Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover | |
---|---|
31st President of the United States | |
Term of office March 4, 1929 - March 4, 1933 | |
Political party | Republican |
Vice President | Charles Curtis |
Preceded by | Calvin Coolidge |
Succeeded by | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
Born | August 10, 1874 West Branch, Iowa |
Died | October 20, 1964 New York, New York |
Spouse | Lou Henry Hoover |
Religion | Quaker |
Herbert Hoover was the 31st President of the United States of America following Calvin Coolidge and preceding Franklin Roosevelt and was the United States Secretary of Commerce under President Calvin Coolidge, his predecessor.
Contents
Early Life
Hoover was born in a small cottage in Iowa in 1874, and attended Stanford University, [1]. After graduating with a degree in geology, he pursued a career in engineering. In 1900, this led him to China, where he became caught in the midst of the Boxer Rebellion [2].
Food Controller
Hoover was requested, by the neutral country of Belgium, to arrange its food supply through World War I. Hoover accepted the challenge. He was so successful in this position that Wilson asked him to serve as his food administrator. He served in that position successfully until the end of the war. He was among those considered for the Democratic nomination. However, he shut off all hopes by announcing he was a Republican.
Election to Presidency
Calvin Coolidge decided against running for reelection in 1928. As a member of his Cabinet, Hoover was nominated to the Republican ticket. He was able to use the popularity of the Coolidge Administration to win in the 1928 Presidential Election.
He held office from 1929 to 1933 during the Great Depression. Hoover's success in fighting the economic disaster that was upon the US was not evident during his presidency, and that cost him his popularity as well as re-election in the 1932 Presidential Election. Unemployment was near 25% by 1932. [3]
Hoover's popularity takes a hit
Many people lost their jobs during the Great Depression and were forced to move into "shantytowns" that became known as "Hoovervilles", a mocking tribute to the President whom they blamed for their financial woes. [4] (This link contains pictures of several "Hoovervilles".) Hoover's popularity took a further hit when a group of veterans from World War I known as the Bonus Army marched on Washington, D.C. to demand their cash bonuses that they were to receive in 1945 for their military service. [5] Hoover deployed the Army to drive out these marchers, of whom there were up to 10,000, which was a further public relations nightmare. Hoover lost the United States presidential election of 1932 election by a landslide to Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, winning only 59 electoral votes. [6]
Miscellaneous
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is located in West Branch, Iowa. [7]
Hoover's wife, Lou Henry Hoover, served as the president of the Girl Scouts. [8]
References
- ↑ http://www.hooverassociation.org/hooverfesthistory.html
- ↑ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/hh31.html
- ↑ http://www.marist.edu/summerscholars/96/ovpe.htm
- ↑ http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/depwwii/depress/hoovers.html
- ↑ http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/bonusarmy.htm
- ↑ http://www.statemaster.com/graph/pre_1932_ele_vot_for_her_hoo-1932-electoral-votes-herbert-hoover
- ↑ http://hoover.archives.gov/
- ↑ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/lh31.html
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