Last Updated: Mar 30th, 2009 - 15:53:55
In 1870, Jesse, now the town blacksmith, married Hulda Minthorn, a teacher from Ontario, Canada. On the occasion of Herbert’s birth, Jesse went through town declaring, "We have another General Grant in our house." Herbert's birth was followed in 1876 by the birth of a sister, Mary (May).
The Hoover children spent their early years growing up in West Branch, Iowa. West Branch provided both joys and hazards of life. The children could hike, explore, and swim as well as hunt for fossils and agate in the glacial gravel along the railroad tracks. Their Quaker upbringing forbade the Hoover boys from carrying a gun, so they learned to hunt for rabbit and prairie chickens with bow and arrow. They learned these skills from young Indian boys who were attending a local government training school. Willow poles, butcher string lines and hooks that cost a penny apiece provided Herbert Hoover with sunfish and catfish. There was also Cook's Hill for sledding on home-made sleds.
Jesse Hoover died at the age of 34, on December 13, 1880. Hulda and the children remained in West Branch, where she earned money working as a seamstress. She also traveled and spoke throughout Iowa about the Quaker faith. A return trip home by foot from a Springdale revival changed a chest cold into pneumonia complicated by typhoid fever.
The children were separated: May went to live with Grandmother Minthorn, Tad went to Hubbard, Iowa and later to Newberg, Oregon with Uncle John Minthorn, and Herbert stayed on a farm outside of West Branch, Iowa for about a year with his Uncle Allen Hoover. In 1885, Herbert went to live with the Minthorn family in Oregon. Uncle Henry John Minthorn was a doctor in the Quaker settlement of Newberg, Oregon. His only son had died, and so the Minthorns asked for Herbert to be sent to them.
Herbert Hoover entered Stanford with what was later known as the "pioneer" class in October, 1891. His classes gave him a good background in geology while his student life centered around business. Hoover set up a laundry and a newspaper route, which brought him income. He also worked for Dr. Branner, who presided over the Department of Geology. Various other jobs and summer employment in Arkansas and California with the United States Geological Survey helped Herbert earn his way through Stanford with no loans.
Hoover was hired as the assistant manager of the Steeple Mine at Carlisle, New Mexico, and later an investigator of hydraulic installations for gravel mines in Colorado. In the fall of 1896 Janin recommended Hoover for a position with the British mining firm of Bewick, Moreing and Company. They were looking for Americans skilled in gold mining practices to work in western Australia.
Charles Moreing thought Herbert Hoover could help with the firm's fortunes in China, and so he offered Herbert a chance to go to China with a better salary. This in turn caused Herbert to consider his personal life, and in 1898 he cabled Lou Henry with a proposal of marriage. Herbert traveled to China by way of the United States. He stopped in Monterey, California, Lou's hometown, long enough for the couple to be wed. On that very afternoon they took the train to meet their steamer which would sail them to China.
At the very time Herbert Hoover went to China, a nationalist reaction to the previous plunder and forced territorial concessions by Europeans threatened to endanger both foreign interests and native development of natural resources. The insurrection known as the Boxer Rebellion broke out. The Hoovers along with hundreds of foreign families were trapped in Tientsin. After the rebellion was put down, Herbert Hoover returned to China to manage his firm's interests there, and managed to turn a losing business into a prospering one. Within a year he was offered a junior partnership in the Bewick Moreing company.
In the election of 1920 the American public elected Warren G. Harding to the Presidency. His campaign emphasized a return to "normalcy", and that's what people wanted. Soon after the election, Mr. Harding told Mr. Hoover that they would like to have him in the cabinet either as Secretary of the Interior or as Secretary of Commerce. Hoover chose the Commerce post because he thought that in that position he could carry out some of the ideas he had for making that department a vital contributor to every aspect of the nation's economic life.
As soon as Calvin Coolidge announced that he did not choose to run for reelection in 1928, Hoover was inundated with letters and telegrams urging him to run for president. On a rainy March day, Herbert Hoover took the oath of office as the 31st President of the United States. He brought to the presidency a wide range of interests, information, and experience. He banked his presidential salary and gave it entirely to charity.
When Hoover became president, there was a frenzy of activity on the stock market. People were buying stocks by borrowing money, or they were buying stocks on margin (buying with only a portion of the money down, and the rest out of profits). This had been going on since the early 1920's and Herbert Hoover knew this gambling in the stock market was dangerous. Hoover tried to stop the speculation, but no one listened. Seven months after Hoover was inaugurated, the stock market crashed. Hoover was blamed for much of what was going wrong, and people were losing confidence in him.
By the summer of 1932, the Depression reached its lowest point. There were 12 million people unemployed and 18 million on relief. 1932 was a Presidential election year. Without much enthusiasm, the Republicans nominated Herbert Hoover again, while the Democrats chose Franklin D. Roosevelt.
During Hoover's Administration, he completed plans to build the Grand Coulee Dam, and to control flooding along the Mississippi. He also signed a treaty with Canada to create the St. Lawrence Waterway. Under his Administration the acreage of national forests and parks increased by 5 million acres. Airmail service had been reorganized, passenger service on airlines had tripled and cost per mile for air travel was cut by 80 percent. He also opened airmail to South America. He had worked out the engineering of the San Francisco Bay Bridge and used RFC funds to build it. He worked for legislation to protect children and he wrote a Children's Charter calling for the protection of the rights of every child regardless of race, color or situation.
He had made reforms in the proceedings of justice and in bankruptcy practice to help small businessmen and homeowners. He reorganized the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover (not related to Herbert Hoover). He designed legislation for extensive reform of criminals. Hoover had made three high caliber appointments to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, and Justices Owen Roberts, and Benjamin Cardozo.
In Foreign affairs he led the United States to greater international cooperation toward world peace, with the Hoover-Stimson Doctrine. This document provided that the U.S. would not recognize territories gained by force. He developed a Good Neighbor policy with Latin America, and withdrew U.S. troops from Nicaragua and Haiti. But these achievements were not dramatic enough for a successful campaign. Roosevelt was a new man with a charming personality, and infectious smile and a golden voice. The American people tired of the Depression and upset with the slowness of the recovery were charmed by the gaiety and confidence of FDR. They elected him President in 1932.
Herbert Hoover spent the next years writing articles and books. On his 88th birthday the Hoover Presidential Library was dedicated in West Branch, Iowa. Herbert Hoover died on October 20, 1964. He had given 50 years of his life to service for humankind.
Source: Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
Learning Links
Herbert Hoover - A Presidential Biography for Kids
This facts-oriented biography is ideal for younger kids.
Source: The White House
Tokens & Treasures - Herbert Hoover
When a president is in office, a number of interesting items make their way to the White House as special gifts from nations around the world. See the unique items that were sent to Washington D.C. during Herbert Hoover's term in office.
Source: NARA
The Medical History of Herbert Hoover
The unusual vantage point on this site allows you to explore Herbert Hoover's health. It appears that he was one of our healthier presidents.
Source: John Sotos, MD.
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
Explore "the small cottage where Hoover was born in 1874, a blacksmith shop similar to the one owned by his father, the first West Branch schoolhouse, and the Friends Meetinghouse where the Hoover family worshipped. Also located on the grounds are the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum, the gravesites of President and Mrs. Hoover."
Source: National Park Service
The Hoover Dam
This amazing feat of engineering was named after Herbert Hoover because he helped to solve problems in the location and engineering of the dam.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior
President Hoover's Views on the Depression
This section gives a thumbnail history of Hoovers views on the social security system.
Source: Social Security Online
The Medical History of Herbert Hoover
The unusual vantage point on this site allows you to explore Herbert Hoover's health. We almost lost this president at the age of two. Read more and find out how....
Source: John Sotos, MD.
Find more information on Herbert Hoover with help from Google.
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