From what I have gathered, the effects of the Great Depression varied widely. It had a sever impact on my mother's
family, they were living in NYC. A 91 year old friend who grew up a farm in Montgomery County ,Pa. said it didn't
affect the farm families in that area. They did without a lot of things but they didn't go hungry. FDR's aide Harry Hopkins is quated saying "Hunger is not debatable." My mother always recommended a book called "The Invisible Scar" to learn about what she and so many others went through. I have heard the story of the Townsend Plan which has been cited as the inspiration of Social Security. And Europe had no equivalent of the Dust Bowl.
Herbert Hoover's biggest failure was that he firmly believed the government must not give aid to individuals. Hoover had made his reputation as head of the American Relief Agency fighting famine in Russia during their Civil War and in resupplying Belgium. What really made him was when Coolidge (who had contempt for him) put Hoover-Secretary of
Commerce-in charge of dealing with the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Hoover had the same reputation that Donald Trump had in the 1980s-a man who could get things done. But because he stuck too rigidly to his principles he was
seen as Ebenezer Scrooge while FDR was seen as Santa Claus.