The correct answer to this open question is the following.
Hoover's belief in "rugged individualism" shaped his responses to the Great Depression in that he thought that the government was not obligated to directly help people in need. Each individual had to develop their own ways to overcome adversity.
The Great Depression in the United States started after the US stock market exchange clashed on October 29, 1929. It was the beginning of the worst economic crisis in the history of the United States. People lost their jobs, companies closed, and banks went into bankruptcy. President Herbert Hoover did practically nothing to help the American citizens in need. That is why, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt won the elections, one of the first things he did was the creation of the New Deal program to help the poor and the millions of people who were suffering.
