Who was President during the Great Depression?

The correct answer is Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was President during a significant portion of the Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 into the late 1930s. Roosevelt took office in March 1933, after Herbert Hoover, whose administration began in 1929 when the stock market crashed, marking the start of the economic downturn.

Roosevelt implemented numerous programs and reforms known as the New Deal, aimed directly at addressing the economic crisis and providing relief, recovery, and reform to the American people and economy. His leadership and policies significantly shaped the response to the Great Depression, focusing on immediate relief for the unemployed and poor, economic recovery, and reforms to prevent future depressions.

While Hoover was President at the beginning of the Great Depression, he was not in office during the major portion of Roosevelt's impactful New Deal initiatives, which solidified Roosevelt's association with the era and its recovery efforts. Harry S. Truman did not assume the presidency until 1945, well after the depression had ended, and Woodrow Wilson's presidency occurred earlier, from 1913 to 1921. Thus, Roosevelt's critical role during the Great Depression makes him the correct answer.