Hrbrt Hoover: Publ Life

Perhaps no other president has ascended to our highest office with such impressive credentials as Herbert Hoover. George HW Bush and Richard Nixon arguably were on a par with Hoover as far as experience before becoming Commander in Chief, but Hoover was incredibly well-thought of. He had served in the cabinet for Woodrow Wilson, and the Harding-Coolidge regime, was an international industrialist, and had collaborated with foreign governments to feed thousands of starving Europeans in Belgium during World War I. Perhaps had he won his parties nomination in 1920, and the presidency that year, we would now consider him a near great president. Had that happened, he would have presided over eight years of prosperity, built a cabinet for such prosperity, and shown his excellent managerial skills in leading this country. Fate was not kind to Hoover. He instead presided over an eroding economy, and his rugged individualism ideology was naive in moving the country through the issues faced in the poverty and despair of The Great Depression. This book traces Hoover's remarkable ascent into the upper echelons of the presidential trust, in advising Wilson, and then presiding over the Roaring 20's boom as Secretary of Commerce. He brought many credible ideas, and showed tremendous mental dexterity and moral rigor in helping steer our economy through one of its greatest decades. He was a wunderkind. It traces his rise in business, and his international success in China and Europe. His Quaker roots guided his conscientiousness, repaying debts in business, long after reasonable people would have written them off. He seemed to be taken by surprise by the financial downturn of the country, and although congress and senate seemed to continue to respect him, he was unable to connect with the general populace, and lost its confidence. He was no match for FDR's charisma, and lost the presidency in a landslide in 1932. Here the book goes sketchy on what might have been the most interesting part of Hoover's journey, his struggles upon leaving the White House. He lived thirty one years after his presidency, longer than any other president to date (Jimmy Carter will soon be knocking on that door, and the parallels between the two are apparent). Hoover was a forgotten and bitter man during the FDR presidency, but Harry Truman put him to work. There is a touching story told by Truman in the Biography by Merle Miller of the Missourian's deference to the former Commander, and Hoover's embarrassed emotion at this gesture. Hoover did some great public service from 1947 until the mid 1950's, and once again was a respected and venerated elder statesman. Hoover was clearly a great man, a brilliant engineer, and an individual of strong character. His story may be told as a Greek tragedy, but here it is not. It is told in a dry, if scholarly fashion. It is a solid chronicle of the man's life and presidency, but some day, perhaps it will be told in the more col