Herbert Hoover was the U.S. president when the Wall Street Crash began on Black Thursday, October 24, 1929.
Hoover had taken office in March 1929, several months before stock prices reached their September peak. The market then suffered a series of dramatic declines in October, including Black Thursday, Black Monday, and Black Tuesday. Although the crash began during Hoover’s presidency, the Great Depression developed over several years and had many causes.
The crash did not immediately create every feature of the Depression. Bank failures, falling industrial production, reduced international trade, debt problems, and policy decisions deepened the economic collapse. Hoover supported measures such as public works and financial intervention, but his response was widely criticized as insufficient.
A common mix-up is identifying Franklin D. Roosevelt as president during the crash. Roosevelt won the 1932 election and began his presidency in March 1933, years after the 1929 market collapse. Hoover therefore provides the precise presidential connection to the crash’s opening days.