Herbert Hoover

Orphaned before he was nine, Hoover was reared by an uncle in Oregon. He graduated as a mining engineer in Stanford University's first class (1895) and gained broad experience during the next 18 years as administrative engineer on industrial projects on four continents.

Caught in China during the Boxer Rebellion (June 1900), Hoover was active in directing relief work for foreigners. In London at the outbreak of World War I (1914), he was made head of Allied relief operations and later chairman of the Commission for Relief in Belgium. With the U.S. entry into the war (April 1917), Hoover was appointed national food administrator to stimulate production and conserve supplies. In a 12-month period of 1918-19, his food administration furnished 18,500,000 tons of food to the Allies and to famine areas of Europe. His operations spread over 30 European countries and distributed $100,000,000 worth of aid. Later, he headed Mississippi flood-relief activities (1927) and also participated in post-World War II famine-relief work in Europe.

Appointed secretary of commerce in 1921, Hoover undertook the reorganization of the department, in addition to organizing new divisions to cover radiobroadcasting, commercial aviation, better housing, and greater highway safety. His endeavours as chairman of the Colorado River Commission and of the St. Lawrence Waterways Commission culminated in the construction of Hoover Dam and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

When President Calvin Coolidge decided not to run again in 1928, Hoover received his party's presidential nomination, though his independent views alienated many Republican bosses. In the ensuing campaign, he held the traditional Republican vote while attracting many Southerners, who were reluctant to support the Democratic nominee, Alfred E. Smith, who was a Roman Catholic.

Once in office, Hoover's hopes for a "New Day" geared to America's scientific potential were soon overwhelmed, when the stock-market crash in October 1929 propelled the country into the worst depression in its history. In accordance with his deeply felt philosophy of individual freedom, Hoover chose to depend mainly on private charity to ameliorate suffering. Failing to prod the business community into assuming leadership, he finally supplied a degree of federal relief to beleaguered farmers and financial institutions through the Federal Farm Board and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. But he was adamant against federal aid to the unemployed urban masses, feeling such aid would lead to corruption and waste. He vetoed a bill that would have created a federal unemployment agency and he mobilized congressional opposition to another bill for public works and direct aid to the unemployed.

Renominated in 1932, he was overwhelmingly defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Throughout the rest of the 1930s, Hoover opposed every substantive measure for depression relief, particularly attacking "radical influences" in Washington. After World War II, he headed two federal commissions (1947-49 and 1953), one on the elimination of waste and another on inefficiency in government.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Hoover's writings include a small but influential book, American Individualism (1922, reissued 1989), and his Memoirs, 3 vol. (1951-52). Collections of Hoover's documents can be found in William Starr Myers (compiler and ed.), The State Papers and Other Public Writings of Herbert Hoover, 2 vol. (1934, reprinted 1970); and Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Herbert Hoover, 4 vol. (1974-77), covering 1929-33.

Biographies include Eugene Lyons, Herbert Hoover (1964), which presents an uncritical portrait of Hoover; Joan Hoff Wilson, Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive (1975, reissued 1992); David Burner, Herbert Hoover: A Public Life (1979), dealing with Hoover's career as mining engineer and commerce secretary in addition to his presidency; Gary Dean Best, Herbert Hoover: The Postpresidential Years, 1933-1964, 2 vol. (1983), providing a sympathetic examination of Hoover's political life following his presidency; George H. Nash, The Life of Herbert Hoover (1983- ), a detailed multivolume treatment; and Richard Norton Smith, An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover (1984).

Gary Dean Best, The Politics of American Individualism: Herbert Hoover in Transition, 1918-1921 (1975); and Lawrence E. Gelfand (ed.), Herbert Hoover--The Great War and Its Aftermath, 1914-23 (1979), assess Hoover's prepresidential years. His economic policy is discussed in Ellis W. Hawley (ed.), Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce: Studies in New Era Thought and Practice (1981); and William J. Barber, From New Era to New Deal: Herbert Hoover, the Economists, and American Economic Policy, 1921-1933 (1985). Edgar Eugene Robinson and Vaughn Davis Bornet, Herbert Hoover, President of the United States (1975); and Martin L. Fausold, The Presidency of Herbert C. Hoover (1985), examine his administration. Accounts of the Great Depression are presented in Jordan A. Schwarz, The Interregnum of Despair: Hoover, Congress, and the Depression (1970); Gene Smith, The Shattered Dream: Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression (1970, reissued 1984); and Louis W. Liebovich, Bylines in Despair: Herbert Hoover, the Great Depression, and the U.S. News Media (1994), which focuses on Hoover's relationship with the press during this period. Other aspects of Hoover's career are treated in Donald J. Lisio, Hoover, Blacks & Lily-Whites: A Study of Southern Strategies (1985), dealing with race relations; David E. Hamilton, From New Day to New Deal: American Farm Policy from Hoover to Roosevelt, 1928-1933 (1991), on Hoover's agricultural policy; and James D. Calder, The Origins and Development of Federal Crime Control Policy: Herbert Hoover's Initiatives (1993), on his reforms to the criminal justice system.

Useful bibliographies include Kathleen Tracey (compiler), Herbert Hoover--A Bibliography: His Writings and Addresses (1977); Richard D. Burns (compiler), Herbert Hoover: A Bibliography of His Times and Presidency (1991); and Patrick G. O'Brien (compiler), Herbert Hoover (1993).

Essays dealing with the life and interests of the president's wife are presented in Dale C. Mayer (ed.), Lou Henry Hoover: Essays on a Busy Life (1994).