President Franklin D. Roosevelt is commonly considered a liberal and President Herbert C. Hoover a conservative. To what extent are these characterizations valid? President Franklin D. Roosevelt is commonly identified as a liberal and President Herbert C. Hoover as a conservative. The validity of these characterizations, however, is conditional on the definition of these labels. If one adopts the more conventional contemporary definitions of the terms “liberal” and “conversational,” then the characterizations of Roosevelt as liberal and Hoover as conservative are valid, but definitions of liberal and conservative vary and change over time and place. At the onset of the Great Depression, the meaning of the term “liberal” was contested. The conventional meaning of “liberal” was articulated by President Hoover, who advocated “political equality, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and equality of opportunity.” For Hoover, "freedom" was associated primarily with individual freedom and self-determination. At the end of the Great Depression, the content of the term "liberal" encompassed several properties. President Franklin Roosevelt defined freedom as consisting of “four freedoms”: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Today, the definition of the term “liberal” is relatively undisputed, and its content is relatively well defined. A liberal today is someone who supports government solutions to various problems, not unaided individual freedom. Liberals today rely on and demand government action, not the kind of self-determination Hoover advocates. Contemporary liberals believe in individual liberty, but generally support f... middle of paper... created under Hoover. Likewise, it also underwent erratic fluctuations under Roosevelt; increasing, decreasing, but one clear trend is that, despite the efforts of both men, total government debt continued to increase. Neither economic policy really “worked”. The difference, however, was in the delivery. Hoover advocates a change in the economy by forcing large corporations to act with “glass bags” to expose any unethical tactics they may employ. It does not propose to make any significant changes to the government, but simply to introduce more regulations on those companies that directly contribute to the economy. With this, Hoover shows his conservatism. Roosevelt, on the other hand (Doc G), identifies that “the gravest threat to our institutions” comes from “those who refuse to address the need for change.” He goes on to identify that will as conservative and liberal.