2 Video Views·Mar 12, 2025 #president #history #prageru Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of the United States, succeeded at almost everything he did. Yet he is best remembered for one failure: the Great Depression. Is that legacy justified? Historian Kenneth Whyte examines the evidence.
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Script:
Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of the United States, succeeded at almost everything he did.
And not just succeeded. He succeeded in spectacular fashion — as a mining executive in Australia and China, as a humanitarian in Europe, and as a politician in the United States.
But he is best known to history for his role in one failure — the Great Depression, a decade-long economic collapse that impoverished millions in America and across the world.
He didn’t cause it. And he made superhuman efforts to reverse it. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop it.
If a single individual could have, it might have been this remarkable man.
Born in Iowa in 1874, he was orphaned at the age of nine. His father, a blacksmith, died when Hoover was just six; his mother a Quaker preacher, three years later. Unhappy, sullen, and painfully shy as a teenager, he came into his own at Stanford University, then tuition-free. Hoover was in the university’s very first graduating class, his field of study being geology.
On graduation, he talked himself into a job with a prominent English mining company. They sent him to the Australian outback. Conditions were so harsh, and disease so rampant, it was almost a suicide mission. But young Hoover was not deterred. He reorganized the company’s mines, made them much more profitable, and scouted for new ones. A gold mine he acquired, largely on his own initiative, turned out to be one of the richest in the world.
He was on track to become fabulously wealthy when World War I broke out and he abruptly abandoned his business career.
In a matter of months, he transformed himself into an internationally recognized humanitarian. Almost single-handedly, he arranged to feed eight-million Belgians threatened with starvation when the war cut off their food supplies.
In 1919, with the guns finally silenced, Hoover was charged by President Woodrow Wilson to lead the rebuild of Europe’s devastated economy. He tackled the job with usual ferocious energy and saved tens of millions more from starvation. The New York Times described him as “the nearest approach to a dictator Europe has had since Napoleon.” They meant it as a compliment.
In 1921 the newly elected Republican President, Warren Harding, tapped Hoover to be Secretary of Commerce. He stayed on when Calvin Coolidge took over following Harding’s sudden death in 1923. During his tenure, Hoover laid the groundwork for America’s commercial aviation industry. He also organized the building of the Colorado River dam that now bears his name and made possible the rapid economic development of the American southwest. And when disastrous flooding struck the Mississippi River Valley in 1927, it was Hoover who managed the massive and successful relief effort.
By the time he won the Republican presidential nomination in 1928, he was hailed as a man “whose wisdom encompassed all branches, whose judgment was never at fault, who knew the answers to all questions, and who could see in the dark.” His election was never in doubt. He won easily.
Yet just six months after Hoover’s inauguration, in the autumn of 1929, the stock market crashed. Slowly and inexorably, the United States followed the rest of the world into the Great Depression. However qualified he was for the presidency, Hoover was no match for the worst economic collapse in modern history, an international phenomenon rooted in the still-unresolved upheavals of the First World War, and far beyond the capacities of any one leader to solve.
His political opponents would later claim that he sat on his hands through his four years in office. Hoover, in fact, fought the Depression with vigor and imagination. He expanded the federal government’s toolkit for managing the economy and made far more progress in limiting the Depression’s damage than is generally recognized.
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Herbert Hoover the 31st president of the
United States succeeded at almost
everything he did and not just succeeded
he succeeded in spectacular fashion as a
mining executive in Australia and China
as a humanitarian in Europe and as a
politician in the United States but he's
best known to history for his role in
one failure the Great Depression a
decade-long economic collapse that
impoverished millions in America and
across the world he didn't cause it and
he made superhuman efforts to reverse it
but no matter how hard he tried he
couldn't stop it if a single individual
could have it might have been this
remarkable man born in rural Iowa in
1874 Hoover was orphaned at the age of
nine his father a blacksmith died when
Hoover was just six his mother a Quaker
preacher three years later unhappy
Sullen and painfully shy as a teenager
he came into his own at Stanford
University then tuition free Hoover was
in his University's very first
graduating class his field of study
being geology on graduation he talked
himself into a job with a prominent
English mining company they sent him to
the Australian Outback conditions were
so harsh and diseases so rampant it was
almost a suicide mission but young
Hoover was not deterred he reorganized
the company's Minds made them much more
profitable and scouted for new ones
a gold mine he acquired largely on his
own initiative turned out to be one of
the richest in the world he was on track
to become fabulously wealthy when World
War one broke out and he abruptly
abandoned his business career in a
matter of months he transformed himself
into an internationally recognized
humanitarian almost single-handedly he
arranged to feed 8 million belgians
threatened with starvation When The War
Cut Off Their Food Supplies in 1919 with
the guns finally silenced Hoover was
charged by President Woodrow Wilson to
lead the rebuild of Europe's devastated
economy he tackled the job with his
usual ferocious energy and saved tens of
millions more from starvation the New
York Times described him as the nearest
approach to a dictator Europe has had
since Napoleon they meant it as a
compliment in 1921 the newly elected
Republican president Warren Harding
tapped Hoover to be Secretary of
Commerce he stayed on when Calvin
Coolidge took over following her
Harding's sudden death in 1923 during
his tenure Hoover laid the groundwork
for America's commercial aviation
industry he also organized the building
of the Colorado River Dam that now Bears
his name and made possible the rapid
expansion of the American southwest and
when disastrous flooding struck the
Mississippi River Valley in 1927 it was
Hoover who managed the massive and
successful relief effort by the time he
won the Republican Presidential
nomination in 1928 he was hailed as a
man whose wisdom encompassed all
branches whose judgment was never at
fault who knew the answers to all
questions and who could see in the dark
his election was never in doubt he won
easily yet just six months after
Hoover's Inauguration in the Autumn of
1929 the stock market crashed slowly and
inexorably the United States followed
the rest of the world into the Great
Depression however qualified he was for
the presidency Hoover was no match for
the worst economic collapse in modern
history an international phenomenon
rooted in the still unresolved upheavals
of the first world war far beyond the
capacities of any one leader to solve
his political opponents would later
claim that he sat on his hands through
his four years in office Hoover in fact
fought the depression with Vigor and
Imagination he expanded the federal
government's toolkit for managing the
economy and made far more progress in
limiting the depression's damage than is
generally recognized but the depression
exposed Hoover's weaknesses as a
political leader all was a Workhorse
often brask and even surely he had
succeeded in politics not because of his
personal reality but in spite of it he
made himself an easy target for Franklin
Roosevelt his Democratic Challenger in
1932 the master of the political Arts
Roosevelt effectively accused Hoover of
not caring about the plight of millions
of unemployed Americans Hoover lacked
the skills to counter Roosevelt's
non-stop attacks the charges stuck but
it was a stance on prohibition that
really did Hoover in Roosevelt strongly
favored repeal Hoover thought it should
remain the law of the land
Roosevelt won in a landslide an
inveterate cigar smoker the man from
Stanford lived on for 30 more years
writing books managing Charities and
overseeing the conservative think tank
that he founded and it still operates
today to despite all he accomplished
Herbert Hoover is best remembered for
his one great failure
we would do his memory in American
history a service if we also remembered
him for his astonishing successes
I'm Kenneth White author of Hoover an
extraordinary life in extraordinary
times for Prager University
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