Culture | 20th-century American history

The crazy career of Herbert Hoover

America’s 31st president overcame extraordinary obstacles, but the Great Depression overwhelmed him

Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times. By Kenneth Whyte. Knopf; 752 pages; $35.

FOR his philanthropic efforts during the first world war, Herbert Hoover was described as a “man who began his career in California and will end it in heaven”. In a new biography, Kenneth Whyte lists the many hardships Hoover went through. Generally, he used them to his advantage—to increase his wealth, achieve fame and become America’s 31st president. At least, that is, until the Great Depression, which ruined him politically.

Born in Iowa in 1874, Hoover became determined early in life to earn a fortune for the security and independence it would bring. After graduating as a geologist from Stanford, he managed gold mines on the hot Australian frontier and mines in China during the dying days of the Qing empire. His career brought him the money he craved.

Hoover learned that the best way to thrive in a hellish place is by being a self-described devil. He fudged his age and experience to get his job in Australia. He overworked his employees. During the Boxer rebellion in China he swindled a captive mandarin to gain control of mines there (an action later judicially overturned). Ultimately, though, his own diligence was most important to his success.

Fortunately, Hoover was a devil with a conscience. After securing his wealth, he longed to work for the public good. The first world war gave him the opportunity to lead a great philanthropic mission. Working as a mining financier in London when the war began, Hoover learned of the dire food situation in occupied Belgium. He abandoned his career and, between 1914 and 1917, when America entered the war, he led thousands of volunteers to raise money, buy food and ship it to Belgium and other occupied areas. They sent more than 2.5m tonnes of food in all, feeding over 9m people.

Hoover gathered an intelligent group around him, worked astoundingly hard and expected the same from his staff. He also engaged in a vigorous propaganda campaign to get donations, portraying the relief as a “bottom-up” effort on the part of ordinary people while quietly seeking government support.

Success brought admiration and further opportunities. Hoover was put in charge of America’s food supply after it entered the war, and he oversaw its aid to Europe after the armistice. He served as secretary of commerce under Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge throughout much of the 1920s, using his position to make government more efficient.

In 1927 the flooding of the Mississippi River provided the perfect opportunity for a man with disaster-relief experience. Hoover’s success there provided him with a springboard to the presidency. He won the Republican nomination on the first ballot in 1928. The prosperous mood, attributed to the Republicans, ensured that Hoover easily won that year’s election.

He began his presidency in March 1929 with ambitious plans for reform. The Great Depression, which began seven months later, dashed his hopes. Banks failed, people queued in soup lines and Hoover lost control of events. He became embroiled in disputes with Congress, and balked at using federal funds to solve problems he felt should be left to the states. Blamed for presiding over the crash and failing to deal with its aftermath, he was soundly defeated in the election in 1932.

After losing office, Hoover became a spectator to events. Though he lived until 1964, he would never influence events as he had before his defeat.

Why was it that Hoover, hitherto so talented at overcoming crises, was unable to overcome the Great Depression? Perhaps he had come to believe his own propaganda about ordinary people collectively solving problems without government aid. Or maybe the scale of the problem was too great even for someone of Hoover’s abilities. Mr Whyte does an excellent job of describing the qualities that brought Hoover his early successes—but provides too little guidance as to why, in the end, he failed his severest test.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline "A devil to sup with"

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