Herbert Hoover is blamed for the Great Depression because it occurred while he was president. Hoover's response to the Depression was also very slow and guarded. He relied more on individua and private agencies and never enlisted the federal government in any way to address the crisis. He did sponsor the Reconstruction Finance Corporation late in his administration, but this was overshadowed by the violent dispersal of the Bonus Army, The Bonus Army consisted on World War I veterans who marched on Washington demanding their pensions. They were forcibly dispersed by General Pershing from the Washington Mall after refusing to leave. This disappointing episode and the continued decline in the markets led to the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
