31. Herbert Hoover

There are two or three obscure presidents (or as my niece Sydney would call them “Forgotten Presidents”) that I don’t think deserve to be swept under the rug of American history. For various reasons I think that these men in their way did great things for the American people. In chronological order I would list James K. Polk, Rutherford B. Hayes and Herbert Hoover. Not that I’m going to try and convince you that Hoover should be considered a great president. I’m not that creative.

Hoover is one of the most accomplished men to sit in the president’s chair. Born in Iowa in 1874, Hoover was the middle child. Unfortunately, both his parents would die before he was ten years old. Various family members stepped up to take in the three children, but the siblings were split up. At the age of eleven he was sent to live with his uncle in Oregon. Hoover then went on to college at the newly opened Stanford University where he earned a degree in geology. Hired by a British Mining company, Bewick, he traveled first to Australia and then China working in mines. In between those two assignments he traveled back to California to marry his college sweetheart, Louise “Lou” Henry, a fellow geology student.

While they were living in China, the Boxer Rebellion put them under siege for several weeks. Hoover helped guide the marines though the town based on his knowledge. Eventually he made a vast fortune from investments in mining. By some accounts he was the second richest man to hold the high office (Washington is considered wealthier). As early as 1910 (at the age of 34) he was earning over $2.5 million dollars a year.

Hoover and his wife were at their home in London when the First World War broke out. When tens of thousands of Americans found themselves stuck in England they turned to the American consulate in London for help. The American ambassador at a loss turned to Hoover for help. Hoover, using in part his personal fortune, helped find shelter, food and ultimately safe passage home for an estimated 120,000 Americans.

Based in part on this success Hoover was next asked to head up the Committee for the Relief of Belgium. Belgium faced a food crisis after the invasion by Germany. Hoover was asked to organize the obtainment and distribution of food to the Belgians. Working with both the Allies and Germans to insure that the food would get to the civilian population, he was able to distribute over two million tons of food to nine million Belgians.

Hoover was appointed head of the U.S. Food Administration by Wilson once the United States entered the war. In this capacity he called on people to conserve food so that it could be used to support the troops. Through his efforts food consumption in the U.S. dropped fifteen percent and helped avoid mandatory rationing. After the war was over, Hoover created the American Relief Administration to support people in many of the Central European countries. His efforts at feeding the starving people of these countries made him a hero in Europe. There were parades in his honor and at least two squares named after him in Belgium and Poland.

As part of this post WWI aid efforts Hoover also provide support for people in Germany and in Bolshevik-controlled areas of Russia. He faced criticism at home for bringing aid to the enemy. Hoover’s response? "Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!" After the war, Time Magazine named him one of the “Ten Most Important Living Americans”.

As early as 1920, Hoover was being recruited to run for president. However, in 1920 it was the Democrats, and Hoover was still a registered (and committed) Republican. At this point Hoover believed that his public service was completed and he could return to private life. However, Warren Harding convinced Hoover to join his cabinet as Secretary of Commerce. Over the next eight years under Harding and then Coolidge, he brought his mining background to government. He implemented programs to regulate manufacturing standards for common products like nuts, bolts, and automotive tires.

Recalling his experience during and after WWI, Coolidge called on Hoover to help Americans affected by the severe flooding of the Mississippi River in 1927. (This is an important episode in Hoover’s career because it showed the approach that he would use during the Great Depression.) He took charge of the relief efforts and rallied business leaders to lend the resources needed to help. Probably due in part to his Quaker upbringing, he firmly believed that the public needed to join together to overcome such disasters and that it wasn’t the role of government to jump in and provide support. At the time, he stated, “I suppose I could have called in the Army to help, but why should I, when I only had to call upon Main Street.”

When Coolidge announced that he would not seek re-election in 1928, Hoover was the natural choice for the Republican party. His opponent in the 1928 election was Alfred Smith, the governor of New York. Given his popularity, national reputation and the booming economy, Hoover won in a landslide with 58% of the popular vote and 444 electoral votes (out of 531).

The honeymoon did not last long. Within eight months of taking office the stock market crashed in October 1929. The ultimate crash was not within a single day, taking place over several months. There were multiple tallies, but the Dow would eventually lose 89% of its value by July 1932. It would not get back to its pre-crash levels until November 1954.

Hoover encouraged state and local governments to embark on building projects to get people back to work. During this time, work was started on the Hoover Dam, the largest concrete project that had been undertaken to date. The dam was not completed until Hoover was out of office. FDR dedicated the dam as the Boulder Dam, and it was not renamed the Hoover Dam until 1947.

Still not believing that the federal government should play a role, Hoover was slow to embark on major legislation. His reaction, when it came, was to increase taxes on corporations and the top tax rate from 28% to 64% (the largest peace time tax increase). In spite of heavy opposition, Hoover also signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in June 1930 which raised tariffs on 20,000 imported goods to record levels. The effect of this was that other countries followed suit; U.S. imports declined 66% and exports 61%. It is believed that while this was not the sole cause of the 10-year depression, it didn’t help. Before the tariff was passed, unemployment was 7.8%. In 1931 it was 16.3% and by the time Hoover left office unemployment was at 25.1%. Some historians blame the debate and passage in the House in May 1929 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff for the stock market crash in October 1929.

In June 1932, World War I veterans were camping outside of Washington D.C. to urge Congress to pay out promised bonuses earlier. The bonuses were set up based on how many days the person spent in the Army (different amounts depending on overseas service versus stateside service). The deal was that a veteran would be given a certificate on his birthday in 1925, with payment on his birthday in 1945 (for no apparent reason whatsoever). Most of the veterans left Washington empty-handed, but about 2,000 stayed longer. The police attempted to remove the demonstrators and, in the intervening action, shots were fired. Two protestors were killed and several policemen injured.

Hoover sent in the Army under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. Two of his lower ranking officers were Dwight Eisenhower and George Patton. MacArthur, believing that he was fighting a Communist revolution, decided to clear the camp by force. Hoover had specifically sent word that force was not to be used, but MacArthur ignored the order. By the commencement, hundreds of protestors were injured. This was another black mark on Hoover’s record with just a few months before the election. Hoover lost horribly to FDR in 1932.

In his “retirement” years, Hoover remained busy. During World War II, Hoover was called on to head the Polish Relief Commission in a similar fashion to the work he completed during World War I. His work was expanded by President Truman when he was named to head the Famine Relief Commission. In 1947 he headed the Hoover Commission, which was asked to review all aspects of the federal government and make recommendations on improving its functioning. The Hoover Commission made 300 recommendations that were approved by Congress. Eisenhower called on Hoover to head a similar commission in 1953. In total, 71% of the first commission’s recommendations were enacted and 64% of the second commission’s.

Hoover died at the age of 90 in 1964 in New York City. Over time his presidency has been reconsidered and he generally gets higher marks today than in 1932. Many of the things he enacted were precursors to the tools that FDR used during his presidency. In spite of the problem that he had dealing with the Great Depression, Hoover was a remarkable man with many talents and accomplishments.

Trivia:

• Hoover gave his White House servants strict orders to hide from him whenever he passed by. Failure to hide could get someone fired.
• Born in West Branch, Iowa, Hoover was the first president born west of the Mississippi River.
• His first job was picking bugs off potato plants as a child.
• Hoover and Jackson are the only presidents to have been orphaned prior to reaching adulthood.
• Herbert Hoover has the record for longest retirement. He lived 31 years and 230 days after leaving office. Jimmy Carter will pass him on September 7th, 2012.
• Hoover was one of two presidents that were Quakers. (Nixon was the other.)
• There are claims that Hoover was the first student at Stanford University. He was in the first class admitted to Stanford, and claims that he was the first student because he was the first person to sleep in the dormitory.
• Hoover is the most recent cabinet secretary to be elected President of the United States.
• He is one of only two Presidents (along with William Howard Taft) to have been elected without previous electoral experience or high military rank.
• The Belgian city of Leuven named a prominent square Hooverplein in his honor.
• Hoover’s opponent in 1928 was Alfred Smith, the first Roman Catholic to run for president from a major party.
• His vice-president, Charles Curtis is notable for two reasons; he was almost 50% Native American and was born in the territory of Kansas (not the state).
• Hoover was honored with a state funeral, the last of three in a span of 12 months, coming as it did just after the deaths of President John F. Kennedy and General Douglas MacArthur.

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Louise “Lou” Henry (1875-1944, m. 1899)
• Children: Herbert Charles (1903-1969), Alan Henry (1907-1993)
• Party affiliation: Republican Party
• Presidency: 1929-1933
• Born: August 10th, 1874 (West Branch, Iowa)
• Died: October 20th, 1964 (New York, New York)