Herbert Hoover

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Categories: Presidents of the United States | Iowa Republicans

Herbert Hoover
President
Party	Republican
March 4, 1929 — March 4, 1933
Preceded by	Calvin Coolidge
Succeeded by	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Birthdate	January 30, 1882

Biography

Herbert Clark Hoover, the 31st President of the United States, was elected as a Republican and served from 1929 to 1933. He was born in 1874 to a poor family in West Branch, Iowa. He was orphaned at an early age, and was raised by family in Oregon, then graduated from Stanford University. He became known worldwide as a mining engineer and amassed a considerable fortune. In 1912, he backed Teddy Roosevelt's independent bid for President.

Hoover gained political prominence by coordinating humanitarian relief during World War I, and in 1921 he was appointed Secretary of Commerce. He also led relief efforts during the Mississippi River Flood of 1927. During the scandal plagued administrations of Harding and Coolidge, he retained an honest reputation, and his influence spread to every part of the executive branch.

Although the country as a whole was prosperous, the 1920s were a time of slowly growing crisis on America's farms; nevertheless, Hoover used his influence to kill several farm relief bills. After he took office as President, Hoover was forced to respond to the Great Depression, and he began some modest relief programs, but he was philosophically opposed to the kind of mass public works programs that were implemented by his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

He died on October 20, 1964.

External Links

• Hoover Presidential Library

• Memoirs of Herbert Hoover - an autobiography. ISBN 111230360x