Herbert Hoover was born into a Quaker family in rural Iowa, but was orphaned by the age
of nine. Determined to go to the newly established Stanford University in California,
Hoover worked hard to improve his mediocre grades. After graduating from
Stanford with a degree in geology, Hoover became a mining engineer and traveled
the world to evaluate prospective mines for potential purchase. He married Lou Henry
who was the only female geology student at Stanford. his wife
quickly mastered eight languages as they traveled. The President and his wife
would often speak Mandarin when they didn't want to be overheard by the White
House staff. By 1914, Hoover was a millionaire, securing his wealth from
high-salaried positions, his ownership of profitable Burmese silver mines,
and royalties from writing a textbook on mining engineering.
World War I thrust Hoover into the international spotlight. In addition to running
the U.S. Food Administration, Hoover organized and administered several private
relief efforts during, and after the war.
He became an important war-time adviser to President Woodrow Wilson even
though he was a Republican. Wilson, in turn, made Hoover part of the American
delegation to the Versailles peace conference that concluded the war.
During the 1920s, Hoover rose quickly in Republican politics, serving with in the
Harding and Coolidge administrations as secretary of commerce. Hoover was the most
prominent Republican in the United States when President Calvin Coolidge announced
in 1927 that he would not seek another term.
Hoover easily won the 1928 Republican nomination for President. His platform
rejected farm subsidies, supported prohibition, pledged lower taxes, and promised
more of the same prosperity Americans had enjoyed during the Coolidge years.
Hoover's opponent in the presidential race would be Democrat Al Smith of New York.
Smith was a distinct underdog. His Catholic religion and his anti-prohibition
position alienated many southern Democrats. Hoover, on the other hand, was an extremely
attractive candidate, the man who would help Americans attain new levels of
prosperity. A 1928 Republican slogan claimed, put "a chicken in every
pot and two cars in every garage." On election day, Hoover won an overwhelming
victory, claiming more than 58 percent of the vote.
Hoover came into the presidency as one of the foremost proponents of public-private
cooperation, termed "volunterism", to maintain a high-growth economy.
Volunterism was not premised on governmental coercion or intervention, which Hoover
feared would destroy precious American ideals like individualism and self-reliance,
but on cooperation among individuals and groups. Hoover did not reject government
regulation, in fact, he supported regulating industries such
as radio broadcasting and aviation that he believed served the public good. But he
preferred a voluntary, non-governmental approach to economic matters,
he reasoned it would better protect what he called the "American character."
The economic crisis that struck the United States in the late 1920s had
both domestic and international cause and effect, the Depression afflicted
almost every sector of the American economy, revealing serious structural
weaknesses that resulted in high unemployment, low economic growth, and financial
instability. The Depression distroyed American's confidence and will.
The Great Depression tested Hoover's approach and proved too difficult to manage.
His voluntarist-inspired persuasion and programs failed
to stimulate the consumption and production needed to jump-start the economy.
Some policies retarded growth and recovery by raising tariffs and stifling
international trade.
Hoover did support some interventionist government programs aimed
at combating the Depression. Though undersized, the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation used federal money in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to stabilize
the nation's banking and financial sector. The RFC was also aimed at corporations
rather than at the growing ranks of the suffering poor, a policy that reflected
Hoover's own beliefs. Fearing that government aid would breed a sense of dependence
among the poor.
Hoover ran for reelection in 1932, wanting to prove that his policies could still
solve the economic crisis. Americans, though, rallied around Democrat
Franklin D. Roosevelt and his "New Deal," with its vague promises of a
"crusade to restore America to its own people." Roosevelt won the contest
handily, ushering in decades of Democratic dominance in presidential elections,
with ever increasing taxes and more government spending.
Hoover's is no longer blamed for causing the Depression.
scholars note that Hoover's efforts to combat its effects were extraordinary
when compared to federal anti-depression measures invoked during previous economic
crises. These efforts flowed logically from the President's unique
brand of social, economic, and political progressivism. Nonetheless,
the nation's economy continued to sink during the Hoover presidency.
