FDR vs. Hoover

President Franklin D. Roosevelt is commonly thought of as a liberal and President Herbert C. Hoover as a conservative. The validity of these accusations, however, is uncertain. Before classifying each president in the categories of "liberal" and "conservative," it must first be understood what is meant by each term. During the time of the Great Depression, a liberal was usually associated with "political equality, free speech, free assembly, free press, and equality of opportunity." It …

…reign supreme again, Roosevelt would be happy. To say that President Franklin D. Roosevelt is a liberal and that President Herbert Hoover was a conservative is only half-true. Both men lead their country through the perils of the depression with conservative goals in mind, and both men had to resort to liberals actions to preserve conservatism. Roosevelt best described himself and Hoover as being "that kind of conservative because (of being) that kind of liberal."