Herbert Clark Hoover (b. 1874)

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"Presidential Campaign Address" — August 11, 1932

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Biography

Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and was the director of the U.S. Food Administration, followed by post-war relief of Europe. As a member of the Republican Party, he served as the third United States secretary of commerce from 1921 to 1928 before being elected president in 1928. His presidency was dominated by the Great Depression, and his policies and methods to combat it were seen as inadequate and overly conservative. Amid his unpopularity, he decisively lost reelection to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932.

Timeline

The story of Herbert Clark Hoover, told in moments.

1914 Event

Organized food relief for 10 million Belgians trapped behind German lines during WWI. He was a private citizen. No government authority. He just did it. They called him "the Great Humanitarian."

What drives a private citizen to organize food relief for 10 million people? Did anyone try to stop you?

1928 Event

Elected president in a landslide. He'd never held elected office before. He promised "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage." The stock market crashed eleven months later.

Did you really believe the promise of a chicken in every pot? When did you know the crash was coming?

1932 Event

Ordered the Army to clear the Bonus March veterans' camp from Washington. Troops used tear gas and bayonets on WWI veterans and their families. Douglas MacArthur led the assault. The images destroyed Hoover politically.

Do you regret ordering the Army against the Bonus Marchers? What did that decision cost you?

Artifacts (14)

Sir Caspar Purdon Clarke (1846-1911)

George Burroughs Torrey

1907

vam View

Herbert Hoover

Leo Mielziner

1917 · Charcoal with white pastel on paper mounted on paperboard

Smithsonian View

Herbert Hoover

Edmund Charles Tarbell

1921 · Oil on canvas

Smithsonian View

On Growing Up

A selection of letters from American children written to the former U.S. President, and his replies, with some of Mr. Hoover's own writings about America.

1962

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Georgius Agricola de Re Metallica

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1912 Edition.

2014

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American Individualism

1923

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The New Day: Campaign Speeches, 1928

1928

Speeches Read Talk

The New Day. Campaign Speeches of Herbert Hoover, 1928. (Second Edition.).

1929

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The Great Mistake. (Second Printing.) [An Attack on President Hoover.].

1930

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The State Papers and Other Public Writings of Herbert Hoover

1934

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The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover

1941

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Memoirs

1951

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Principles of Mining: Valuation, Organization & Administration; Copper, Gold, Lead, Silver, Tin & Zinc

1909

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Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. Department of Commerce Policy, 1921-1928, Etc. [With a Portrait.].

1962

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