Herbert Clark Hoover

Hoover, Herbert Clark (1874–1964), 31st president of the United States, who held office during the onset of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Hoover's measures against the Depression were widely criticized as being too little and too late. He did, however, to a limited degree, try to use the powers of the government to restore prosperity.

Early life

Hoover entered Stanford University in 1891 and received his A.B. in 1895, after specializing in geology and engineering. For the next two decades he traveled throughout the world as a mining engineer and executive. By 1914, when World War I broke out in Europe, he had become a millionaire.

Relief work

Hoover, who was living in London when the war started, helped organize the return of 120,000 Americans then in Europe. He also became active in relief efforts, heading an organization that sent food, clothing, and medical supplies to people in German-occupied Belgium and northern France. Returning home in 1917, he was appointed head of the U.S. Food Administration.

Political career

By 1920, Hoover was an internationally known figure. In 1921, President Harding appointed him as secretary of commerce, and he continued to serve under President Coolidge. In 1928, the Republican party nominated him to run for president. He won the election easily, defeating Democrat Alfred E. Smith by a huge margin.

President

After a good-will tour of Latin America, Hoover took office on March 4,1929. He embarked on a program of economic reform, encouraging Congress to pass laws providing financial support to farmers and higher tariffs. Hoover was optimistic about the nation's economic future; however, in October 1929, barely eight months into his term, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. Stocks dropped some 40% in value overnight. Millions of people became unemployed. Families lost their life savings and thousands of businesses failed.

Hoover hoped to remedy the crisis by restoring business confidence, paring back government expenditures, and balancing the budget. But the Depression continued to worsen.

The president was reluctant to involve the federal government in direct relief measures. He felt that states and localities should initiate public works and relief programs. However, he did ask Congress to create the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), which lent money to banks, railways and other businesses. Eventually, it lent money to the states to help jobless workers. Hoover also supported a number of federal flood control and navigation projects, which helped to create jobs.

In June 1932, an “army” of 15,000 unemployed World War I veterans came to Washington. They were hoping Congress would agree to immediate payment of bonuses due them in 1945. Hoover had the army eject the veterans by force, which had a damaging effect on his reputation.

Although Hoover won the Republican nomination again in 1932, no one expected him to win the election. He was defeated by Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who would eventually lead the nation out of the Depression and through the years of World War II. Hoover lived for more than 30 years after leaving the presidency. After a long illness, he died in his sleep in New York City on Oct. 24, 1964.