S8 Ep1120: Legacies of the 1920s: Hoover and Roosevelt Guest: David Pietrusza The final segment contrasts the presidencies of Herbert Hoover and FDR, the last of the six presidents from the 1920 cycle. Hoover, despite rising from "great poverty" to become a "grea

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 12 July 2026

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

Legacies of the 1920s: Hoover and Roosevelt Guest: David Pietrusza The final segment contrasts the presidencies of Herbert Hoover and FDR, the last of the six presidents from the 1920 cycle. Hoover, despite rising from "great poverty" to become a "great engineer," struggled with a cold public persona that failed to rally the nation during the Great Depression. Conversely, the wealthy FDR was transformed by his battle with polio, which observers like Frances Perkins believed allowed him to empathize more deeply with human suffering. FDR became a master of radio and newsreels, using them to refine his communication and build a broad "progressive coalition." Crucially, Roosevelt learned from Wilson's failure to compromise on the Versailles Treaty; when he later championed the United Nations, he made sure to involve Republicans in the process. By applying the hard lessons of the 1920 election, FDR successfully realized the internationalist vision that had eluded Wilson. (8)
1920

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0:34.9	I'm John Datchel with David Petrucia.
0:37.3	The book is 1920, the year of the six presidents.
0:40.8	The six presidents contain decades.
0:43.4	We're talking about the early moments of the rise of Teddy Roosevelt right after the Civil War
0:50.7	and becoming prominent in the 1890s in New York and rising to the vice presidency
0:58.4	because, of course, they wanted to get rid of him. He was a troublesome, progressive
1:03.4	Republican governor in New York, and the boss has found him extremely uncomfortable making, especially Tammany Hall.
1:13.4	He becomes president, and then in dispute with Woodrow Wilson, who wins because Teddy Roosevelt
1:19.2	breaks up the party, and we end to the 1920s, and now we're extending all the way into the 1930s.
1:24.9	Hoover is known as the great engineer. He was so effective as not being a partisan
1:30.1	that neither party could decide on him in 1920. He will become president because Calculez chooses
1:37.3	not to run again. And Hoover runs on the Republican line. What made him move towards the
1:42.8	Republicans? Had he always been a Republican,
1:44.8	David? Well, he'd been a Republican of sorts. He might have jumped to the Democrats,
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