Why did President Hoover do very little during the Great Depression to alleviate poverty?

Answer 1

Actually he made several attempts at legislation and acts during the Great Depression but no proved effective to uplift the States out of the Great Depression.

Firstly, he created the Federal Relief Commission (RFC) that was to provide loans to big corporations; Secondly he created the Hoover Dam which not only created jobs, but also provided energy. Additionally the Hoover Dam was a project that would eventually pay out for itself because of the recreation lake (Lake Powell) created at the same time.

Moreover he passed the Home Loan Bank bill, the Emergency Unemployment relief Agency (the gov gave funds for states to distribute to the poor) and the Agricultural Marketing Act. Although these last few appeared ineffective, it counters your point that "Herbert Hoover [did nothing] during the Great Depression".

Answer 2

Hoover believed that government should not interfere in business cycles. At the time, there were few US laws that could be used to prevent the downward spiral that brought on the Great Depression.

Answer 3

Herbert Hoover was not a bad person; but as a pro-business, laissez-faire Republican, he sincerely believed that government intervention was the wrong thing to do, and that in time, the economy would rebound. So he basically maintained a hands-off policy even as the economy steadily got worse. It is thus not surprising that Hoover was soundly defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who immediately began using the power of the government to turn the economy around.