Herbert Hoover
Elected with the mandate to continue the general economic prosperity, Hoover immidiately faced the Great Stock Market Crash, followed by the beginning of the Depression. His policies to cope with these events proved ineffectual.ls. Elected 1928
The Early Years
Herbert Hoover was born in West Branch, Iowa. Hoover almost died at the age of two from croup. When young Hoover was six, his father died. His mother died when he was nine, and from that time on, he lived with various relatives. He ended up living with his uncle, a doctor in Oregon.
Hoover received a basic education in public schools but never graduated high school. He developed an interest in engineering and applied to Stanford in 1891. At 17, he was the youngest member of the freshman class. Upon graduating from Stanford, Hoover decided to be a mining engineer.
From 1896 to 1914, Hoover worked as a mining engineer. He spent various periods of time working in Australia and China. He made a great deal of money in one of the Australian mines and even started his mining consulting firm. By 1914 he was thought to have holdings of $4 million.
During World War I, Hoover gained an international reputation for leading relief work in Europe. In 1919, he founded the Hoover Institute on War, Revolution, and Peace at Stanford.
From 1921 to 1928, Hoover served as the Secretary of Commerce. In an Administration that was noted for its inaction, Hoover was a surprisingly activist Secretary of Treasury. He expanded the Bureau of Standards and increased the data collected by the Census Bureau. He authorized the Bureau of Fisheries to improve the stock of the nation's fisheries. Hoover undertook the regulation of the nation's airwaves and established the Aeronautics Board to encourage the development of commercial aviation. He was a major supporter of the construction of what was later known as the Hoover Dam and supported the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Accomplishments in Office
Hoover, who had been a great American success story until his Presidency, was elected on his promise of continued prosperity for America. Unfortunately, upon arriving in office almost immediately, Hoover was faced with the stock market crash that began the Great Depression. The crash soon resulted in large-scale bank failures, which, in turn, resulted in a business collapse unprecedented in history. Before long, there were 13 million unemployed Americans. Hoover was torn between two conflicting instincts and two opposing sets of advice. On the one hand, his individualist tendencies and his belief in the business system tended to make him opposed to large-scale government relief.
On the other hand, his genuine compassion for those in trouble made him want to do something to relieve the mass poverty. Finally, and to little avail, he picked a middle road that included limited loans and other forms of assistance. The country slid deeper into a depression.
The First Family
Father: Jesse Clarke Hoover
Mother: Huldah Minthorn
Wife: Lou Henry
Sons: Herbert Jr., Alan
Major Events
The Cabinet
Secretary of State: Henry Stimson
Secretaries of Treasury: Andrew Mellon, Ogdon Mills
Secretaries of War: James Good, Patrick Hurley
Attorney General: William Mitchell
Secretary of Navy: Charles Francis Adams
Postmaster General: Walter Brown
Secretary of Interior: Ray Wilbur
Secretary of Agriculture: Arthur Hyde
Secretaries of Commerce: Robert Lamont, Roy Chapin
Secretaries of Labor: James Davis William Doak
Military
None
Did You Know?
First President to be born in Iowa.
Last whose term ended on March 3rd.
First President to have a phone on his desk.
Lived 31 years after his presidency--the longest of any President until Jimmy Carter.