In the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the press has looked to the past for examples of fed. responses to natural disasters that might serve as models for emulation today. The fed. response to the flood of 1927 featured Sec. of Commerce Herbert Hoover as the director of the flood response and wielding immense executive powers. This report describes the flood of 1927, and assesses the fed. government¿s response. Pres. Calvin Coolidge created a quasi-governmental commission that included members of his Cabinet and the Red Cross. This commission encouraged the public to donate funds to the relief effort and gave Hoover near-absolute authority to organize and oversee its response. A print on demand report.

In the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the press and policymakers have looked to the past for examples of federal responses to natural disasters that might serve as models for emulation today. Some Members of Congress have expressed an interest in creating a cabinet-level "czar" to administer Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief programs. Since the federal response to the flood of 1927 featured Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover as the director of the flood response and wielding immense execution powers, this episode in federal history may be of particular interest to Congress. This report describes the flood of 1927, and assess the federal government's response thereto. In short, the federal response was an executive branch response. President Calvin Coolidge created a quasi-governmental commission that included members of his Cabinet and the American National Red Cross. This commission encouraged the public to donate funds to the relief effort. It also gave Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover near-absolute authority to organize and oversee its response. Hoover used this authority to weave together federal resources, American National Red Cross volunteers, and the private sector to carry out the relief and recovery program. The concentration of power and the blending of the governmental and private sectors in Hoover's hands enabled the relief effort to be carried out expeditiously and creatively. President Coolidge's empowerment of Hoover alone as director of the flood response clarified to federal, state, and local officials and the public who was in charge. However, this administrative structure was not without costs. There was little direct federal oversight of actual relief provision. So, for example, when local and state relief workers behaved illegally, they were not held accountable. Furthermore, the concentration of power in a single set of hands enabled Secretary Hoover to undertake inadvisable actions with nearly no constraints.

Each volume of the Facts On File Library in a Book series is carefully designed to be a first-stop research source on important current issues. Written clearly and carefully so that even the most complex aspects of the topic are easily understandable, the books give the reader the essential information to begin work, plus the research tools needed to delve more deeply into the issues. Each book includes a history of the subject, biographical information on important figures in the field, a complete annotated bibliography, and a carefully designed index-everything the researcher needs to get down to work.

Are some of Pres. Obama¿s appointments (particularly some of those to the White House Office), made outside of the advice and consent process of the Senate, circumvent the Constitution? Are the activities of such appointees subject to oversight by, and accountable to, Congress? This report provides info. and views on the role of some of these appointees and discusses selected appointments in the Obama Admin. It discusses some of the constitutional concerns that have been raised about presidential advisors. These include, for ex., the kinds of positions that qualify as the type that must be filled in accordance with the Appointments Clause, with a focus on examining a few existing positions established by statute, exec. order, and regulation.

Disasters and the American State offers a thesis about the trajectory of federal government involvement in preparing for disaster shaped by contingent events. Politicians and bureaucrats claim credit for the government's successes in preparing for and responding to disaster, and they are also blamed for failures outside of government's control. New interventions have created precedents and established organizations and administrative cultures that accumulated over time and produced a general trend in which citizens, politicians and bureaucrats expect the government to provide more security from more kinds of disasters. The trend reached its peak when the Federal Emergency Management Agency adopted the idea of preparing for 'all hazards' as its mantra. Despite the rhetoric, however, the federal government's increasingly bold claims and heightened public expectations are disproportionate to the ability of the federal government to prevent or reduce the damage caused by disaster.

This study evaluates the 1927 Great Mississippi Flood and its impact on both the 1928 and 1932 presidential elections. Herbert Hoover surged forth to win the 1928 presidency, but would suffer the greatest presidential defeat four years later. When did people change their minds? And were they influenced solely by the Great Depression or was there something else? Natural disasters and environmental crises offer both opportunities and threats for a presidential candidate. Challenger and incumbent must weave through a delicate maze of policy conundrums to garner national support. Today, the novel virus COVID-19 has altered modern society. Policy and medical experts are scrambling to develop a vaccine. Undoubtedly, economic, social, and political landscapes are being redefined, including their impact on presidential elections. Thus, a seminal question surfaces: How do force majeure events impact a political campaign? Other studies have yielded general assessments regarding presidential decision making during unforeseen events, notably with 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. This book offers a vanguard approach by applying a historical lens and seeking to test the axiom of Farley’s Law. This important law suggests that peoples’ minds are made up at least six months before a national election and no matter how poorly situations develop, party allegiance is supreme.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. This review has been prompted by questions regarding the performance of the Amer. Nat. Red Cross (ANRC) in response to Hurricane Katrina. It examines the congressional charter of the ANRC. The report provides an overview, history, and analysis of the present charter. This focus on the ANRC¿s charter is justified on two counts. First, the charter sets forth a corp. organ¿l. structure, goals, and the means for governmental oversight of its activities. Second, the charter is the aspect of the ANRC that is most under control of Congress. Contents of this report: Intro.; Charter of the ANRC: Overview and History; Analysis: Mission of the ANRC; Nature and Powers of the ANRC; Oversight of the ANRC; ANRC Governance and Coord. with the Fed. Gov¿t.

The spate of disaster events ranging from major to catastrophic that have occurred in recent years raises a lot of questions about where and why they happened. Understanding the history of emergency management policies and practice is important to an understanding of current and future policies and practice. Continuing in the footsteps of its popular predecessors, the new edition of Emergency Management: The American Experience provides the background to understand the key political and policy underpinnings of emergency management, exploring how major "focusing events" have shaped the field of emergency management. This edition builds on the original theoretical framework and chronological approach of previous editions, while enhancing the discussions through the addition of fresh information about the effects and outcomes of older events, such as Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. The final chapters offer insightful discussion of the public administration concepts of emergency management in the U.S. and of the evolving federal role in emergency management. Like its predecessors, the third edition of Emergency Management is a trusted and required text to understand the formation and continuing improvement of the American national emergency management system.

The Law of Emergencies: Public Health and Disaster Management, Second Edition, introduces the American legal system as it interacts with disaster management, public health and civil unrest issues. Nan Hunter shows how the law in this area plays out in the context of real life emergencies where individuals often have to make split-second decisions. This book covers the major legal principles underlying emergency policy and operations and analyzes legal authority at the federal, state and local levels, placing the issues in historical context but concentrating on contemporary questions. The book includes primary texts, reader-friendly expository explanation and sample discussion questions in each chapter, as well as scenarios for each of the three major areas to put the concepts in to action. Prior knowledge of the law is not necessary in order to use and understand this book, and it satisfies the need of professionals in a wide array of fields related to emergency management to understand both what the law requires and how to analyze issues for which there is no clear legal answer. The book features materials on such critical issues as how to judge the extent of Constitutional authority for government to intervene in the lives and property of American citizens. At the same time, it also captures bread-and-butter issues such as responder liability and disaster relief methods. No other book brings these components together in a logically organized, step by step fashion. - Updated with expanded coverage and several new chapters - Re-organized to improve topic focus, with sections covering The President, Congress, and the Courts; Governance on the Ground; The Rights of Individuals; Disaster Management and Reconstruction; Health Emergencies; Preserving the Social Fabric; and Liability - Includes a new disaster scenario (a dirty bomb explosion in Washington, DC) to illustrate the application of key concepts - Features two new appendices that provide key excerpts from the U.S. Constitution and the Stafford Act - Includes a new glossary of legal and legislative terms