoryhub
Patreon: / alternatehistoryhub

[@AlternateHistoryHub]

This is a collab with Mr. Beat and Emperor Tigerstar! They made their own presidential alternate histories too. What if Lincoln Didn't Win: shorturl.at/nORSV What if Henry Clay Won: shorturl.at/glmEO

[@jessetorres8738]

Suggestion: What if the U.S. joined the League Of Nations after World War 1 ended?

[@LavaCreeperPeople]

W

[@bruhmomentmaker4979]

So are you gonna do what if Germany became communist instead of fascist now?

[@aussiegod4269]

Hey Cody. Was wondering if you could do a what if Japan was split in two between the Soviets and Allies. Or even better yet could you do another alternate history competition.

[@JTL1776]

WHAT IF JFK and MLK were not assassinated. 1 timeline. What if Teddy Roosevelt had a 3rd term. And What what if trump ran in 2004 and 2008.

[@ihavetowait90daystochangem67]

As a non American, the only reason why I know Herbert Hoover is because of the Hoover dam in Fallout New Vegas

[@Alec_Reaper]

I thought it was named after a hoover vacuum

[@RightHandmann]

do you think herbert hoover had a thing for horses hooves

[@nileshkumaraswamy2711]

Hoover’s Russian famine relief was also a big part of his legacy overseas but it was before he became president so its not a presidential thing. He basically saved Bolshevik controlled Russia from collapsing but he also saved millions of people from certain death.

[@BrianGriffinW]

Imao that’s funny

[@formersamonellaclone]

I read the first part of the comment and I legit thought it was going to be one of those stupid-ass "as a _____ I can ___" comments

[@lampcrow5453]

He DID run in 1920, but the convention was moronic and nominated Harding instead. Double whammy of bad luck there for Herbert.

[@sethnanney448]

Ironically, given his later reputation as too conservative during the Depression, the Republican bosses thought Hoover was too progressive and nominated Harding because he was a conservative that stayed out of the ideological struggle in the Party. Harding named Hoover as his Secretary of Commerce and he was confirmed, Coolidge kept him on after Harding died, and he ran and won in 1928. At the worst possible time to be President.

[@iammrbeat]

This is why I suggested that Cody make this video.

[@BananaPhoPhilly]

@@iammrbeat Loved your eisenhower video

[@person3070]

It was a good thing that Harding was nominated. Harding, contrary to historical opinion was an incredibly accomplished and great president. The main reason why people think he was bad was because of corruption. But the thing is, Harding himself was never corrupt, and it was his Cabinet, who was. And the rest of his Cabinet was great, with people like Herbert Hoover (ironic) and Charles Evans Hughes being given roles. To blame a man for others corruption which hardly impacted the every day American is weird. People forgive Ulysses Grant for his Cabinet's corruption, but for whatever reason, they dont for Harding. As for Hoover, Hoover was president at a great time, but because of his economic mismanagement, a recession became the Great Depression. Even a month after the Stock Market Crash, unemployment was still at 3.2%. Blocking free trade with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, raising taxes with the Revenue Act, and restricting the free market with infrastructure projects in a way that the New Deal did as well will contribute a lot to making a recession or mild depression, a Great Depression. Had Hoover actually been a conservative like Harding, he would have cut taxes, and allowed the economy to flourish. Harding came into office with a depression, but left with the Roaring 20s as he cut the budget, cut taxes, and paid off national debt. There is a reason you dont hear about the Recession of 1926-1927, Depression of 1920-1921, and the Recession of 1945-1946, and that reason is the government cut taxes and its budget, and so the economy recovered. As I said before, Harding was a great president, with many accomplishments: 1. Ended the Wilsonian recession (1920-1921 recession) 2. Released political prisoners that got imprisoned under Woodrow Wilson 3. He pulled the country out of Woodrow Wilson’s politics 5. Opposed US intervention in Latin America 6. The roaring 20s began under him, with the economy growing 16% from 1921 to 1922. By his last year in office, unemployment reached a low of 2%. Manufacturing workers received an all time high paycheck of $22 a week 7. Implemented programs to help poor mothers which reduced infant mortality rates and deaths from child birth 8. Helped implement the 8 hour work day in the steel mills industry 9. Washington Naval Agreement, reducing the size of navies across the world to push for a better and less militant future 10. Dawes Plan 11. President Harding signed a peace treaty with Austria and Germany post World War 1. 12. Formally ended WW1 14. Signed the Sweet Act, which created the Veteran’s Bureau by combining several bureaucratic agencies and neatly combining them into one singular agency 15. Introduced the Federal Highway Act of 1921, improving national standards for roads by providing federal aid to states 16. Budget and Accounting Act, setting up the national budget system, and an audit of that system to reduce corruption 17. Capper-Volstead Act, aiding farmers from being unfairly attacked by anti trust laws which did not make sense in the realm of farming 19. Packers and Stockyards Act, prohibiting unfair practices, dividing supply, manipulating prices, and enacted monopolies in the meatpacking, livestock, and poultry industries 20. Reduced national debt and balanced the budget 21. Allowing Herbert Hoover to run the American Relief Administration, which saved over 10.5 million people from starvation, and provided medicine to millions. He signed the Russian Famine Relief Act which further helped this cause 22. Withdrew troops from Cuba and Germany 23. Put an end to the occupation of the Dominican Republic, ending an unjust occupation which had occurred because the US wanted more control over the country’s economy 24. Attempted to make lynching illegal, and was in support of expanding voting rights 25. Improving relations with Canada, by being the first sitting American president to tour and give a speech there 26. Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act, further restricting the import and export of harmful drugs 27. Patent Act of 1922, informing the nation about how to establish their own patents 28. Established the Pipe Spring National Monument in Arizona 29. Per capita income increased 30. Harding's administration made U.S. banking more competitive internationally. It helped rebuild Europe after World War I. Harding established an open-door trading policy in Asia and negotiated trade deals with Malaysia and the Middle East 31. Suicide rate declined 32. Labor unrest declined 33. Racial unrest declined 34. Signed an executive order to transfer the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to the Library of Congress, which eventually led Congress to create an exhibit for it. It was the first time the documents had been placed in an exhibit, allowing the public to view the documents for the first time in history 35. Extremely popular president

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

@@person3070 thank you so much for taking the time to write this and post it! These people have no idea!

[@LibraSnakeLibraSnake1018]

Crazy the similarities between Hoover and Carter, despite them being in different parties, from different parts of the country, and having very different political views. Both oversaw periods of economic turmoil, got kicked out of office in landslides after one term, and were generally viewed as bad presidents, but they both stayed alive for decades after and rehabilitated their public images through philanthropy and public service

[@finchborat]

And we have the current version of those 2: Joe Biden Only he'll probably die sometime in the 2030s and I sure hope that like Hoover and Carter, he's a one termer.

[@TheLouisianan]

And got replaced by Presidents that people either hate or love too. Never knew Hoover lived so long. Surprising a President from 1976 is still alive today.

[@99batran]

They say that history doesnt repeat, but it does rhyme

[@99batran]

@@TheLouisianan I dont think FDR was as controversial as Reagan. I think the term "strong" or something like that would be better

[@homelessjesse9453]

Nah. Nixon directly created the energy crisis of 1973-1983 because of his slavish devotion to Israel. Sound familiar? Because every single one of our Presidents have done the same thing since the end of WW2.

[@WOLF36554]

I know Herbert Hoover is hated in America but here in Belgium he saved us from famine during the German occupation in WW1. We should replace all those Leopold II statues with Hoover statues.

[@fantuswitt9063]

Makes sense because King Leopold killed over 15 Million Africans or so

[@petebondurant58]

He used to be hated. Now, no one knows who he was.

[@Edax_Royeaux]

Hoover is known as the Great Humanitarian as he saved millions of Soviets from starvation after WWI. But he's remembered for helping other countries and for neglecting his own.

[@ProfTricky3168]

That’ll be the second president that’s more popular in a foreign country than back at home.

[@johncollins1255]

Presidents weren’t forced to stop running but Washington’s two terms had been a form of an unspoken rule

[@boobah5643]

One point about three-term Hoover: a disastrous third term would only cement the two-term limit, which likely prevents FDR running in 1940. Or, at the least, pushes voters away from him.

[@1perspective286]

I was thinking the same thing, I hope Cody does a follow up video about FDR having to deal with a two term limit.

[@jonnunn4196]

Or by inspiring the 22nd amendment early eliminates the option for FDR to run a 3rd term.

[@bkajnl2631]

Would like to point out, the two-term limit only was ratified in 1951 - 6 years into Truman's presidency and had an exception for Truman as the incumbent. It is entirely possible for a two-term limit to pass because of a three-term Hoover presidency and Roosevelt still serve four terms, although the public may have been more hesitant to elect him

[@doublepiedavid8908]

"Nobody remembers Calvin Coolidge" American Libertarians: "Allow us to introduce ourselves"

[@johnchedsey1306]

Arizona: "We have a town and a dam named Coolidge" Descendents: "We have a song called Coolidge! But it's not about Calvin at all"

[@PBSpiralGamer]

That one scholarship that forces you to read his autobiography

[@Web720]

@@PBSpiralGamer which one?

[@cam4636]

My favorite thing about Calvin Coolidge is that, when he died, Alice Roosevelt was quoted as saying, "...How can you tell?"

[@PBSpiralGamer]

@@Web720 KZbin keeps deleting the comment, probably because of the link. If you look up "calvin coolidge scholarship" it should be the first search result

[@aussiegod4269]

Herbert Hoover: At least I was a decent person. Society: Unfortunately for you history will not see it that way.

[@warlordofbritannia]

Fr, if the worst thing about him was some stomping on workers and not liking immigrants, he’s basically an early 20th century saint 😂

[@collin1061]

@@warlordofbritannia didn’t cody literally talk about how his policies worsened the depression and was a part of Lily White?

[@TheGrinningViking]

The worst thing about him is the CIA, we're still paying for that one.

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

@@warlordofbritannia I mean Saladin was a Saint for his time but did some very morally questionable stuff too, like Killing Prisoners and enslaved a few people but appart from that was very Chill.

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

@@collin1061 yup but as a person for the time he was all right, not by our time for sure and by All Right guy Cody ment on a personal level. (You can be a Saint of a leader but can be bad because you are either incompetent or not effective or both)

[@EmperorTigerstar]

Another fun collab like always!

[@Redcliffe_]

@here is the full clip bruh

[@Roketsune]

Is your fursona evil, or is he a good guy who happens to have glowing red eyes? Also, who did the picture of him? It's pretty well done!

[@The-Plaguefellow]

@@Roketsune EmperorTigerstar isn't a furry. Fun thing, though, he took the "Tigerstar" part of his name from a character from the _Warriors_ books series. Additionally, his avatar is visually modelled on Tigerstar, but wearing a Pickelhaube and a fancy Waffenrock/tunic.

[@Roketsune]

How do you know he isn't furry? Also, it seems counter-intuitive that someone would adopt a furry persona but not be a furry. I just took a perfunctory look at the novels you cited. It's furry. He either is a furry of some sort or he is in denial.

[@EmperorTigerstar]

@@Roketsune because I don’t consider myself one. He’s not a fursona he’s my channel’s mascot.

[@vjoe5389]

7:21 oof, poor Coolidge. I find it extremely sad that very few people even remember Coolidge's presidency. I personally really like the guy and he had one very interesting political life. First he started out as a lawyer, slowly climbing up the political ladder within the Republican Party, eventually landing him as the 48th Governor for Massachusetts and later the Vice President to President Warren G. Harding. After Harding's sudden passing, Coolidge would be woken up in the middle of the night, get sworn in by his own father, and immediately go back to sleep like he didn't just become the 30th POTUS. Coolidge did a lot of cool things while in office. He managed to restore public confidence in the White House by firing/imprisoning those who were a part of the Teapot Dome Scandal, he was a huge supporter of women's suffrage, he opposed prohibition, he dramatically cut back on government spending and managed to make 3 major tax cuts, he shrunk the federal debt by 1 quarter, he's one of the few presidents that managed to shrink the power and amount of people that served in the federal government, he was a supporter of Civil Rights (going as far as to make an attempt at making lynching a federal crime), he signed the Indian Citizenship Act, he made attempts to help Germany with it's war debt by creating the Dawes Plan, he helped aid the Mexican government to help stabilise them and strengthen our alliance with them, he strengthened ties with Cuba (he was also the first president to visit the island nation), he withdrew troops from the Dominican Republic to help get them back on their feet, and he made sure that no members of the KKK worked within the federal government. Along with all of these accomplishments, he was also a very interesting person. He was quite introverted and didn't speak much (commonly being referred to as "Silent Cal." Some people even debate as to whether or not Coolidge, like Jefferson, had aspergers). He was also a huge animal lover who, similarly to Teddy Roosevelt, turned the White House into somewhat of a zoo (the guy even owned a friggin hippo named Billy for Christ's sake! Oh yeah, he also pardoned a raccoon that would later become his wife’s pet. The raccoon was named Rebecca). He was also a fervent non-interventionist, however he was willing to aid foreign nations when absolutely necessary. Despite being a Republican president, he was (rightfully) skeptical over his successor (Herbert Hoover) and felt like he’d mess up the economy (he was wrong about Hoover being the person who was responsible for destroying the economy, however his prediction of Hoover making things worse would turn out to be correct). After running a very successful presidency and being one of the most popular presidents during his own lifetime, he declined to run for a second term because he didn't think any president deserved to serve for more than 8 years, he no longer could relate to the new generation of Americans, and because he was very emotionally damaged after the loss of one of his sons. The man was humble, calm, and considerate. Calvin Coolidge has become my 3rd favorite U.S. president in the last 2 years (only being beat out by Washington, Lincoln, and Teddy. Washington and Lincoln are tied for 1st btw, which technically makes Coolidge my 3rd favorite president). It's an absolute shame that people don't remember him, making him easily one of the most underrated and forgotten presidents in U.S. history. Lastly, here are some of his famous quotes that I feel are just as relevant today as they were back then: “Unless the people, through unified action, arise and take charge of their government, they will find that their government has taken charge of them. Independence and liberty will be gone, and the general public will find itself in a condition of servitude to an aggregation of organized and selfish interest.” “The nation which forgets its defender will be itself forgotten.” “Don’t expect to pull up the weak by pulling down the strong.” “The wise and correct course to follow in taxation is not to destroy those who have already secured success but to create conditions under which everyone will have a better chance at success.” “The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager.” “I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government and more for themselves. I want them to have the rewards of their own industry. This is the chief meaning of freedom.” - Former U.S. President, Calvin Coolidge Edit: Grammar/spelling and I also wanted to add some additional information about Coolidge. Have a good day and thx to the people who read the entire comment. Hopefully some people walk away with a new found interest and appreciation for Silent Cal :)

[@TheRoyrule]

Fantastic essay on Calvin Coolidge. This convinced me to take a closer look at the “lame duck” presidents and really consider the good they have done. Every President has at least done 1 good thing.

[@vjoe5389]

@@TheRoyrule I fully agree, and thanks. Along with Coolidge, some of the other lesser known presidents I recommend you looking up are John Quincy Adams, James K. Polk, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley. All great people that did great things, but unfortunately have either been forgotten to time or were overshadowed by a successor (or in the case of Garfield, he died too soon in office. Still, he’s a very interesting person who did some great things prior to becoming president. There’s a reason he was so popular among the Republican Party and why he beat Ulysses S. Grant in the Republican nomination in the 1880 election).

[@TheSoldierChristian]

Based cool Cal.

[@enderkatze6129]

Can't say i agree with alot of His quotes, but seems Like a cool guy

[@vjoe5389]

@@enderkatze6129 hmmmm, now I’m kinda curious. What is it about his quotes that you dislike or disagree with?

[@michaelman957]

It's so ironic that Hoover didn't want direct government intervention... but then spent the Depression making deals with CEOs and unions, passing massive tarrifs, and basically doing all the FDR stuff before FDR

[@davegreenlaw5654]

I was wa5tching another video last night about just that. It pointed out that with a lot of FDR's New Deal, the foundations were really set by Hoover in the first place. I guess it was just a case of FDR and the Dems gussying them up to look better and their own idea. (Yet another video I saw on FDR suggested that he pretty much redefined with 'liberal' meant, so it was more palatable to the American voter.)

[@StetoGuy]

Yeah, it annoys me when Hoover is pointed to as a reason why laissez faire doesn’t work during a depression when he pretty much did the complete opposite. With exception of lowering taxes, he pretty much did what any typical Keynesian would do. In his defence it would be very difficult to not do anything during a depression as a president, especially considering his charitable history.

[@JohnSmith-gi2oy]

If he didnt he would have been more hater

[@davidlewis6728]

@@StetoGuy wasn't there a potential depression that was estimated to be worse than the great depression, but that almost immediately resolved itself because the guy in charge stuck to a purely laissez faire way of doing things? if we use the most accurate school of economics for predicting future changes in macroeconomics, the fact that hoover intervened in the economy more than he should have was exactly what caused things to get as bad as they did, and the fact that fdr intervened even more was what made it last so much longer, but i guess that's not what the modern reeducation institutes will have you believe.

[@mwi3865]

Except Hoover didn’t do unconstitutional shit like putrid fdr

[@deltalord6969]

Growing up being taught in school about the great depression i have to say hoover wasnt really done any favors, dude was basically a scape goat beating stick every teacher used on how not to be a president

[@ZontarDow]

Doesn't help that people are incorrectly taught that FDR handled the Great Depression well when it was coming to an end when Hoover left office but FDR's policies where so terrible the recovery came to an end and the Depression lasted an additional 15 years.

[@Edax_Royeaux]

Hoover had Major Patton conduct a tank assault on the WWI Vets in Washington DC. Hoover earned his reputation.

[@ryanelliott71698]

@@ZontarDowunemployment wise yeah. Even by the end of the 30’s, unemployment was still over 10%.

[@buddermonger2000]

@@Edax_Royeaux Of all of the things he did that was basically the only one which was actually bad.

[@buddermonger2000]

@@ZontarDow Yeah the problem is that it's how he's remembered in the public consciousness given that the public saw Hoover as not doing anything due to an initial bootstrap policy, and then FDR came claiming to fix everything and then did things. Didn't matter that it hurt things more, just that he did something.

[@pattersong6637]

Fun fact: Hoover IRL tried to do a comeback run for the Presidency in 1940, 8 years after he lost overwhelmingly. The Republican Convention of 1940 looked at the prospect of a Hoover comeback dragging the rest of the ticket down and was just "Thanks but no thanks" and went with Wendell Willkie instead.

[@avatarmikephantom153]

Just finished a book on him today. Super underrated man in history, and deserves a change in how we learn about him. History class is unfair to him.

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

History classes praise FDR despite being a scumbag who screwed up the economy even more.

[@donpollo3154]

For someone who had the hoover named after him, he sure couldn't clean up his act

[@h3069]

@here is the full clip you are the very thing you sought to make fun of

[@ignatiusjackson235]

A-yo!!

[@ceesjhay]

Small correction about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff: The tariffs were taxes on *imported* foreign goods rather than exported American goods, so the idea was to raise the price of *foreign* goods in order to make American goods more competitive domestically and protect American industry. American exports rose in price as a result of retaliatory tariffs. Timestamp: 11:45

[@ow4744]

I'm also not really sure it's fair to say that Smoot-Hawley wouldn't have happened if not for Hoover - he opposed it (though he supported higher tariffs on agricultural imports to help farmers). It's just that a lot of his party supported it, so it seems like any Republican president at that time would have faced a lot of pressure for protectionist policies.

[@alex_zetsu]

The strange thing is many textbooks say that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff decreased the amount of American goods bought by foreign countries and this turned any chance of what would have been a maybe 4 year recession into the depression. It's in a roundabout way true due to the retaliatory tariffs. But if you don't look at the context and take it at face value, you might assume it was a tax on exports not a tax on imports.

[@nathanseper8738]

Hoover was an example of someone who came in at the precisely wrong moment of history.

[@GC2Major_Tom]

The logical extreme of "right guy, wrong time."

[@michaelvanhout7614]

The opposite of Winston Churchill you could say

[@nathanseper8738]

@@michaelvanhout7614 Pretty much.

[@rance2799]

@@michaelvanhout7614 Winston Churchill ensured that the united kingdom left the war heavily in debt and it's colonies closer to breaking free than ever.

[@michaelvanhout7614]

@@rance2799 If Churchill didn’t stand up and Britain left the war, the nazis would likely end up controlling the entire European mainland. No lend lease for USSR, no German forces tied up in North Africa, no bombardments on her weapon industry and most of all oil shipments could arrive from overseas, securing German oil reserves. The war would be even more destructive and deadly, even if the Soviet Union would eventually win. No matter who wins, the UK would find itself isolated in Europe as one of its last democracies. I can hardly believe this would be a better outcome for Britain. Furthermore, Britain’s financial situation was poor already before the war, the decay had already set in since WWI and the Great Depression. This war, at worst, only accelerated its dissolution.

[@BrianGriffinW]

I like how Jimmy is absolutely frightened from getting a sponser.

[@burger406]

are you the real brain griffin -burger40

[@jpj1421]

I'd recommend 1920: The Year of 6 Presidents as a good read. Teddy Roosevelt was angling to be the compromise candidate in 1920, watching Wilson in office helped bury some hatchets, but then Teddy Roosevelt up and died creating chaos.

[@ryanelliott71698]

Really? Where’d you get this info from?

[@MrMike855]

@@ryanelliott71698 Apparently the Republicans were considering Teddy as their choice, but he insisted that if he ran, the Republicans would run on a progressive platform, then he died in 1919. Saying Teddy Roosevelt was "supposed" to be the compromise is kind of exaggerated, but it could've happened.

[@jpj1421]

@@ryanelliott71698The books title is actually 1920: The Year of 6 President, which is my mistake. But Chapter 4 is all about how Teddy was lining up support from his former allies and even winning over conservative rivals as the best bet for 1920. It wasn't a sure thing, nothing is, but when you have the leaders of the Conservative wing of the Republican Party saying in 1918 things like this: “There is but one candidate for president,” he said matter-of-factly. “He is the only candidate. I mean Theodore Roosevelt.” - that's a good sign for that candidacy.

[@jpj1421]

@@MrMike855 Yes, "supposed to" should be substituted with more of a "the frontrunner at the time was"

[@iammrbeat]

I am so happy I manipulated you into making this video. Mwhahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[@spiritsynth]

How despicable 😂

[@theicecreamninja101]

Well he’s not going to see it

[@coconut_1219]

This is so sad, I wouldn’t want to live in a world without Calvin Coolidge as president💔

[@Calvin_Coolage]

If he wasn't, I never would have gotten my usual online name.

[@warlordofbritannia]

Calvin Wholidge

[@raptorfromthe6ix833]

keep cool with coolidge

[@alexbraun1305]

Easily one of the top 5 presidents

[@TheSoldierChristian]

I'm here for the Coolidge fan club.

[@sylviamontaez3889]

Kinda reminds me of jimmy Carter. Not the best president, but a good man

[@abrahamlincoln937]

Hoover was a worse president than Carter in my opinion.

[@lukedaduke3533]

In the French city of Lille, you will find a street named for Herbert Hoover. This confused me. Until I read about he saved much of the city and greater NE France-Flanders-wallonia region from starving. This guy meant much more to those people then to us. I found that very interesting

[@peterfireflylund]

Perhaps France and Russia shouldn’t have started the war.

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

​@@peterfireflylundI blame Austria hungary and Serbia

[@mytypamilkman]

As a Canadian the only reason I know about him is because of a throw away line in home alone 2 💀

[@YUVRAJSINGH-pz7zo]

Three

[@mytypamilkman]

@@YUVRAJSINGH-pz7zo Three what?

[@greenoftreeblackofblue6625]

@@mytypamilkman Home Alone 3 2

[@grimtopia4804]

Putting this one out but saying "Hoover of the 80s" feels incredibly cursed.

[@4Usuality]

I have the idea in my head that without Harding, some of the political woes would have been avoided coming up to the great depression. Harding letting all of his friends do literally whatever they want definitely destabilized the economy. It definitely didn't help people's trust of the government. Hoover is a fairly good guy who got in at a bad time and was too stubborn to help solve the problem. Not sure if anyone could have solved it, but he certainly made it worse.

[@oleonard7319]

No his policies caused the depression and made it worse. I'm shocked the propganda from the Hoover institute has been so effective

[@user-jp8me2hf4o]

​@@oleonard7319 The great depression was literally a global economic crisis with 50 trillion different causes, you can't just say some american president's policies after an economic boom made the world sag.

[@ignatiusjackson235]

​​​@@user-jp8me2hf4oHoover was just the last in a line of increasingly laissez-faire U.S. presidents whose recent surge in popular support is entirely bizarre and not tied to reality in any way whatsoever. The U.S. economy was essentially the "big dog" after WWI, so its failure in 1929 would have drastic consequences for the rest of the global economy, and it's foolish to believe otherwise.

[@arthurcooperman3106]

5:54 weird connection but my dad trained at Fort Leonard Wood, and I had no idea who Leonard Wood was until now. It's crazy there are always small details of information that I learn from these videos that I would have never known if not for these videos.

[@intellidunce]

Interesting as always! You know, your channel has been so inspirational for us all, you even encouraged me to start my journey on KZbin, thanks!🎉

[@civlyzed]

@im sacred Get a life!

[@FriendlyPhilcoDealer]

Kinda bummed that no conceivable Hooverless alternate time could’ve ended with peace without end, and every neighbor a friend.

[@berkkarsi]

I'm glad you and Mr. Beat are collaborating together. I love his channel too.

[@lordedmundblackadder9321]

Our depression PM here in Canada was something similar. He barely did anything to actually help solve the depression, but people would often write to him saying they were suffering and needed money, and he would send them money out of his own pocket. Awful prime minister, good guy.

[@speedweed6747]

R B Bennett was also similar to Hoover because he was a former businessman who was popular enough to enter politics.

[@EnglishLeprachaun981]

the amount of times i revisit this channel to check for new content.... incredibly happy to see this

[@Xenin7]

Cool vid Cody, I have never thought of this scenario, well done. Oh the "No F.D.R as president" scenario sounds like an interesting idea, as well as "What if Gavrilo Princip failed to assassinate the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria" I hope to them. :)

[@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan]

They made tv mini-series about FDR not being president a few years ago; The Plot Against America

[@noahjohnson935]

I actually really like Hoover as a person and pity him for the hand he was dealt as President. He was an accomplished humanitarian who did a lot of good, especially during WW1 with arranging food shipments to a blockaded and starving Germany.

[@hegaliandialectics4289]

he just couldn’t bare the thought of using government money to fix a crippling depression. Oh well the goat FDR did it for him.

[@watchtower0988]

Mr. Beat and Cody collab? have i died and gone to heaven? best friday ever.

[@junfa8686]

He was a smart man, spoke mandarin well with his wife to make sure people didn't know what he was saying. Smart man, bad timing.

[@thestrangecaseofharryhinde9473]

Isn’t he the guy who thought it was a good idea to continue partying in the white house during the great depression to make everything look completely fine

[@Murloc017]

@@thestrangecaseofharryhinde9473 Well... It's not completely idiotic to do so. Federal Reserve does something like that when they say that the USA isn't in a recession. When the government says there's a recession people will buy less so they can save money in case something bad happens. When people buy less the economy shrinks even more because there's not as much demand. Which can make people panic and spend less on everything - and the cycle continues. So it wouldn't be a bad idea (it costs very little to do so and it can help) if it was supported by government spending. You give people jobs in road construction and behave like everything is fine and the population thinks it actually is fine so they spend more and you avoid complete collapse, you still take a hit, but you aren't in as bad of a position as you would otherwise be.

[@raptorfromthe6ix833]

@@thestrangecaseofharryhinde9473 i dont think anyone really parties at the white house let aloen during the depression

[@junfa8686]

@@thestrangecaseofharryhinde9473 won’t be the first time or last time politicians do stuff like that sadly. Not saying he was the best president, but he’s certainly not the worst.

[@thestrangecaseofharryhinde9473]

@@junfa8686 the difference is that it was policy i’m not saying that he was the worst president, i’m saying that he was a moron

[@_Devil]

The entire video being in black and white was a nice touch, I liked it

[@PresidentAutumn]

Calvin Coolidge is actually one of my favorite presidents. I’m happy to see him as VP. Also, Calvin Coolidge only ran for one term.

[@prosaicGodowsky]

In the 5th grade, I actually wrote an essay on Herbert Hoover. Outside of his presidency, he was a very well-respected and interesting guy. He knew, chinese, owned pet alligators, was a self-made man, and graduated from Stanford. Very cool dude.

[@PossessedPotatoBird]

This is such an amazing crossover, watching both videos 3 times not because want to watch it more than once but just so its recommended to more people

[@cjwilson1994]

My mind is on a history overload from Mr.beat to VloggingThroughHistory to This channel.

[@Flyingclam]

7:25 It's hard to be known when you get the nickname "Silent Cal" Plus the fact he simply did a good job and left. Making him literally one the best president by that fact alone. Though I could just be projecting since I have to compare to modern fossils I mean presidents

[@SteelingLight]

Though the spitfire lightning shots of multiple timelines at the end adds some interesting things, I also think that your general stability in breaking down and analyzing the more realistic alternate outcomes is a key and distinguishing feature of much of your content, just wanted to say.

[@JeffreyDeCristofaro]

Well, this is a pretty fitting ending episode for 2022, can't wait to see what other theories will come up in '23. Have a Happy New Year, Cody!

[@charmyzard]

Not gonna lie, that Pol Pot mugshot you used looks straight out of analog horror videos. Very accurate!

[@ob2kenobi388]

Good video! I'm really hoping you make one on if Andrew Jackson didn't survive his 1806 duel (and therefore wasn't in the war of 1812 and didn't become president). Andrew Jackson is so horribly remembered (and rightfully so) that imagining a world where he got shot in the face before he could do anything should be very enticing to a lot of people.

[@martinhumphreys4891]

Cody, thanks so much for doing the wacky alternate history stuff again. I really missed it!

[@frocurl]

I love your videos. It's a creative review of all my middle school and high school social studies 25 years ago lol 😆 seriously I love this channel.

[@swag31556]

In defense of hoover not stepping in to prevent the depression he did see it coming and just stuck to his beliefs of the states being more important than the fed, he asked FDR (then governor of NY) to step in on the NY stock exchange and do something about the huge bubble forming multiple times, he just wasn't willing to go against his beliefs and to pull the trigger on the federal government stepping on the states toes

[@Fr0sh1tz]

Hoover is like that one uncle no one talks about for some reason but he was actually a pretty chill guy who screwed up that one tome

[@klokateer312]

I love the quick spat of alternate scenarios after describing the "yawn" outcome

[@Killerqueen69420]

Herbert Hoover was just so unlucky

[@Kite403]

I enjoyed those last possibilities you added in! It makes the scenario really seem like it ripples out of our understanding :D Good video and Happy New Year!

[@jakeaurod]

I haven't watched those other alt-history channels, but I had a thought. Instead of making each video and scenario a one-off, would you consider predicting timelines further over a few videos? I know a lot of things might become rampant and get to the point of fantasy in mere decades, but I thought it might be interesting to revisit old scenarios and extrapolate further.

[@conserva-chan2735]

I would love a vid on if the Sino-Soviet split never happened or was patched up in the 70s so much. It would be the coolest.

[@AnimeKaiserWillyII]

a three term Hoover might have meant a two term FDR, which would have been pretty interesting

[@bkajnl2631]

Possible but unlikely considering Truman was excepted from the 22nd amendment as the incumbent. 6 Years passed between the start of his presidency and the ratification so four term Roosevelt is still likely even if a term limit is passed.

[@fally-64]

haha thanks to one of the other youtubers for letting me watch this a little early :D

[@IJC144]

Alternate History's Hub + Mr Beat goes hard ngl

[@Cheese25536]

Here’s an idea: what if Reconstruction was actually successful or Lincoln was never assassinated?

[@ronaldmccomb8301]

I loved Coolidge. “The business of America is business.” It should be our motto.

[@TheRedKing247]

No, the business of America should be people.

[@trentbracht5733]

What about the Depression of 1920-1921? The book America‘s Great Depression by Murray Rothbard, discusses how Hoover as the Commerce Secretary pitched several ideas to cure the depression that would later influence his response to the Great Depression. However, Harding never acted on Hoover‘s suggestions. I would argue it’s possible Hoover could have made the 1920 Depression much worse.

[@night6724]

@@emperorroach AKA you disagree with him

[@oleonard7319]

Hoover's policies caused the depression and made it worse

[@patrickm6117]

Great video and very interesting topic. But I would love to see a video about if Leonard Wood became president in 1920.

[@somethingelse4878]

Its snowing in nw England AND a new alt history video, what a almost Christmas

[@chrisforreal420]

One of the alternate history thoughts I've always thought about is what if the United Staes of America (the country) devolved and formed... the United States of America (the union). I've always thought about how each state would work as if they were a country and how that'd affect relationships between states (say Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia). I think it'd be cool if you did a take on it.

[@cam4636]

A lot of people have done takes on that

[@bruh949]

1:08 Neville Chamberlain or Anthony Eden 100% fits into this.

[@santiagocresci3539]

Great job as always

[@Joooooeeeeee3]

Showing this video to my grandma who grew up in the same town as HH. Spent quite a few summers at his library in West Branch IA. Beautiful place.

[@Christopher_TG]

This was far far far far faaaaaaaar more interesting than I thought it'd be.

[@wariodude128]

I'd like to see an alternate history video on what if Italy joined the Central Powers instead of the Entente in world War 1. Then again, that scenario might have been covered in the series where you talked about what if Germany won WW1. Because according to History Matters, the PM at the time quit to see how the king would react. The king said no, so Italy joined the Entente.

[@rimfire8217]

The Treaty of London may have had a lot to do with Italy joining the Entente.

[@camwyn256]

I do really enjoy you usually, if not always, try to justify how it could have started. In a lot of situations you could easily go the lazy way and just say "it just happens somehow"

[@Kyle_etc]

It’s funny whenever he mentions something no one probably knows about, I vaguely remember it from my APUSH classes, like I didn’t remember what the Smoot-Hawley tariff tax was, but I knew the same in the back of my brain

[@AresTheDragon]

The funny thing is that with Hoover running for a third term, that could also end up changing the FDR presidency, it goes from Roosevelt, holding three terms to Roosevelt, holding two terms, because he believes that having a third term would only politically ruin him.

[@indianajones4321]

One thing you didn’t mention was Hoover’s handling of the Bonus Army. FDR said that after the incident, he knew he had won the 1932 election. Perhaps that would be the possible condition for your “FDR isn’t elected in 1932” part of the scenario. Another possible condition for FDR losing in 1932 could be if Hoover had selected Leonard Wood as his running mate in 1920. I know you chose Coolidge and with decent reasoning, but Wood was the most popular choice among Republicans and he was also a progressive who could have kept the Africa-American vote with the Republican Party during the Great Depression. In this Leonard Wood VP scenario, it’s possible for him to run and win both the elections of 1928 and 1932 (assuming he lives past 1927) to have the “No FDR scenario” you touched on. These are just some of my initial thoughts on the subject, despite the unlikelihood of FDR losing in 1932. I don’t know maybe this would be how FDR loses in 1932, maybe not. That’s the thing about alternate history, something small like putting in a different running mate could change a lot, or relatively nothing. I like to try and make possible conditions for the result and go into the scenario from there instead of just saying “FDR loses in 1932, so here’s what happens…” Anyway, great video and I look forward to your next alternate history video. Have a nice day.

[@goofyahhslimjackson1942]

I’d love to live in a world were FDR lost

[@Dratchev241]

@@goofyahhslimjackson1942 and with the someone else win 28,32 don't mean FDR couldn't somehow win 36.

[@goofyahhslimjackson1942]

@@Dratchev241 fair but his somewhat radical ideas (at least for the conservative times) would be less prevalent in a better or less worse economy. I guess it depends how bad the depression is

[@petitthom2886]

I discover your channel thanks to the MrBeat Lincoln losing in 1860 video, and that's very interesting ! With the Roaring Twenties and his humanitarian past, Hoover would have been 1 of the best US Presidents.

[@JeffDvrx]

Lol I hadn't even read the title of the video, put it in the background just listening to it, and I knew you were talking about Hoover before you said his name. Dude really pulled the short straw and then tried to put the fire out pouring rocket fuel on it. Such is life

[@shawn.the.alien423]

Hoover was a man who thought during the Great Depression that big business and private enterprise would step in and use their capital to save the working class. He was wrong. Those businessmen who didn't go broke during the depression just held onto their money. He wasn't the cause of the depression though. It was a perfect storm of things, like high-risk credit to people who couldn't pay it back (remember how in part the Great Recession in '08 was caused by sub-prime mortgages?), shady investment deals that went bust when too many people wanted their gains early and all at once, and natural disasters like the Dust Bowl. He just happened to be president at the time...if Al Smith had won in 1928, it still would've happened, and probably would've killed the Democratic party for a generation or two. Remember, it wasn't just FDR's policies and programs that ended the depression...WWII had a lot to do with it.

[@night6724]

That’s completely untrue. Hoover was not a laissez faire capitalist and enacted overreaching intervention. The Great Depression was caused by too much interventionism. Hoover was basically a technocrat

[@StetoGuy]

@@night6724​​​Yeah I agree. A massive fact that nobody seems to ever mention was that during 20’s there was a massive expansion of the currency supply and artificial setting of low interest rates by the federal reserve which caused inflation and disrupted the currency market, encouraging people to spend erratically due to increased credit and it encouraged banks to give out more risky loans. This led to a miss allocation of resources and an artificial stimulus in spending, which when suddenly people start defaulting on their loans, the Great Depression happens. It’s not the business men, it’s the failure of the intervention of central banks which disrupted the equilibrium of the value of money and how much of it could be spent. Hoover very much continued and in fact expanded on interventionism. While yes he reduced taxes, he also spent a lot. Massive public works projects and high tariffs which just made the situation worse and prolonged the depression.

[@night6724]

@@StetoGuy actually Hoover raised the top income tax from 28 percent to 70 percent

[@hegaliandialectics4289]

@@night6724 I think that he was interventionist in all the wrong ways. Instead of ramping public spending into overdrive and artificially creating a new new frontier for America to expand into again like FDR did he just kinda bumbled around and made very surface level changed to a system that was trying to kill itself.

[@jesser1070]

I quite like the mostly black and white visuals! Just don't make a habit out of it. I like it because it's a one off thing and because you didn't stick with it, like when you put in those purple hearts, red accents, or golden gold.

[@JDEhlert]

At the beginning when you were talking about bad leaders, I half expected "WIILLLLSONNN!" to pop up. ;)

[@dhararry7929]

A bit of an unusual request, but could you try making a video about The Monument Mythos? It's a very wacky one, and mixes elements of psychological, cosmic and analog horror (but doesn't have any jumpscares). Just leave a massive spoiler warning, because the mystery is a big part of the experience.

[@stevewasko7644]

I think you should definitely go through with the FDR Althist. For such an important person in American history, without him, society would be drastically different. No social security, probably a lesser response to the Great Depression, no Truman, and without FDR being so friendly and willing to aid the Soviet Union, it could be possible, although very unlikely that the USSR collapses right then are there. It would be very neat to see a scenario like that be fleshed out, no matter how long it may be.

[@TheRedKing247]

Shit, without FDR it's possible the US would have turned to fascism or communism if the depression got bad enough. That's where people were turning towards before FDR got elected.

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

Rob Schneider: "You know, Herbert Hoover used to stay here for a while!" Macaulay Culkin: "The vacuum guy?" Rob Schneider: "No, the president!" First time I heard of that guy.

[@tingavanbaardewijk9207]

Would be cool if you did a alternate history about the huguenots for your next video anyways loved this video.

[@bartpepe3664]

You are last alt-hist chanel which make videos about alt-hist. Respect Maximum!

[@yep_yea_sax897]

What if FDR ran and won in 1928?

[@voiceraccoon]

I did, in fact, know Calvin Coolidge was president... mostly cause he had a pet raccoon and that was pretty cool.

[@ReggieBauer]

me seeing the video title: hey i just watched a Mr. Beat video about Hoover this week! Cody: this scenario was suggested to me by Mr. Beat me: nice!

[@nitricoxidegod]

Missed your content.

[@ratherlargeshmeat6189]

If you still take recommendations for other Alt-history scenarios, perhaps put this idea on the list: What if Michigan kept the Toledo Strip?

[@avatarmikephantom153]

As a Michigander I would also like to see this outcome.

[@maestroclassico5801]

The only reason Harding won is that Teddy Roosevelt DIED in 1919.....TR was absolutely planning to run again in 1920.

[@SharinganKaworu]

Well I wasn't expecting to see a picture of Berlusconi in one of your videos.

[@aharris206]

It's funny because i started with Emperor Tigerstar's video that very possibly could have happened, to Mr Beat's video that maybe could have happened under other circumstances, to this one that "you have to squint to see happening" x'D 😆 🤣

[@carterburkhart4336]

Calvin Coolidge should unironically be learned more about on great American presidents

[@Warui88]

He's totally underrated. Shame he always flies under the radar.

[@conserva-chan2735]

@@Warui88 the hero we needed but never deserved

[@wetwillyis_1881]

This is a cool topic, but I have one question: “What if Huey Long was never assassinated and became president?”

[@goofyahhslimjackson1942]

Genius I think Monsieur d did that but this guys better

[@figtree_video_archive]

@@goofyahhslimjackson1942 Anything is better than Monsieur Z

[@goofyahhslimjackson1942]

@@figtree_video_archive I don’t know about that but he is mid as heck pretty boring too

[@KGBKestrel]

I know alot of people may not want this but I would love to see a video on TNO, the mod for hoi4 I know it would be multiple videos or one long one but would be cool and informative for people who don’t know the lore or don’t know all of it. Just throwing it out either way keep it up love the videos

[@animehero343]

"middle of nowhere Iowa" lol well put. Love you West Branch

[@diefenbakersown]

Can you do one if Calvin Coolidge ran in 1928 too?

[@rimfire8217]

What If Jack Lang actually started an Australian Civil War?

[@aidanbarrett9313]

You should do a Dewey Defeats Truman scenario for 1948!

[@wrightway65]

Love the music 👌🏾

[@reachlanternadventures]

As a calvin fan, I am devastated.