With self-made wealth and global sympathies, Hoover cut a very different figure than Mr. Trump. <\/p>\n

Hoover was orphaned at 9 and led World War I-humanitarian food relief efforts while living in London. He also served as commerce secretary before running for president. He could be dynamic with small groups but reserved in public. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no theatre to Herbert Hoover,\u201d said David Hamilton, a history professor at the University of Kentucky. <\/p>\n

Trying to keep his campaign promise to protect farmers, Hoover pushed Congress for higher agricultural tariffs. But a chief goal was encouraging farmers to produce new types of crops, and Hoover didn\u2019t view steeper U.S. tariffs as incompatible with global trade, Mr. Hamilton said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not weaponising trade in the way we see today,\u201d said Mr. Hamilton, author of \u201cFrom New Day to New Deal: American Farm Policy from Hoover to Roosevelt, 1928-1933.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hawley, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, originally sought farming protections. But the finished bill went much farther, using high tariffs to protect manufacturing. It passed the House in May 1929. <\/p>\n

Hawley, who chaired the Senate finance committee, helped oversee passage there in March 1930. Reconciled legislation that became the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act finally cleared Congress that June. <\/p>\n

Hoover was conflicted, especially after more than 1,000 U.S. economists signed a letter urging a veto. But he signed the act, saying in a statement, \u201cNo tariff bill has ever been enacted, or ever will be enacted, under the present system that will be perfect.\u201d <\/p>\n

That\u2019s all a departure from another businessman-turned-president, Mr. Trump, who grew up wealthy and was a real estate mogul and reality TV star who had never served in Government before first winning the presidency in 2016. <\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has long championed tariffs as a way to protect the U.S. economy and manufacturing at the expense of its global trading partners. And he bypassed Congress potentially modifying the scope of his policy aims by declaring an \u201ceconomic emergency\u201d to institute tariffs unilaterally. <\/p>\n

Smoot-Hawley raised import tariffs by an average of 20% on thousands of goods, causing many top U.S. trading partners to retaliate. International cooperation on non-trade issues also declined, including on defence matters, helping clear the way for the rise of Hitler, Mr. Richardson said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere were some industries where they made profits,\u201d Mr. Richardson said of Smoot-Hawley. \u201cBut overall, people in the U.S. and people around the world were losers.\u201d <\/p>\n

U.S. manufacturers saw foreign markets for their goods evaporate and output and consumer spending sank still further. Hawley lost the 1932 Oregon Republican primary in his district, and Hawley was defeated in November, as Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt trounced Hoover for the presidency. <\/p>\n

Hawley, Hawley and Hoover largely kept defending their tariff policies in subsequent years, blaming international trade policies and external monetary forces \u2013 as well as Democrats \u2013 for America\u2019s economic woes. The economy wouldn\u2019t begin its recovery until the outbreak of World War II increased demand for factory production in 1939. <\/p>\n

\u201cEconomic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement,\u201d Hoover said in December 1930. \u201cEconomic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body \u2013 the producers and consumers themselves. <\/p>\n