The first president of the United States during the Great Depression was Herbert Hoover, who served from 1929 to 1933. He took office just before the stock market crash of October 1929, which marked the beginning of the economic downturn. Hoover's response to the crisis was largely focused on voluntary measures and limited government intervention, which many criticized as ineffective. As the depression deepened, his popularity waned, leading to the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, whose New Deal policies aimed to provide relief and recovery from the economic difficulties that plagued the nation.