"Rugged individualism" was a concept of social darwinism developed by President Herbert Hoover of the United States at the time of the Great Depression. He argued that the government should not interfere in the private lives of its citizens, and this came during a time where civilians were asking for government intervention in their poverty while also demanding less government intervention in the closing of banks. This policy led to the further decline of the American economy, as the GDP reached its worst state from 1932 to 1933, shortly after Hoover departed from office.