Herbert Hoover was president right before Roosevelt, and the Crash of 1929 and beginning of the Great Depression happened on his watch. Yeah; this little kerfuffle didn't exactly earn him a lot of friends.

It's interesting to compare Hoover's discussions with the public to FDR's, both in terms of content and tone. Roosevelt gets a reputation for excellent public speaking with his fireside chats, but how much of that has to do with comparisons to the previous president?

The answer: a wee bit.

Take Hoover's first line in this "Message on the Economy" given at a press conference:

"I thought perhaps you might like that I discuss the business situation with you just a little…"

He's talking to the press and not the whole nation through the radio, but you can already tell that his tone is similar to Roosevelt's in the fireside chats. He's conversational, and not particularly aloof. He goes on to talk about over-speculation, which FDR does as well in "First Fireside Chat" (remember, speculation is gambling on whether the economy will go up or down).

Hoover also talks about the Federal Reserve's role in the depression (a large part of "First Fireside Chat" as well), and the effect of the economic downturn on the psychology of the people. Keeping in mind that this speech was given in 1929—as the Great Depression was just starting—and Hoover is understandably optimistic.

He ends his speech saying, "We have gone through a crisis in the stock market, but for the first time in history the crisis has been isolated to the stock market itself." Yeah, sorry Hoover but that's going to prove to be false. As evidenced in FDR's "First Fireside Chat," the economic crisis hits far more of the nation than just the stock market.