Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover (b. on August 10, 1874, in West Branch, Iowa) was the 31st president of the United States. He served from 1929 to 1933. Hoover was a member of the Republican Party. His vice president was Charles Curtis.
Hoover was president during the beginning of the Great Depression, which began with a stock market crash in October 1929.[1] He lost his re-election bid to Democratic nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932.
Prior to serving as president, Hoover worked as a mining engineer and businessman. He served as the director of the United States Food Administration during World War I and he led the American Relief Administration and oversaw the food deliveries in Europe and Soviet Russia after the war. Hoover later became the secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Warren Harding (R) and President Calvin Coolidge (R).[2]
Following his presidency, Hoover wrote books, criticized Roosevelt's New Deal policies, assisted Democratic President Harry Truman's international aid program after World War II, and chaired commissions for Truman and President Dwight Eisenhower (R) to reorganize the executive branch of the federal government in 1947 and 1953, respectively. He was 90 when he died on October 20, 1964.[1]
Biography
Herbert Hoover was born in West Branch, Iowa. His father, Jessie, was a blacksmith and a Quaker who died from a heart attack when Herbert was six years old. His mother, Huldah, died from pneumonia when he was nine years old, which orphaned him and his siblings, Theodore and Mary. Herbert Hoover would eventually move to Oregon to live with his uncle on his mother's side, John Minthorn.[3]
Hoover earned an undergraduate degree from Leland Stanford Junior University (also known as Stanford University) as part of its first graduating class in 1895. Hoover was married to Lou Henry Hoover, who he met at the university, from 1899 until her death in 1944. Together they had two sons: Herbert Jr. and Allan.[2]
Elections
1932 presidential election
In 1932, Hoover lost to Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Democrat) in the general election for the United States presidency.
| U.S. presidential election, 1932 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic |  Franklin Delano Roosevelt/John Nance Garner |
57.4% | 22,821,857 | 472 | |
| Republican | Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis Incumbent | 39.7% | 15,761,841 | 59 | |
| Socialist | Norman Thomas/James H. Maurer | 2.2% | 884,781 | 0 | |
| Communist | William Z. Foster/James W. Ford | 0.3% | 102,991 | 0 | |
| Prohibition | William D. Upshaw/Frank S. Regan | 0.2% | 81,869 | 0 | |
| Liberty | William H. Harvey/Frank Hemenway | 0.1% | 53,425 | 0 | |
| Socialist Labor | Verne L. Reynolds/John W. Aiken | 0.1% | 33,276 | 0 | |
| Total Votes | 39,740,040 | 531 | |||
| Election results via: 1932 official election results | |||||
1928 presidential election
In 1928, Hoover defeated Al Smith (Democrat), Norman Thomas (Socialist), William Z. Foster (Communist), Verne L. Reynolds (Socialist Labor), and William F. Varney (Prohibition) in the general election for the United States presidency.
| U.S. presidential election, 1928 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis |
58.2% | 21,392,190 | 444 | |
| Democratic | Al Smith/Joseph Taylor Robinson | 40.8% | 15,016,443 | 87 | |
| Socialist | Norman Thomas/James H. Maurer | 0.7% | 267,420 | 0 | |
| Communist | William Z. Foster/Benjamin Gitlow | 0.1% | 48,770 | 0 | |
| Socialist Labor | Verne L. Reynolds/Jeremiah D. Crowley | 0.1% | 21,603 | 0 | |
| Prohibition | William F. Varney/James Edgerton | 0.1% | 20,106 | 0 | |
| Total Votes | 36,766,532 | 531 | |||
| Election results via: 1928 official election results | |||||
State of the Union addresses
Every year in office, the president of the United States addresses Congress on the present state of affairs as well as the administration's goals for the coming year.[4] Following are pages with information on Hoover's State of the Union addresses.
See also
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Calvin Coolidge
- Iowa
- California
- Federal judges nominated by Herbert Hoover
External links
- Presidential Library and Museum website
- Official White House biography
- C-Span video on the Hoover presidency
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 White House, "Herbert Hoover," accessed May 26, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, "President Herbert Hoover," accessed May 26, 2018
- ↑ Miller Center, "Herbert Hoover: Life Before The Presidency," accessed May 26, 2018
- ↑ Congressional Research Service, "The President’s State of the Union Address: Tradition, Function, and Policy Implications," January 24, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Calvin Coolidge (R) |
President of the United States 1929-1933 |
Succeeded by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D) |
| |||||||
