The Devil and Herbert Hoover

October 29, 1929

The President could not sleep. He lay wide awake in his bed. The events of the past several days, and today in particular, had sent panic through pretty much everyone in America, if not the world. The President was among them. He looked over at his wife - she was fast asleep. The President tried to close his eyes and drift to sleep, but to no avail.

Suddenly, the President smelled smoke. His eyes snapped open, as in front of him stood a mix between a goat and a red-skinned man. As the President tried to stutter out an answer, the being spoke first. "Mr. Hoover, I understand that you've had a very... eventful day today," the being said. "Who are you?" the President asked. "I can assure you that thins are going to get worse." "I said, who are you?" the President said. He sat up. "Who do you think I am?" the being asked. "I am Lucifer himself." "Get out of this house!" the President insisted. "Mr. Hoover," the devil said, "you will be remembered as one of the most unpopular American presidents in American history. "GET OUT!" the president screamed. A maid, cleaning outside in the hallway, attempted to rush into his room, but the Devil locked the door, and the president's screams were muffled. "Hear me out," the Devil said. "I can stop this depression. And I can make you remembered as one of the best presidents in American history. And all you have to do is shake my hand." The Devil extended his hand, smiling.

The President considered the Devil's offer. Now, he was a god-fearing man, but he could believe the devil's words. The economic collapse had been catastrophic. Already, he had seen newspaper articles criticizing the government for its poor handling of the situation. Trembling, he extended his hand. The Devil seized it and shook it. "Nice doing business with you, Mr. President," the Devil said, suddenly vanished. The maid finally burst into the room, with a member of the Secret Service at her side. "Mr. President, are you alright?" the maid asked. After a long pause, the President replied with, "Yes."
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October 30, 1929

The world breathed a sigh of relief. Miraculously, the economic disaster had completely reversed itself - almost as if by magic.

President Hoover made an address to the nation from the steps of the White House, and was met with wild cheers from the applause.

However, miles away from the capitol, another speech was being listened to - one with much less optimism.

"The robber barons have won another victory against the common man!" the governor said, from the states of his courthouse. "Their stock market has recovered. However, as these rich men in New York get richer and richer, the poor get poorer are poorer. Action must be taken!" The crowd went up in a cheer, as the governor continued his speech.
 
Belongs in ASB. Not so much because of the devil, but because Hoover--like most people, including economists--did not believe that the Crash was the precursor of a major depression...

("The present recession, both for stocks and business, is not the precursor of business depression."--Harvard Economic Society, November 2, 1929. Irving Fisher explained in The Stock Market Crash--and After why stocks would soon recover--as indeed they did to a considerable extent for awhile in early 1930. https://books.google.com/books?id=Nk0tu6pmWfcC&pg=PA313 These people had a lot more prestige than the guy with the horns.)
 
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