The Role of Herbert
Hoover
Catrina Espinosa
Early Life
•  Born on August 10th 1874 in West Branch IA (first president born west of Mississippi)
•  Herbert was then one of 3 children
•  When he was 6 his father died and only 3 years later his mother
passed as well. This sent all the children to different family
members and Herbert got sent to an aunt and uncle in Oregon.
•  Due to the beliefs of the relatives he studied Quaker throughout
the school years. Although through these years he was failing in
everything except math
College
•  He was barely accepted into the first class of Stanford University
in 1891
•  To show his motivation to wanting to stay and help with his poor
grades he did extracurricular such as managing the baseball and
football teams and managing the treasury
•  On top of this all he worked to pay for his tuition as a clerk at the
registration office, he even started a laundry service
•  All the hard work paid off and he got his engineering degree
Early Adult Life
•  After studying with geologist for summers Herbert wanted a job as
a surveyor at mines but couldn’t find work so he settled as a mine
laborer
•  After working as a miner he finally got an office job in San
Francisco. Here he could inspect mines all over the world.
•  Hoover moved to Australia in 1897 then to China in 1899 as a
mining engineer, only to come back in 1902.
•  After this incredible opportunity Hoover opened his own mining
company in 1908, which eventually made him millions.
Home Life
•  Lou Henry met Herbert Hoover at Stanford where she was the only
female geology major
•  Staying with him through everything Herbert proposed by a cable
while he was in Australia
•  After the wedding Lou stayed by his side and they went to China
together during the Boxer Rebellion where both Lou and Herbert
helped
Humanitarian
Rise to Presidency
•  Identified with the progressive wing of the Republican party
•  1917 Woodrow Wilson asked him to run the U. S. Food
Admin (which he succeeded at).
•  After becoming a household name Hoover was appointed head the
European Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, again
succeeding at this
•  Ran for President in 1920 but was taken off of Republican ticket
Secretary of Commerce
•  Although he didn’t get to run for President, Hoover was appointed
Secretary of Commerce
•  Fortified the research of actions to stop the harmful acts of
businesses
•  Brought new technology to more than 100 companies
•  Belligerently pursued international trade to help the American
economy
Laissez-faire
lais·sez-faire
ˌlesā ˈfer/
noun
a policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfering.
synonyms:
noninterventionist, noninterventional, noninterfering; More
ECONOMICS
abstention by governments from interfering in the workings of the free market.
"laissez-faire capitalism"
synonyms:
free enterprise, free trade, nonintervention, free-market
capitalism, market forces
"an agenda that embraces the concept of laissez-faire"
Laissez-faire cont.
•  Hoover was against this type of just letting the economy takes its
own course, he believed in a more structured economy
•  1922 he published a book on the Western intellect, studying
Communism, Capitalism, Individualism, Autocracy, and Socialism
•  Laissez-Faire to right and Communism to left he thought that
individualism was the best route
Presidency
•  Although many people supported him after his humanitarian
efforts and helping after the Mississippi disaster, his party regulars
were more forced to stand behind him
•  Running against a Catholic prohibitionist helped his cause
•  Hoover swept the election with 40 states under his belt and
became the 31st president
During Presidency
•  During his presidency the economic crash happened
•  To deal with this he took a business approach to help
•  He thought that it was going to be a short recession and that he
should just let things work out for themselves
•  Employers kept wages up but thought it was better to work with
less people due to the deterioration of consumption levels
•  He followed the theory of progressivism through this period
•  Tried to get the business people confident in the economy again
and he felt they would help to bring the economy back
Loss of Popularity
•  All of these combined eventually led to the loss of people liking
him
•  The market kept declining and so did his admiration, his
stubbornness on his business side assured this
•  The end of his term was a relief to many of the suffering
Americans
During Presidency cont.
•  Herbert Hoover would not follow the demands of the people and
give into inflation
•  He mostly did this, being a business man first, thinking that
business people wouldn’t invest anymore because no gold standard
•  Supported the protection of tariffs to help Americans from
foreigners
•  Although none of his ideas worked he still refused, all the way to
the end of his presidency, to give federal relief. He believed it
should be given by private sectors.