This research aims to examine financial policy decisions made during the Great Depression and 2008 recession, two of the largest financial crises in America’s history. While there have been numerous investigations regarding these crises, the goal of this research is to go beyond why the crash happened and analyze the mechanics of the monetary policies the Federal Reserve implemented in order to prevent economic meltdown and revive investor confidence. Three types of sources will be utilized: historical texts, Federal Reserve records, and various indicators. The historical texts focus on the reasons these two crashes happened in the first place. There will be less emphasis on these, as there is so much prior research.