History books remember Herbert Hoover as one of the worst American presidents. Hoover, a Republican, was a rich and successful businessman with investments all over the world.

Hoover was also somewhat of an outsider, having never held elected office until he was inaugurated in March 1929. Today, people associate him with massive infrastructure projects like the Hoover Dam, as well as the Mexican repatriation program, which deported over 500’000 illegal Mexican immigrants. He also placed tariffs on foreign products entering the US and established other protectionist trade policies.

Throughout the 1920s, the Federal Reserve’s easy money policies helped create an enormous stock market bubble. In August of 1929, the Fed raised interest rates and effectively ended the easy credit. Only a few months later, the bubble burst on Black Tuesday, in October 1929, barely seven months after Hoover took office. The Dow lost over 12% that day. It was the most devastating stock market crash in the US up to that point. It also signaled the beginning of the Great Depression.

This happened on Hoover’s watch, and because of that, people pinned the blame squarely on him, regardless of where the fault lied …

Blaming the Great Depression on Hoover was easy for Democrats. In the minds of many people, Great Depression = Herbert Hoover. It was obvious a Democrat would win the next election, which is exactly what happened. It took Republicans another 20 years to take back the White House.

Now there’s a good chance Americans have elected Herbert Hoover II.

Read the full article at Internationalman.com