Born to aQuaker family inWest Branch, Iowa, Hoover grew up inOregon. He was one of the first graduates of the newStanford University in 1895. Hoover took a position with a London-based mining company working in Australia and China. He rapidly became a wealthy mining engineer. In 1914, the outbreak ofWorld War I, he organized and headed the Commission for Relief in Belgium, an international relief organization that provided food tooccupied Belgium. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, PresidentWoodrow Wilson appointed Hoover to lead the Food Administration. He became famous as his country's "food dictator". After the war, Hoover led theAmerican Relief Administration, which provided food to the starving millions in Central and Eastern Europe, especially Russia. Hoover's wartime service made him a favorite of manyprogressives, and he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in the1920 U.S. presidential election.
Hoover served as Secretary of Commerce under PresidentsWarren G. Harding andCalvin Coolidge. Hoover was an unusually active and visible Cabinet member, becoming known as "Secretary of Commerce and Under-Secretary of all other departments." He was influential in the development of air travel and radio. Hoover led the federal response to theGreat Mississippi Flood of 1927. He won the Republican nomination in the1928 presidential election and defeated Democratic candidateAl Smith in a landslide. In 1929, Hoover assumed the presidency. However, during his first year in office,the stock market crashed, signaling the onset of the Great Depression, which dominated Hoover's presidency until its end. He supported theMexican Repatriation and his response to the Great Depression was widely seen as lackluster.
In the midst of the Great Depression, he was decisively defeated by Democratic nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt in the1932 presidential election. Hoover's retirement was over 31 years long, one of the longest presidential retirements. He authored numerous works and became increasinglyconservative in retirement. He strongly criticized Roosevelt's foreign policy and theNew Deal. In the 1940s and 1950s, public opinion of Hoover improved, largely due to his service in various assignments for presidentsHarry S. Truman andDwight D. Eisenhower, including chairing the influentialHoover Commission. Critical assessments of his presidency by historians and political scientists generallyrank him as a significantly below-average president, although Hoover has received praise for his actions as a humanitarian and public official.[1][2][3]
Herbert Clark Hoover was born on August 10, 1874, inWest Branch, Iowa.[a] His father, Jesse Hoover, was ablacksmith and farm implement store owner of German, Swiss, and English ancestry.[4] Hoover's mother, Hulda Randall Minthorn, was raised inNorwich, Ontario, Canada, before moving toIowa in 1859. Like most other citizens of West Branch, Jesse and Hulda wereQuakers.[5] Around age two "Bertie", as he was called during that time, contracted a serious bout ofcroup, and was momentarily thought to have died until resuscitated by his uncle, John Minthorn.[6] As a young child he was often referred to by his father as "my little stick in the mud" when he repeatedly got trapped in the mud crossing the unpaved street.[7] Herbert's family figured prominently in the town's public prayer life, due almost entirely to mother Hulda's role in the church.[8] As a child, Hoover consistently attended schools, but he did little reading on his own aside from the Bible.[9] Hoover's father, noted by the local paper for his "pleasant, sunshiny disposition", died in 1880 at the age of 34 of a sudden heart attack.[10] Hoover's mother died in 1884 oftyphoid, leaving Hoover, his older brother, Theodore, and his younger sister, May, as orphans.[11] Hoover lived the next 18 months with his uncle Allen Hoover at a nearby farm.[12][13]
Hoover in 1877
In November 1885, Hoover was sent toNewberg, Oregon, to live with his uncle John Minthorn, a Quaker physician and businessman whose own son had died the year before.[14] The Minthorn household was considered cultured and educational, and imparted a strong work ethic.[15] Much like West Branch, Newberg was a frontier town settled largely by Midwestern Quakers.[16] Minthorn ensured that Hoover received an education, but Hoover disliked the many chores assigned to him and often resented Minthorn. One observer described Hoover as "an orphan [who] seemed to be neglected in many ways".[17] Hoover attended Friends Pacific Academy (nowGeorge Fox University), but dropped out at the age of thirteen to become an office assistant for his uncle's real estate office (Oregon Land Company)[18] inSalem, Oregon. Though he did not attend high school, Hoover learned bookkeeping, typing, and mathematics at a night school.[19]
Hoover was a member of the inaugural "Pioneer Class" ofStanford University, entering in 1891 despite failing all theentrance exams except mathematics.[20][b] During his freshman year, he switched his major from mechanical engineering to geology after working forJohn Casper Branner, the chairman of Stanford's geology department. During his sophomore year, Sam Collins proposed founding,Romero Hall Boarding Club, the first student cooperative boarding house at Romero Hall, for "sociability and economy", which Hoover andWilliam Foster Hidden co-founded.[22][23][24][25] Hoover was a mediocre student, and he spent much of his time working in various part-time jobs or participating in campus activities.[26] Though he was initially shy among fellow students, Hoover won election as student treasurer and became known for his distaste forfraternities and sororities.[27] He served as student manager of both thebaseball andfootball teams, and helped organize the inauguralBig Game versus theUniversity of California.[28] During the summers before and after his senior year, Hoover interned under economic geologistWaldemar Lindgren of theUnited States Geological Survey; these experiences convinced Hoover to pursue a career as a mining geologist.[29]
Hoover, aged 23; taken inPerth, Western Australia, in 1898
When Hoover graduated from Stanford in 1895, the country was in the midst of thePanic of 1893 and he initially struggled to find a job.[27] He worked in various low-level mining jobs in theSierra Nevada Mountains until persuading prominent mining engineer Louis Janin to hire him.[30] After working as a mine scout for a year, Hoover was hired by Bewick, Moreing & Co. ("Bewick"), a London-based company that operatedgold mines inWestern Australia.[31] He first went toCoolgardie, then the center of theEastern Goldfields, which was actually inWestern Australia, receiving a $5,000 salary (equivalent to $188,980 in 2024). Conditions were harsh in the goldfields; Hoover described theCoolgardie andMurchisonrangelands on the edge of theGreat Victoria Desert as a land of "black flies, red dust and white heat".[32][33]
Hoover traveled constantly across theOutback to evaluate and manage the company's mines.[34] He convinced Bewick to purchase theSons of Gwalia gold mine, which proved to be one of the most successful mines in the region.[35] Partly due to Hoover's efforts, the company eventually controlled approximately 50 percent of gold production inWestern Australia.[36] Hoover brought in manyItalian immigrants to cut costs and counter thelabour movement of the Australian miners.[37][38] During his time with the mining company, Hoover became opposed to measures such as aminimum wage andworkers' compensation, feeling that they were unfair to owners. Hoover's work impressed his employers, and in 1898 he was promoted to junior partner.[39] An open feud developed between Hoover and his boss, Ernest Williams, but Bewick's leaders defused the situation by offering Hoover a compelling position inChina.[40]
Upon arriving in China, Hoover developed gold mines nearTianjin on behalf of Bewick and the Chinese-ownedChinese Engineering and Mining Company.[41] He became deeply interested inChinese history, but gave up on learning thelanguage toa fluent level. He publicly warned that Chinese workers were inefficient and racially inferior.[42] He made recommendations to improve the lot of the Chinese worker, seeking to end the practice of imposing long-term servitude contracts and to institute reforms for workers based on merit.[43] TheBoxer Rebellion broke out shortly after the Hoovers arrived in China, trapping them and numerous other foreign nationals until amulti-national military force defeated Boxer forces in theBattle of Tientsin. Fearing the imminent collapse of the Chinese government, the director of the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company agreed to establish a new Sino-British venture with Bewick. After they established effective control over the new Chinese mining company, Hoover became the operating partner in late 1901.[44]
In this role, Hoover continually traveled the world on behalf of Bewick, visiting mines operated by the company on different continents. Beginning in December 1902, the company faced mounting legal and financial issues after one of the partners admitted to having fraudulently sold stock in a mine. More issues arose in 1904 after the British government formed two separateroyal commissions to investigate Bewick's labor practices and financial dealings in Western Australia. After the company lost a lawsuit Hoover began looking for a way to get out of the partnership, and he sold his shares in mid-1908.[45]
Sole proprietor
Hoover in 1917 while a mining engineer
After leaving Bewick, Moreing, Hoover worked as a London-based independent mining consultant and financier. Though he had risen to prominence as a geologist and mine operator, Hoover focused much of his attention on raising money, restructuring corporate organizations, and financing new ventures.[46] He specialized in rejuvenating troubled mining operations, taking a share of the profits in exchange for his technical and financial expertise.[47] Hoover thought of himself and his associates as "engineering doctors to sick concerns", and he earned a reputation as a "doctor of sick mines".[48] He made investments on every continent and had offices in San Francisco; London; New York City; Paris;Petrograd; andMandalay,British Burma.[49] By 1914, Hoover was a very wealthy man, with an estimated personal fortune of $4 million (equivalent to $125.57 million in 2024).[50]
Hoover co-founded theZinc Corporation to extractzinc near the Australian city ofBroken Hill,New South Wales.[51] The Zinc Corporation developed thefroth flotation process to extract zinc from lead-silver ore[52] and operated the world's first selective ore differential flotation plant.[53] Hoover worked with the Burma Corporation, a British firm that produced silver, lead, and zinc in large quantities at theNamtuBawdwin Mine.[54]: 90–96, 101–102 [55] He also helped increasecopper production inKyshtym,Russia, through the use of pyritic smelting. He also agreed to manage a separate mine in theAltai Mountains that, according to Hoover, "developed probably the greatest and richest single body of ore known in the world".[54]: 102–108 [56]
In his spare time, Hoover wrote. His lectures atColumbia and Stanford universities were published in 1909 asPrinciples of Mining, which became a standard textbook. The book reflects his move towardsprogressive ideals, as Hoover came to endorseeight-hour workdays andorganized labor.[57] Hoover became deeply interested in thehistory of science, and he was especially drawn to theDe re metallica, an influential 16th century work on mining and metallurgy byGeorgius Agricola. In 1912, Hoover and his wife published the first English translation ofDe re metallica.[58] Hoover also joined the board of trustees at Stanford, and led a successful campaign to appoint John Branner as the university's president.[59]
During his senior year at Stanford, Hoover became smitten with a classmate namedLou Henry, though his financial situation precluded marriage at that time.[27] The daughter of a banker fromMonterey, California, Lou Henry decided to study geology at Stanford after attending a lecture delivered byJohn C. Branner.[60] Immediately after earning a promotion in 1898, Hoover cabled Lou Henry, asking her to marry him. After she cabled back her acceptance of the proposal, Hoover briefly returned to the United States for their wedding.[39] They would remain married until Lou Henry Hoover's death in 1944.[61]
Though his Quaker upbringing strongly influenced his career, Hoover rarely attended Quaker meetings during his adult life.[62][63] Hoover and his wife had two children:Herbert Hoover Jr. (born in 1903) andAllan Henry Hoover (born in 1907).[39] The Hoover family began living in London in 1902, though they frequently traveled as part of Hoover's career.[64] After 1916, the Hoovers began living in the United States, maintaining homes inStanford, California, and Washington, D.C.[65] Hoover's great-granddaughter (through Allan) isconservative political commentator, strategist, media personality and authorMargaret Hoover.[66]
Hoover's elder brother Theodore also studied mining engineering at Stanford, and returned there to become dean of the engineering school. In retirement, Theodore bought a large property on the remote north coast of Santa Cruz County. TheTheodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve is now part ofBig Basin State Park.
World War I broke out in August 1914, pitting Germany and its allies against France and its allies. The GermanSchlieffen plan was to achieve a quick victory by marching through neutral Belgium to envelop the French Army east of Paris. The maneuver failed to reach Paris, however the Germans were successful in taking nearly all of Belgium and would occupy the majority of nation for the remainder of the war. Hoover and other London-based American businessmen established a committee to organize the return of the roughly 100,000 Americans stranded in Europe. Hoover was appointed as the committee's chairman and, with the assent of Congress and theWilson administration, took charge of the distribution of relief to Americans in Europe.[67] Hoover later stated, "I did not realize it at the moment, but on August 3, 1914, my career was over forever. I was on the slippery road of public life."[68] By early October 1914, Hoover's organization had distributed relief to at least 40,000 Americans.[69]
TheGerman invasion of Belgium in August 1914 set a food crisis into motion in Belgium, a nation which relied heavily on food imports. The Germans refused to take responsibility for feeding Belgian citizens in captured territory, and the British refused to lift theirblockade ofGerman-occupied Belgium unless the U.S. government supervised Belgian food imports as a neutral party in the war.[70] With the cooperation of the Wilson administration and theCNSA, a Belgian relief organization, Hoover established theCommission for Relief in Belgium (CRB).[71] The CRB obtained and imported millions of tons of foodstuffs for the CNSA to distribute, and helped ensure that the German army did not appropriate the food. Private donations and government grants supplied the majority of its $11-million-a-month budget, and the CRB became a veritable independent republic of relief, with its own flag, navy, factories, mills, and railroads.[72][73][failed verification]
Hoover worked 14-hour days from London, administering the distribution of over two million tons of food to nine million war victims. In an early form ofshuttle diplomacy, he crossed theNorth Sea forty times to meet with German authorities and persuade them to allow food shipments.[74] He also convinced BritishChancellor of the ExchequerDavid Lloyd George to allow individuals to send money to the people of Belgium, thereby lessening workload of the CRB.[75] At the request of the French government, the CRB began delivering supplies to the people ofGerman-occupied Northern France in 1915.[76] In 1926, American diplomatWalter Page described Hoover as "probably the only man living who has privately (i.e., without holding office) negotiated understandings with the British, French, German, Dutch, and Belgian governments".[77][78]
War upon Germany was declared in April 1917, and American food was essential to Allied victory. With the U.S. mobilizing for war, President Wilson appointed Hoover to head theU.S. Food Administration, which was charged with ensuring the nation's food needs during the war.[79] Hoover had hoped to join the administration in some capacity since at least 1916, and he obtained the position after lobbying several members of Congress and Wilson's confidant,Edward M. House.[80] Earning the appellation of "food czar", Hoover recruited a volunteer force of hundreds of thousands of women and deployedpropaganda in movie theaters, schools, and churches.[81] He carefully selected men to assist in the agency leadership—Alonzo E. Taylor (technical abilities),Robert Taft (political associations),Gifford Pinchot (agricultural influence), and Julius Barnes (business acumen).[82]
World War I had created a global food crisis that dramatically increased food prices and caused food riots and starvation in the countries at war. Hoover's chief goal as food czar was to provide supplies to the Allied Powers, but he also sought to stabilize domestic prices and to prevent domestic shortages.[83] Under the broad powers granted by theFood and Fuel Control Act, the Food Administration supervised food production throughout the United States, and the administration made use of its authority to buy, import, store, and sell food.[84] Determined to avoid rationing, Hoover established set days for people to avoid eating specified foods and save them for soldiers' rations:meatless Mondays, wheatless Wednesdays, and "when in doubt, eat potatoes". These policies were dubbed "Hooverizing" by government publicists, in spite of Hoover's continual orders that publicity should not mention him by name.[85] The Food Administration shipped 23 million metric tons of food to the Allied Powers, preventing their collapse and earning Hoover great acclaim.[86] As head of the Food Administration, Hoover gained a following in the United States, especially among progressives who saw in Hoover an expert administrator and symbol of efficiency.[87] He was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society during his tenure.[88]
World War I came to an end in November 1918, but Europe continued to face a critical food situation; Hoover estimated that as many as 400 million people faced the possibility of starvation.[89] The United States Food Administration became theAmerican Relief Administration (ARA), and Hoover was charged with providing food to Central and Eastern Europe.[90] In addition to providing relief, the ARA rebuilt infrastructure in an effort to rejuvenate the economy of Europe.[91] Throughout theParis Peace Conference, Hoover served as a close adviser to President Wilson, and he largely shared Wilson's goals of establishing theLeague of Nations, settling borders on the basis ofself-determination, and refraining from inflicting a harsh punishment on the defeated Central Powers.[92] The following year, the famed British economistJohn Maynard Keynes wrote inThe Economic Consequences of the Peace that if Hoover's realism, "knowledge, magnanimity and disinterestedness" had found wider play in the councils of Paris, the world would have had "the Good Peace".[93] After U.S. government funding for the ARA expired in mid-1919, Hoover transformed the ARA into a private organization, raising millions of dollars from private donors.[90] He also established the European Children's Fund, which provided relief to fifteen million children across fourteen countries.[94]
Despite the opposition of SenatorHenry Cabot Lodge and other Republicans, Hoover provided aid to the defeated German nation after the war, as well as relief tofamine-strickenRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.[90] Hoover condemned theBolsheviks but warned President Wilson against anintervention in theRussian Civil War, as he viewed theWhite Russian forces as little better than the Bolsheviks and feared the possibility of a protracted U.S. involvement.[95] TheRussian famine of 1921–22 claimed six million people, but the intervention of the ARA likely saved millions of lives.[96] When asked if he was not helping Bolshevism by providing relief, Hoover stated, "twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!"[90] Reflecting the gratitude of many Europeans, in July 1922, Soviet authorMaxim Gorky told Hoover that "your help will enter history as a unique, gigantic achievement, worthy of the greatest glory, which will long remain in the memory of millions of Russians whom you have saved from death".[97]
In 1919, Hoover established theHoover War Collection at Stanford University. He donated all the files of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, the U.S. Food Administration, and the American Relief Administration, and pledged $50,000 as an endowment (equivalent to $906,814 in 2024). Scholars were sent to Europe to collect pamphlets, society publications, government documents, newspapers, posters, proclamations, and other ephemeral materials related to the war and the revolutions that followed it. The collection was renamed the Hoover War Library in 1922 and is now known as theHoover Institution Library and Archives.[98] During the post-war period, Hoover also served as the president of the Federated American Engineering Societies.[99][100]
Hoover had been little known among the American public before 1914, but his service in the Wilson administration established him as a contender in the 1920 presidential election. Hoover's wartime push for higher taxes, criticism of Attorney GeneralA. Mitchell Palmer's actions during theFirst Red Scare, and his advocacy for measures such as theminimum wage, forty-eight-hour workweek, andelimination of child labor made him appealing to progressives of both parties.[101] Despite his service in theDemocratic administration of Woodrow Wilson, Hoover had never been closely affiliated with either the Democrats or theRepublicans. He initially sought to avoid committing to any party in the 1920 election, hoping that either of the two major parties would draft him for president at their national conventions.[102] In March 1920, he changed strategy and declared himself a Republican; he was motivated in large part by the belief that the Democrats had little chance of winning.[103] Despite his national renown, Hoover's service in the Wilson administration had alienated farmers and theconservative Old Guard of the GOP, and his presidential candidacy fizzled out after his defeat in the California primary byfavorite sonHiram Johnson. At the1920 Republican National Convention,Warren G. Harding emerged as a compromise candidate after the convention became deadlocked between supporters of Johnson,Leonard Wood, andFrank Orren Lowden.[101] Hoover backed Harding's successful campaign in the general election, and he began laying the groundwork for a future presidential run by building a base of strong supporters in the Republican Party.[104]
Assistants William McCracken (left) and Walter Drake (right) with Secretary Hoover (center)
After his election as president in 1920, Harding rewarded Hoover for his support, offering to appoint him as eitherSecretary of the Interior orSecretary of Commerce. Secretary of Commerce was considered a minor Cabinet post, with limited and vaguely defined responsibilities, but Hoover decided to accept the position.[105] Hoover's progressive stances, continuing support for theLeague of Nations, and recent conversion to the Republican Party aroused opposition to his appointment from manySenate Republicans.[106] To overcome this opposition, Harding paired Hoover's nomination with that of conservative favoriteAndrew Mellon asSecretary of the Treasury, and the nominations of both Hoover and Mellon were confirmed by the Senate. Hoover would serve as Secretary of Commerce from 1921 to 1928, serving under Harding and, after Harding's death in 1923, PresidentCalvin Coolidge.[105] While some of the most prominent members of the Harding administration, including Attorney GeneralHarry M. Daugherty and Secretary of InteriorAlbert B. Fall, were implicated inmajor scandals, Hoover emerged largely unscathed from investigations into the Harding administration.[107]
Hoover envisioned the Commerce Department as the hub of the nation's growth and stability.[108] His experience mobilizing the war-time economy convinced him that the federal government could promote efficiency by eliminating waste, increasing production, encouraging the adoption of data-based practices, investing in infrastructure, and conserving natural resources. Contemporaries described Hoover's approach as a "third alternative" between "unrestrained capitalism" andsocialism, which was becoming increasingly popular in Europe.[109] Hoover sought to foster a balance among labor, capital, and the government, and for this, he has been variously labeled acorporatist or anassociationalist.[110] A high priority was economic diplomacy, including promoting the growth of exports, as well as protection against monopolistic practices of foreign governments, especially regarding rubber and coffee.[111]
Hoover demanded, and received, authority to coordinate economic affairs throughout the government. He created many sub-departments and committees, overseeing and regulating everything from manufacturing statistics toair travel. In some instances, he "seized" control of responsibilities from other Cabinet departments when he deemed that they were not carrying out their responsibilities well; some began referring to him as the "Secretary of Commerce and Under-Secretary of all other departments".[108] In response to theDepression of 1920–21, he convinced Harding to assemble a presidential commission on unemployment, which encouraged local governments to engage in countercyclical infrastructure spending.[112] He endorsed much of Mellon's tax reduction program but favored a moreprogressive tax system and opposed the treasury secretary's efforts to eliminate theestate tax.[113]
Between 1923 and 1929, the number of families with radios grew from 300,000 to 10 million,[114] and Hoover's tenure as Secretary of Commerce heavily influenced radio use in the United States. Between 1922 and 1925, Hoover organized conferences between radio manufacturers, news agencies, and government organizations which played a key role in the organization, development, and regulation ofradio broadcasting. Hoover also helped pass theRadio Act of 1927, which allowed the government to intervene and abolishradio stations that were deemed "non-useful" to the public. Hoover's attempts at regulating radio were not supported by all congressmen, and he received much opposition from the Senate and from radio station owners.[115][116][117][118]
Hoover was also influential in the early development of air travel, and he sought to create a thriving private industry boosted by indirect government subsidies. He encouraged the development of emergency landing fields, required all runways to be equipped with lights and radio beams, and encouraged farmers to make use of planes forcrop dusting.[119] He also established the federal government's power to inspect planes and license pilots, setting a precedent for the laterFederal Aviation Administration.[120]
As Commerce Secretary, Hoover hosted national conferences on street traffic collectively known as the National Conference on Street and Highway Safety. Hoover's chief objective was to address the growing casualty toll oftraffic accidents, but the scope of the conferences grew and soon embraced motor vehicle standards, rules of the road, and urban traffic control. He left the invited interest groups to negotiate agreements among themselves, which were then presented for adoption by states and localities. Because automotive trade associations were the best organized, many of the positions taken by the conferences reflected their interests. The conferences issued a model Uniform Vehicle Code for adoption by the states and a Model Municipal Traffic Ordinance for adoption by cities. Both were widely influential, promoting greater uniformity between jurisdictions and tending to promote the automobile's priority in city streets.[121]
Hoover's image building
Phillips Payson O'Brien argues that Hoover had a Britain problem. He had spent so many years living in Britain and Australia, as an employee of British companies, there was a risk that he would be labeled a British tool. There were three solutions, all of which he tried in close collaboration with the media, which greatly admired him.[122] First came the image of the dispassionate scientist, emotionally uninvolved but always committed to finding and implementing the best possible solution. The second solution was to gain the reputation of a humanitarian, deeply concerned with the world's troubles, such as famine in Belgium, as well as specific American problems which he had solved as food commissioner during the world war. The third solution was to fall back on the old tactic of twisting the British tail, which he employed during the1925–1926 worldwide rubber crisis. TheAmerican auto industry consumed 70% of the world's output, but British investors controlled much of the supply. Their plan was to drastically cut back on output fromBritish Malaya, which had the effect of tripling rubber prices. Hoover energetically gave a series of speeches and interviews denouncing themonopolistic practice and demanding that it be ended. TheAmerican State Department wanted no such crisis and compromised the issue in 1926. By then Hoover had solved his image problem, and during his 1928 campaign he successfully squelched attacks that alleged he was too close to British interests.[123]
Mississippi flood
TheGreat Mississippi Flood of 1927 broke the banks andlevees of thelower Mississippi River in early 1927, resulting in the flooding of millions of acres and leaving 1.5 million people displaced from their homes. Although disaster response did not fall under the duties of theCommerce Department, the governors of six states along the Mississippi River specifically asked President Coolidge to appoint Hoover to coordinate the response to the flood.[124] Believing that disaster response was not the domain of the federal government, Coolidge initially refused to become involved, but he eventually acceded to political pressure and appointed Hoover to chair a special committee to help the region.[125] Hoover established over one hundredtent cities and a fleet of more than six hundred vessels and raised $17 million (equivalent to $307.73 million in 2024). In large part due to his leadership during the flood crisis, by 1928, Hoover had begun to overshadow President Coolidge himself.[124] Though Hoover received wide acclaim for his role in the crisis, he ordered the suppression of reports of mistreatment of African Americans inrefugee camps.[126] He did so with the cooperation of black American leaderRobert Russa Moton, who was promised unprecedented influence once Hoover became president.[127]
With the goal of encouraging wise business investments, Hoover made the Commerce Department a clearinghouse of information. He recruited numerous academics from various fields and tasked them with publishing reports on different aspects of the economy, includingsteel production and films. To eliminate waste, he encouragedstandardization of products likeautomobile tires and baby bottle nipples.[128] Other efforts at eliminating waste included reducing labor losses from trade disputes and seasonal fluctuations, reducing industrial losses from accident and injury, and reducing the amount ofcrude oil spilled during extraction and shipping. He promoted international trade by opening overseas offices to advise businessmen. Hoover was especially eager to promoteHollywood films overseas.[129] His "Own Your Own Home" campaign was a collaboration to promote ownership of single-family dwellings, with groups such as the Better Houses in America movement, the Architects' Small House Service Bureau, and the Home Modernizing Bureau. He worked with bankers and thesavings and loan industry to promote the new long-term home mortgage, which dramatically stimulated home construction.[130] Other accomplishments included winning the agreement ofU.S. Steel to adopt an eight-hour workday, and the fostering of theColorado River Compact, awater rights compact amongSouthwestern states.[131]
Hoover quietly gathered support for a future presidential bid throughout the 1920s, but he carefully avoided alienating Coolidge, who possibly could have run for another term in the1928 presidential election.[132] Along with the rest of the nation, he was surprised when Coolidgeannounced in August 1927 that he would not seek another term. With the impending retirement of Coolidge, Hoover immediately emerged as the front-runner for the 1928 Republican nomination, and he quickly put together a strong campaign team led byHubert Work,Will H. Hays, andReed Smoot.[133] Coolidge was unwilling to anoint Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that, "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice—all of it bad".[134] Despite his lukewarm feelings towards Hoover, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's candidacy.[135]
One public figure who endorsed Hoover for the Republican presidential candidacy wasWilliam Randolph Hearst, who argued that “The present situation demands conservatism, and Secretary Hoover’s conservatism is of the constructive and not the reactionary type.”[136]
Many wary Republican leaders cast about for an alternative candidate, such as Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon or former secretary of stateCharles Evans Hughes.[137] However, Hughes and Mellon declined to run, and other potential contenders likeFrank Orren Lowden and Vice PresidentCharles G. Dawes failed to garner widespread support.[138] Hoover won the presidential nomination on the first ballot of the1928 Republican National Convention. Convention delegates considered re-nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover'srunning mate, but Coolidge, who hated Dawes, remarked that this would be "a personal affront" to him. The convention instead selected SenatorCharles Curtis of Kansas.[139] Hoover accepted the nomination atStanford Stadium, telling a huge crowd that he would continue the policies of the Harding and Coolidge administrations.[140] The Democrats nominated New York governorAl Smith, who became the firstCatholic major party nominee for president.[141]
1928 electoral vote results
Hoover submitted his resignation as Commerce Secretary on July 7, but Coolidge kept him on until August 21 to wind up pending business.[142][143] Hoover centered his campaign around the Republican record of peace and prosperity, as well as his own reputation as a successful engineer and public official. Averse to giving political speeches, Hoover largely stayed out of the fray and left the campaigning to Curtis and other Republicans.[144] Smith was more charismatic and gregarious than Hoover, but his campaign was damaged byanti-Catholicism and his overt opposition to Prohibition. Hoover had never been a strong proponent of Prohibition, but he accepted the Republican Party's plank in favor of it and issued an ambivalent statement calling Prohibition "a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose".[145] In the South, Hoover and the national party pursued a "lily-white" strategy, removing black Republicans from leadership positions in an attempt to curry favor with white Southerners.[146]
Hoover maintained polling leads throughout the 1928 campaign, and he decisively defeated Smith on election day, taking 58 percent of the popular vote and 444 of the 531 electoral votes.[147] Historians agree that Hoover's national reputation and the booming economy, combined with deep splits in the Democratic Party over religion and Prohibition, guaranteed his landslide victory.[148] Hoover's appeal to Southern white voters succeeded in cracking the "Solid South", and he won five Southern states.[149] Hoover's victory was positively received by newspapers; one wrote that Hoover would "drive so forcefully at the tasks now before the nation that the end of his eight years as president will find us looking back on an era of prodigious achievement".[150]
Hoover's detractors wondered why he did not do anything toreapportion congress after the1920 United States census which saw an increase in urban and immigrant populations. The 1920 census was the first and only decennial census where the results were not used to reapportion Congress, which ultimately influenced the 1928 Electoral College and impacted the presidential election.[151][152]
Hoover saw the presidency as a vehicle for improving the conditions of all Americans by encouraging public-private cooperation—what he termed "volunteerism". He tended to oppose governmental coercion or intervention, as he thought they infringed on American ideals of individualism and self-reliance.[153] The first major bill that he signed, theAgricultural Marketing Act of 1929, established theFederal Farm Board in order to stabilize farm prices.[154] Hoover made extensive use of commissions to study issues and propose solutions, and many of those commissions were sponsored by private donors rather than by the government. One of the commissions started by Hoover, the Research Committee on Social Trends, was tasked with surveying the entirety of American society.[155] He appointed a Cabinet consisting largely of wealthy, business-oriented conservatives,[156] including Secretary of the TreasuryAndrew Mellon.[157]Lou Henry Hoover was an activist First Lady. She typified thenew woman of thepost–World War I era: intelligent, robust, and aware of multiple female possibilities.[158]
On taking office, Hoover said that "given the chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, we shall soon with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation".[159] Having seen the fruits of prosperity brought by technological progress, many shared Hoover's optimism, and the already bullish stock market climbed even higher on Hoover's accession.[160] This optimism concealed several threats to sustained U.S. economic growth, including a persistentfarm crisis, a saturation ofconsumer goods likeautomobiles, and growingincome inequality.[161] Most dangerous of all to the economy was excessive speculation that had raisedstock prices far beyond their value.[162] Some regulators and bankers had warned Coolidge and Hoover that a failure to curb speculation would lead to "one of the greatest financial catastrophes that this country has ever seen," but both presidents were reluctant to become involved with the workings of theFederal Reserve System, which regulated banks.[163]
In late October 1929, thestock market crashed, and the worldwide economy began to spiral downward into theGreat Depression.[164] Thecauses of the Great Depression remain a matter of debate,[165] but Hoover viewed a lack of confidence in the financial system as the fundamental economic problem facing the nation.[166] He sought to avoid direct federal intervention, believing that the best way to bolster the economy was through the strengthening of businesses such as banks and railroads. He also feared that allowing individuals on the "dole" would permanently weaken the country.[167] Instead, Hoover strongly believed that local governments and private giving should address the needs of individuals.[168]
Early policies
Though he attempted to put a positive spin onBlack Tuesday, Hoover moved quickly to address thestock market collapse.[169] In the days following Black Tuesday, Hoover gathered business and labor leaders, asking them to avoid wage cuts and work stoppages while the country faced what he believed would be a short recession similar to the Depression of 1920–21.[170] Hoover also convinced railroads and public utilities to increase spending on construction and maintenance, and theFederal Reserve announced that it would cut interest rates.[171] In early 1930, Hoover acquired from Congress an additional $100 million to continue theFederal Farm Board lending and purchasing policies.[172] These actions were collectively designed to prevent a cycle ofdeflation and provide afiscal stimulus.[171] At the same time, Hoover opposed congressional proposals to provide federal relief to the unemployed, as he believed that such programs were the responsibility of state and local governments and philanthropic organizations.[173]
Hoover had taken office hoping to raise agricultural tariffs in order to help farmers reeling from the farm crisis of the 1920s, but his attempt to raise agricultural tariffs became connected with a bill that broadly raised tariffs.[174] Hoover refused to become closely involved in the congressional debate over the tariff, and Congress produced a tariff bill that raised rates for many goods.[175] Despite the widespread unpopularity of the bill, Hoover felt that he could not reject the main legislative accomplishment of the Republican-controlled71st Congress. Over the objection of many economists, Hoover signed theSmoot–Hawley Tariff Act into law in June 1930.[176] Canada, France, and other nations retaliated by raising tariffs, resulting in a contraction ofinternational trade and a worsening of the economy.[177] Progressive Republicans such as SenatorWilliam E. Borah of Idaho were outraged when Hoover signed the tariff act, and Hoover's relations with that wing of the party never recovered.[178]
By mid-1931, the unemployment rate had reached 15 percent, giving rise to growing fears that the country was experiencing a depression far worse than recent economic downturns.[187] A reserved man with a fear of public speaking, Hoover allowed his opponents in the Democratic Party to define him as cold, incompetent, reactionary, and out-of-touch.[188] Hoover's opponents developed defamatoryepithets to discredit him, such as "Hooverville" (the shanty towns and homeless encampments), "Hoover leather" (cardboard used to cover holes in the soles of shoes), and "Hoover blanket" (old newspaper used to cover oneself from the cold).[189] While Hoover continued to resist direct federal relief efforts, GovernorFranklin D. Roosevelt of New York launched theTemporary Emergency Relief Administration to provide aid to the unemployed. Democrats positioned the program as a kinder alternative to Hoover's alleged apathy towards the unemployed, despite Hoover's belief that such programs were the responsibility of state and local governments.[190]
The economy continued to worsen, with unemployment rates nearing 23 percent in early 1932,[191] and Hoover finally heeded calls for more direct federal intervention.[192] In January 1932, he convinced Congress to authorize the establishment of theReconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), which would provide government-secured loans to financial institutions, railroads, and local governments.[193] The RFC saved numerous businesses from failure, but it failed to stimulate commercial lending as much as Hoover had hoped, partly because it was run by conservative bankers unwilling to make riskier loans.[194] The same month the RFC was established, Hoover signed theFederal Home Loan Bank Act, establishing 12 district banks overseen by a Federal Home Loan Bank Board in a manner similar to the Federal Reserve System.[195] He also helped arrange passage of theGlass–Steagall Act of 1932, emergency banking legislation designed to expand banking credit by expanding the collateral on which Federal Reserve banks were authorized to lend.[196] As these measures failed to stem the economic crisis, Hoover signed theEmergency Relief and Construction Act, a $2 billion public works bill, in July 1932.[191]
Budget policy
National debt as a fraction of GNP up from 20% to 40% under Hoover. FromHistorical Statistics US (1976).
After a decade ofbudget surpluses, the federal government experienced abudget deficit in 1931.[197] Though some economists, likeWilliam Trufant Foster, favoreddeficit spending to address the Great Depression, most politicians and economists believed in the necessity of keeping abalanced budget.[198] In late 1931, Hoover proposed a tax plan to increasetax revenue by 30 percent, resulting in the passage of theRevenue Act of 1932.[199] The act increased taxes across the board, rolling back much of thetax cut reduction program Mellon had presided over during the 1920s. Top earners were taxed at 63 percent on their net income, the highest rate since the early 1920s. The act also doubled the topestate tax rate, cutpersonal income tax exemptions, eliminated thecorporate income tax exemption, and raised corporate tax rates.[200] Despite the passage of the Revenue Act, the federal government continued to run a budget deficit.[201]
Hoover seldom mentionedcivil rights while he was president. He believed that African Americans and other races could improve themselves with education and individual initiative.[202] Hoover appointed more African Americans to federal positions than Harding and Coolidge combined, but many African American leaders condemned various aspects of the Hoover administration, including Hoover's unwillingness to push for a federalanti-lynching law.[203] Hoover also continued to pursue the lily-white strategy, removing African Americans from positions of leadership in the Republican Party in an attempt to end the Democratic Party'sdominance in the South.[204] ThoughRobert Moton and some other black leaders accepted the lily-white strategy as a temporary measure, most African American leaders were outraged.[205] Hoover further alienated black leaders by nominating conservative Southern judgeJohn J. Parker to theSupreme Court; Parker's nomination ultimately failed in the Senate due to opposition from theNAACP and organized labor.[206] Many black voters switched to the Democratic Party in the 1932 election, and African Americans would later become an important part of Franklin Roosevelt'sNew Deal coalition.[207]
As part of his efforts to limit unemployment, Hoover sought to cutimmigration to the United States, and in 1930 he promulgated an executive order requiring individuals to have employment before migrating to the United States.[208] The Hoover Administration began a campaign to prosecuteillegal immigrants in the United States, which most strongly affectedMexican Americans, especially those living inSouthern California.[209] The federal government also supported the Mexican repatriation which saw anywhere from 300,000 to two million Mexicans and Mexican Americans repatriated, deported, or expelled to Mexico during the 1930s primarily during Hoover's term. Forty to sixty percent of them wereAmerican citizens.[210][211][212] While the federal government encouraged repatriations, they were largely organized by state and local authorities with support from private entities. The Hoover administration deported 34,000 people to Mexico between 1930 to 1933. It was however more common for people to repatriate voluntarily.[213][211] Some scholars argue that the mass repatriations was a policy of Hoover's administration.[211] According to legal professor Kevin R. Johnson, the repatriation campaign meets the modern legal standards ofethnic cleansing, as it involved the forced removal of a racial minority by government actors.[214]
On taking office, Hoover urged Americans to obey theEighteenth Amendment and theVolstead Act, which had establishedProhibition across the United States.[216] To make public policy recommendations regarding Prohibition, he created theWickersham Commission.[217] Hoover had hoped that the commission's public report would buttress his stance in favor of Prohibition, but the report criticized the enforcement of the Volstead Act and noted the growing public opposition to Prohibition. After the Wickersham Report was published in 1931, Hoover rejected the advice of some of his closest allies and refused to endorse any revision of the Volstead Act or the Eighteenth Amendment, as he feared doing so would undermine his support among Prohibition advocates.[218] As public opinion increasingly turned against Prohibition, more and more people flouted the law, and a grassroots movement began working in earnest for Prohibition's repeal.[219] In January 1933, a constitutional amendment repealing the Eighteenth Amendment was approved by Congress and submitted to the states for ratification. By December 1933, it had been ratified by the requisite number of states to become theTwenty-first Amendment.[220]
Foreign relations
According to Leuchtenburg, Hoover was "the last American president to take office with no conspicuous need to pay attention to the rest of the world". Nevertheless, during Hoover's term, the world order established in the immediate aftermath of World War I began to crumble.[221] As president, Hoover largely made good on his pledge made prior to assuming office not to interfere in Latin America's internal affairs. In 1930, he released theClark Memorandum, a rejection of theRoosevelt Corollary and a move towards non-interventionism in Latin America. Hoover did not completely refrain from the use of the military inLatin American affairs; he thrice threatened intervention in theDominican Republic, and he sent warships toEl Salvador to support the government against a left-wing revolution.[222] Notwithstanding those actions, he wound down theBanana Wars, ending theoccupation of Nicaragua and nearly bringing an end to theoccupation of Haiti.[223]
Hoover placed a priority ondisarmament, which he hoped would allow the United States to shift money from the military to domestic needs.[224] Hoover and Secretary of StateHenry L. Stimson focused on extending the 1922Washington Naval Treaty, which sought to prevent a navalarms race.[225] As a result of Hoover's efforts, the United States and other major naval powers signed the 1930London Naval Treaty.[226] The treaty represented the first time that the naval powers had agreed to cap their tonnage ofauxiliary vessels, as previous agreements had only affectedcapital ships.[227]
In 1931, JapaninvadedManchuria, defeating theRepublic of China'sNational Revolutionary Army and establishingManchukuo, a puppet state. The Hoover administration deplored the invasion, but also sought to avoid antagonizing the Japanese, fearing that taking too strong a stand would weaken the moderate forces in the Japanese government and alienate a potential ally against theSoviet Union, which he saw as a much greater threat.[228] In response to the Japanese invasion, Hoover and Secretary of State Stimson outlined theStimson Doctrine, which held that the United States would not recognize territories gained by force.[229]
Thousands of World War I veterans and their families demonstrated and camped out in Washington, DC, during June 1932, calling for immediate payment of bonuses that had been promised by theWorld War Adjusted Compensation Act in 1924; the terms of the act called for payment of the bonuses in 1945. Although offered money byCongress to return home, some members of the "Bonus Army" remained. Washington police attempted to disperse the demonstrators, but they were outnumbered and unsuccessful. Shots were fired by the police in a futile attempt to attain order, and two protesters were killed while many officers were injured. Hoover sent U.S. Army forces led by GeneralDouglas MacArthur to the protests. MacArthur, believing he was fighting aCommunist revolution, chose to clear out the camp with military force. Though Hoover had not ordered MacArthur's clearing out of the protesters, he endorsed it after the fact.[230] The incident proved embarrassing for the Hoover administration and hurt his bid for re-election.[231]
By mid-1931 few observers thought that Hoover had much hope of winning a second term in the midst of the ongoing economic crisis.[232] The Republican expectations were so bleak that Hoover faced no serious opposition for re-nomination at the1932 Republican National Convention. Coolidge and other prominent Republicans all passed on the opportunity to challenge Hoover.[233] Franklin D. Roosevelt won the presidential nomination on the fourth ballot of the1932 Democratic National Convention, defeating the 1928 Democratic nominee, Al Smith. The Democrats attacked Hoover as the cause of the Great Depression, and for being indifferent to the suffering of millions.[234] As Governor of New York, Roosevelt had called on the New York legislature to provide aid for the needy, establishing Roosevelt's reputation for being more favorable toward government interventionism during the economic crisis.[235] The Democratic Party, including Al Smith and other national leaders, coalesced behind Roosevelt, while progressive Republicans like George Norris andRobert La Follette Jr. deserted Hoover.[236] Prohibition was increasingly unpopular and wets offered the argument that states and localities needed the tax money. Hoover proposed a new constitutional amendment that was vague on particulars. Roosevelt's platform promised repeal of the 18th Amendment.[237][238]
1932 electoral vote results
Hoover originally planned to make only one or two major speeches and to leave the rest of the campaigning to proxies, as sitting presidents had traditionally done. However, encouraged by Republican pleas and outraged by Democratic claims, Hoover entered the public fray. In his nine major radio addresses Hoover primarily defended his administration and hisphilosophy of government, urging voters to hold to the "foundations of experience" and reject the notion that government interventionism could save the country from the Depression.[239] Historians contend that his radio speeches were not received well in part due to his monotone, awkward delivery.[115] In his campaign trips around the country, Hoover was faced with perhaps the most hostile crowds ever seen by a sitting president. Besides having his train and motorcades pelted with eggs and rotten fruit, he was often heckled while speaking, and on several occasions, theSecret Service halted attempts to hurt Hoover, including capturing one man nearing Hoover carrying sticks of dynamite, and another already having removed several spikes from the rails in front of the president's train.[240] Hoover's attempts to vindicate his administration fell on deaf ears, as much of the public blamed his administration for the depression.[241] In the electoral vote, Hoover lost 59–472, carrying six states.[242] Hoover won 39.6 percent of the popular vote, a plunge of 18.6 percentage points from his result in the 1928 election.[243]
Hoover departed from Washington in March 1933, bitter at his election loss and continuing unpopularity.[244] As Coolidge, Harding, Wilson, and Taft had all died during the 1920s or early 1930s and Roosevelt died in office, Hoover was the sole living former president from 1933 to 1953. He and his wife lived in Palo Alto until her death in 1944, at which point Hoover began to live permanently at theWaldorf Astoria hotel in New York City.[245] During the 1930s, Hoover increasingly self-identified as aconservative.[246] He closely followed national events after leaving public office, becoming a constant critic of Franklin Roosevelt. In response to continued attacks on his character and presidency, Hoover wrote more than two dozen books, includingThe Challenge to Liberty (1934), which harshly criticized Roosevelt'sNew Deal. Hoover described the New Deal'sNational Recovery Administration andAgricultural Adjustment Administration as "fascistic", and he called the1933 Banking Act a "move to gigantic socialism".[247]
Only 58 when he left office, Hoover held out hope for another term as president throughout the 1930s. At the1936 Republican National Convention, Hoover's speech attacking the New Deal was well received, but the nomination went to Kansas governorAlf Landon.[248] Inthe general election, Hoover delivered numerous well-publicized speeches on behalf of Landon, but Landon was defeated by Roosevelt.[249] Though Hoover was eager to oppose Roosevelt at every turn, SenatorArthur Vandenberg and other Republicans urged the still-unpopular Hoover to remain out of the fray during the debate over Roosevelt's proposedJudiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937. At the1940 Republican National Convention, he again hoped for the presidential nomination, but it went to the internationalistWendell Willkie, who lost to Roosevelt in the general election.[250] Hoover was the last president to seek public office after leaving office until 2022 whenDonald Trump announcedhis successful bid for president in the2024 presidential election.[251]
During a 1938 trip to Europe, Hoover met withAdolf Hitler and stayed atHermann Göring's hunting lodge.[252] He expressed dismay at the persecution of Jews in Germany and believed that Hitler was mad, but did not present a threat to the U.S. Instead, Hoover believed that Roosevelt posed the biggest threat to peace, holding that Roosevelt's policies provoked Japan and discouraged France and the United Kingdom from reaching an "accommodation" with Germany.[253] After the September 1939invasion of Poland by Germany, Hoover opposed U.S. involvement inWorld War II, including theLend-Lease policy.[254] He was active in the isolationistAmerica First Committee.[255] He rejected Roosevelt's offers to help coordinate relief in Europe,[256] but, with the help of old friends from the CRB, helped establish theCommission for Polish Relief.[257] After the beginning of theoccupation of Belgium in 1940, Hoover provided aid for Belgian civilians, though this aid was described as unnecessary by German broadcasts.[258][259]
In December 1939, sympathetic Americans led by Hoover formed theFinnish Relief Fund to donate money to aid Finnish civilians and refugees after theSoviet Union had started theWinter War by attacking Finland, which had outraged Americans.[260] By the end of January, it had already sent more than two million dollars to the Finns.[261]
During a radio broadcast on June 29, 1941, one week after theNazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Hoover disparaged any "tacit alliance" between the U.S. and the USSR, stating, "if we join the war and Stalin wins, we have aided him to impose more communism on Europe and the world... War alongside Stalin to impose freedom is more than a travesty. It is a tragedy."[262] Much to his frustration, Hoover was not called upon to serve after theUnited States entered World War II due to his differences with Roosevelt and his continuing unpopularity.[245] He did not pursue the presidential nomination at the1944 Republican National Convention, and, at the request of Republican nomineeThomas E. Dewey, refrained from campaigning during the general election.[263] In 1945, Hoover advised PresidentHarry S. Truman to drop the United States' demand for theunconditional surrender of Japan because of the high projected casualties of theplanned invasion of Japan, although Hoover was unaware of theManhattan Project and theatomic bomb.[264]
In 1943, Hoover expressed his support forZionism.[265]
Hoover with his sonAllan (left) and his grandson Andrew (above), 1950
Following World War II, Hoover befriended President Truman despite their ideological differences.[266] Because of Hoover's experience with Germany at the end of World War I, in 1946 Truman selected the former president to tourAllied-occupied Germany andRome, Italy to ascertain the food needs of the occupied nations. After touring Germany, Hoover produceda number of reports critical of U.S. occupation policy.[267] He stated in one report that "there is the illusion that the New Germany left after theannexations can be reduced to a 'pastoral state.' It cannot be done unless we exterminate or move 25,000,000 people out of it."[268] On Hoover's initiative, a school meals program in theAmerican and British occupation zones of Germany was begun on April 14, 1947; the program served 3,500,000 children.[269]
Even more important, in 1947 Truman appointed Hoover to lead theCommission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government a new high level study. Truman accepted some of the recommendations of the "Hoover Commission" for eliminating waste, fraud, and inefficiency, consolidating agencies, and strengthening White House control of policy.[271][272] Though Hoover had opposed Roosevelt's concentration of power in the 1930s, he believed that a stronger presidency was required with the advent of theAtomic Age.[273] During the1948 presidential election, Hoover supported Republican nomineeThomas E. Dewey's unsuccessful campaign against Truman, but he remained on good terms with Truman.[274] Hoover favored the United Nations in principle, but he opposed granting membership to theSoviet Union and otherCommunist states. He viewed the Soviet Union to be as morally repugnant as Nazi Germany and supported the efforts ofRichard Nixon and others to expose Communists in the United States.[275]
In 1949, Dewey, as governor of New York, offered Hoover the Senate seat vacated byRobert F. Wagner. It was a matter of being senator for only two months and he declined.[276]
Hoover backed conservative leaderRobert A. Taft at the1952 Republican National Convention, but the party's presidential nomination instead went toDwight D. Eisenhower, who went on to win the1952 election.[277] Though Eisenhower appointed Hoover to another presidential commission, Hoover disliked Eisenhower, faulting the latter's failure to roll back the New Deal.[273] Hoover's public work helped to rehabilitate his reputation, as did his use of self-deprecating humor; he occasionally remarked that "I am the only person of distinction who's ever had a depression named after him."[278] In 1958, Congress passed theFormer Presidents Act, offering a $25,000 yearly pension (equivalent to $272,463 in 2024) to each former president.[279] Hoover took the pension even though he did not need the money, possibly to avoid embarrassing Truman, whose allegedly precarious financial status played a role in the law's enactment.[280] In the early 1960s, PresidentJohn F. Kennedy offered Hoover various positions; Hoover declined the offers but defended the Kennedy administration after theBay of Pigs Invasion,Cuban Missile Crisis and was personally distraught byKennedy's assassination in 1963.[281]
Hoover wrote several books during his retirement, includingThe Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson, in which he strongly defended Wilson's actions at the Paris Peace Conference.[282] In 1944, he began working onFreedom Betrayed, which he often referred to as his "magnum opus". InFreedom Betrayed, Hoover strongly critiquesRoosevelt's foreign policy, especially Roosevelt's decision to recognize the Soviet Union in order to provide aid to that country during World War II.[283] The book was published in 2012 after being edited by historianGeorge H. Nash.[284]
Hoover faced three major illnesses during the last two years of his life, including an August 1962 operation in which a growth on hislarge intestine was removed.[285][286] He died in New York City on October 20, 1964, following massiveinternal bleeding.[287][288][289] Though Hoover's last spoken words are unknown, his last-known written words were a get-well message to his friend former President Harry S. Truman, six days before his death, after he heard that Truman had sustained injuries from slipping in a bathroom:[290]
"Bathtubs are a menace to ex-presidents for as you may recall a bathtub rose up andfractured my vertebrae when I was inVenezuela on your world famine mission in 1946. My warmest sympathy and best wishes for your recovery."
Two months earlier on August 10, Hoover reached the age of 90,[291][292] only the second U.S. president (afterJohn Adams) to do so. When asked how he felt on reaching the milestone, Hoover replied, "Too old."[286] At the time of his death, Hoover had been out of office for over 31 years (11,553 days all together). This was the longest retirement in presidential history, surpassing Adams' 25 years, untilJimmy Carter broke that record in September 2012.[293]
Hoover was honored with astate funeral in which helay in state in theUnited States Capitol rotunda.[294] President Johnson and First LadyLady Bird Johnson attended, but former presidents Truman and Eisenhower were both too ill to attend. Then, on October 25, he was buried in West Branch, Iowa, near hispresidential library and birthplace on the grounds of theHerbert Hoover National Historic Site. Afterwards, Hoover's wife, Lou Henry Hoover, who had been buried in Palo Alto, California, following her death in 1944, was re-interred beside him.[295] Hoover was the last surviving member of the Harding and Coolidge cabinets.John Nance Garner (the speaker of the House during the second half of Hoover's term) was the only person in Hoover'sUnited States presidential line of succession he did not outlive.
Hoover was extremely unpopular when he left office after the 1932 election, and his historical reputation would not begin to recover until the 1970s. According to Professor David E. Hamilton, historians have credited Hoover for his genuine belief in voluntarism and cooperation, as well as the innovation of some of his programs. However, Hamilton also notes that Hoover was politically inept and failed to recognize the severity of the Great Depression.[296]Nicholas Lemann writes that Hoover has been remembered "as the man who was too rigidly conservative to react adeptly to the Depression, as the hapless foil to the great Franklin Roosevelt, and as the politician who managed to turn a Republican country into a Democratic one".[3] Polls of historians and political scientists have generallyranked Hoover in the bottom third of presidents. A 2018 poll of theAmerican Political Science Association's Presidents and Executive Politics section ranked Hoover as the 36th best president.[297] A 2017C-SPAN poll of historians also ranked Hoover as the 36th best president.[298]
Although Hoover is generally regarded as having had a failed presidency, he has also received praise for his actions as a humanitarian and public official.[3] BiographerGlen Jeansonne writes that Hoover was "one of the most extraordinary Americans of modern times," adding that Hoover "led a life that was a prototypicalHoratio Alger story, except that Horatio Alger stories stop at the pinnacle of success".[299] BiographerKenneth Whyte writes that, "the question of where Hoover belongs in the American political tradition remains a loaded one to this day. While he clearly played important roles in the development of both the progressive and conservative traditions, neither side will embrace him for fear of contamination with the other."[300]
HistorianRichard Pipes, on his actions leading theAmerican Relief Administration, said of him: "Many statesmen occupy a prominent place in history for having sent millions to their death; Herbert Hoover, maligned for his performance as President, and soon forgotten in Russia, has the rare distinction of having saved millions."[301]
Views of race
Although racist remarks and humor were common at the time, Hoover never indulged in them while president, and deliberate discrimination wasanathema to him. Like many of his peers, Hoover considered white people to be inherently superior to black people, considering the "mixture of bloods disadvantageous". He did think education and work would improve black people's standing, hence his support for theTuskegee Institute.[302] His wifeLou Henry Hoover broke the color bar as first lady by invitingJessie De Priest, wife of the first black congressman elected in several decades, to atraditional tea for the wives of congressmen, as well as later inviting the Tuskegee Institute choir (then under the direction ofWilliam Dawson).[303]
Although he thought of himself as a friend to black people and an advocate for their progress,[304] many of his black contemporaries had a different view.W. E. B. Du Bois described him as an "undemocratic racist who saw blacks as a species of 'sub-men'".[302] Some historians trace the disaffection of African-Americans with the Republican party to his time in office especially due to his attempt to remove African-Americans from leadership in the Republican party in the South.[302]
Hoover's time in China shaped his views of Asian people and Asian-Americans. He erroneously wrote that "no world-startling mechanical invention" had come from China, claiming this was due to Chinese people not possessing the same mechanical instincts as Europeans.[302] This may have influenced his decision to reduce immigration through restrictions on visas.[305]
Hoover has been memorialized in the names of several things, including theHoover Dam on theColorado River and numerous elementary,middle, andhigh schools across the United States. Two minor planets,932 Hooveria[306] and1363 Herberta, are named in his honor.[307] The Polish capital ofWarsaw has a square named after Hoover,[308] and the historic townsite ofGwalia, Western Australia contains the Hoover House Bed and Breakfast, where Hoover resided while managing and visiting the mine during the first decade of the twentieth century.[309] Amedicine ball game known asHooverball is named for Hoover; it was invented by White House physician AdmiralJoel T. Boone to help Hoover keep fit while serving as president.[310]
Hoover Presidential Library located in West Branch, Iowa
^Hoover later became the first president born west of theMississippi River, and remains the only president born in Iowa.[4]
^Hoover later claimed to be the first student at Stanford, by virtue of having been the first person in the first class to sleep in the dormitory.[21]
References
Citations
^Levinson, Martin H. (2011). "Indexing and Dating America's 'Worst' Presidents".ETC: A Review of General Semantics.68 (2):147–155.ISSN0014-164X.JSTOR42579110.
^Lockley, Fred (1928). "W. Foster Hidden (William Foster Hidden (1871–1963))".History of the Columbia River Valley from the Dalles to the Sea.S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 498. RetrievedSeptember 15, 2024 – viaGoogle Books.In 1891 he was among the first high school pupils to receive diplomas in Vancouver and next matriculated in Leland Stanford University, becoming a member of the class of 1895, with which Herbert Hoover was also identified. While a sophomore in that institution he helped to establish the Romero Hall Boarding Club, of which Mr. Hoover also became a member.
^"What did the President do in Western Australia?",FAQ, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, archived fromthe original on January 18, 2012, retrievedJanuary 18, 2012
^George H. Nash, "The "Great Humanitarian": Herbert Hoover, the Relief of Belgium, and the Reconstruction of Europe after War I."The Tocqueville Review 38.2 (2017): 55–70.
^Joseph Brandes,Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy: Department of Commerce Policy, 1921–1928 (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1970) pp 83–74.online.
^abLepore, Jill (2018). "A Constitution of the Air".These Truths (1st ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. pp. 427–428.ISBN9780393635249.LCCN2018019180.
^Barnouw, Erik (1966),A Tower In Babel; A history of Broadcasting in the United States to 1933, New York: Oxford University Press
^"Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of 91st Congress, First Session. Volume 115, Part 4".Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of 91st Congress.
^Green, Edith (March 7, 1962)."Program Practices of Television Networks".Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 87th Congress, Second Session.108 (part 3 (Pages 2851 to 4340)). United States Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office:3558.Interestingly, ... an American ... recognized the problem that arose with general dissemination, as opposed topoint-to-point transmission, of messages by wireless. ... The American was Herbert Hoover.
^Peter D. Norton,Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City (MIT Press, 2008), pp. 178–197ISBN0-262-14100-0
^George H. Nash, "The Great Enigma and the Great Engineer", in John E. Haynes, ed.,Calvin Coolidge and the Coolidge Era, (1998) pp 149–80.
^Phillips Payson O'Brien, "Herbert Hoover, Anglo–American Relations and Republican Party Politics in the 1920s."Diplomacy & Statecraft 22.2 (2011): 200–218.
^Current, Richard N. (1954). "The Stimson Doctrine and the Hoover Doctrine".The American Historical Review.59 (3):513–542.doi:10.2307/1844715.JSTOR1844715.
^Short, Brant (1991). "The Rhetoric of the Post-Presidency: Herbert Hoover's Campaign against the New Deal, 1934–1936".Presidential Studies Quarterly.21 (2):333–350.JSTOR27550722.
^Katznelson, Ira (2013).Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of our Time. New York, NY: Liveright Publishing Corporation.ISBN978-0-87140-450-3.OCLC783163618.
^Cohen, Jared (April 9, 2019).Accidental presidents : eight men who changed America (First hardcover ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 313.ISBN978-1-5011-0982-9.OCLC1039375326.
^Shephard, Roy J. (2014).An Illustrated History of Health and Fitness, from Pre-History to our Post-Modern World. New York City:Axel Springer SE. p. 782.
^Christopher D. McKenna, "Agents of adhocracy: management consultants and the reorganization of the executive branch, 1947–1949."Business and Economic History (1996): 101–111.
^Herbert Hoover,The Crusade Years, 1933–1955: Herbert Hoover's Lost Memoir of the New Deal Era and Its Aftermath, edited by George H. Nash, (Hoover Institution Press, 2013) p 13.
^Yerxa, Donald A (September 2012), "Freedom Betrayed: An interview with George H. Nash about Herbert Hoover's Magnum Opus",Historically Speaking,XIII (4)
Carcasson, Martin (Spring 1998). "Herbert Hoover and the Presidential Campaign of 1932: The Failure of Apologia".Presidential Studies Quarterly.28 (2):349–365.JSTOR27551864.
Hart, David M. (1998), "Herbert Hoover's Last Laugh: the Enduring Significance of the 'Associative State' in the United States",Journal of Policy History,10 (4):419–444,doi:10.1017/S0898030600007156,S2CID154120555
Hoffman, Abraham (May 1973). "Stimulus to Repatriation: The 1931 Federal Deportation Drive and the Los Angeles Mexican Community".Pacific Historical Review.42 (2):205–219.doi:10.2307/3638467.JSTOR3638467.
Polsky, Andrew J., and Olesya Tkacheva. "Legacies Versus Politics: Herbert Hoover, Partisan Conflict, and the Symbolic Appeal of Associationalism in the 1920s."International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 16.2 (2002): 207–235.online
Short, Brant. "The Rhetoric of the Post-Presidency: Herbert Hoover's Campaign against the New Deal, 1934–1936"Presidential Studies Quarterly (1991) 21#2 pp. 333–350online
Sibley, Katherine A.S., ed.A Companion to Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover (2014); 616pp; essays by scholars stressing historiography
Wueschner, Silvano A.Charting Twentieth-Century Monetary Policy: Herbert Hoover and Benjamin Strong, 1917–1927. Greenwood, 1999
Primary sources
Myers, William Starr; Walter H. Newton, eds. (1936).The Hoover Administration; a documented narrative.
Hawley, Ellis, ed. (1974–1977).Herbert Hoover: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, 4 vols.
Hoover, Herbert Clark (1934),The Challenge to Liberty.
—— (1938),Addresses Upon The American Road, 1933–1938.
—— (1941),Addresses Upon The American Road, 1940–41.
——; and Gibson, Hugh (1942),The Problems of Lasting Peace.
—— (1949),Addresses Upon The American Road, 1945–48.
—— (1952a),Years of adventure, 1874–1920, Memoirs, vol. 1, New York: Macmillan.
—— (1952b),The Cabinet and the Presidency, 1920–1933, Memoirs, vol. 2, New York: Macmillan.
—— (1952c),The Great Depression, 1929–1941, Memoirs, vol. 3, New York: Macmillan.
Miller, Dwight M.; Walch, Timothy, eds. (1998),Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Documentary History, Contributions in American History, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,ISBN978-0-313-30608-2
Hoover, Herbert Clark (2011),Nash, George H. (ed.),Freedom Betrayed: Herbert Hoover's Secret History of the Second World War and Its Aftermath, Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press,ISBN978-0-8179-1234-5.
Hoover, Herbert Clark (2013),Nash, George H. (ed.),The Crusade Years, 1933–1955: Herbert Hoover's Lost Memoir of the New Deal Era and Its Aftermath, Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press,ISBN978-0-8179-1674-9.
.jpg)
.jpg)
