No. 31 · The Presidents
Herbert Hoover
1929-1933
In a vain attempt to escape the Great Depression, Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act into law, a protectionist measure raising the general tariff to 42%, the highest in the nation's history. Rather than protecting domestic business, this tariff instead hastened a global tariff war that plummeted the country even deeper into depression.
Lyrics
Am, Em, G, D
Started to feel a little under the weather
But before we'd gotten fully depressed
the Hawley Smoot bill came along
Promised to put us back to work, couldn't have been more wrong
Hoover shot the first bullet
In the global tariff war
Tried to protect us from overseas
And instead he bankrupted our citizenry
it raised the tariff to 42, the highest we would do
tried to protect our business
forgetting they're made of Americans
that don't just buy American
the other countries raised tariffs high
said, I'll show you mine
I'll show you mine
boy I'm feeling depressed
From the book, published 2009 · song & page updated
I'm feeling depressed