The future president of the United States, Herbert Hoover, was born on August 10, 1874 in the city of West Branch. His parents were Quakers from provincial Iowa with German roots. The boy's father traded in agricultural machinery and worked as a blacksmith. He died when Herbert was only 6 years old. Mother died 4 years later. Remaining an orphan, the boy moved to his uncle in Oregon. In 1891, young Hoover entered Stanford University on the eve of the opening . By profession, he became a mining engineer, and nothing foreshadowed that this specialist would be involved in politics.
Mining career
In 1895, Herbert Hoover received a bachelor's degree. His professional career has developed extremely exciting. But it all began modestly. First, a Stanford graduate got a job as a janitor at Reward Gold Mine. Then the young specialist interested the British. The English Bewick, Moreing and Company, specializing in gold, hired the 23-year-old Hoover and seconded him to Australia. On the "green continent", an American taught his local colleagues a specific California method of mining precious metal. In Australia, Herbert Hoover gained invaluable experience not only as a geologist, but also as a manager.
Then the specialist received an unexpected offer from the Chinese government. In the Middle Kingdom, mining was in a primitive state. The Chinese wanted to adopt the modern Western experience. That is why the capable and energetic Herbert Hoover was the best candidate for them. The American was “lucky” to be in China at the moment when the infamous Boxer Uprising began there. It was a wave of pogroms in foreign quarters. First of all, peasants opposed the dominance of foreigners. They did not like the missionary activity of Christians.
Once Tianjin, in which the Hoovers lived, fell under shelling. The rebel shells landed in a building located across the street from the home of an American engineer. That day, Herbert Clark Hoover, risking his life, rushed to the ruined house and rescued a Chinese girl. Many years later, in 1928, he, as a candidate for president of the United States, forbade reporters to advertise this story during the election campaign. During the Boxer Uprising, the American not only engaged in his direct duties, but also restored the destroyed railways.
Personal life
The amazing prospect of working in China made Hoover think about his family future. The young man already had a bride who continued to live in California. In 1898, the future Lou Henry Hoover received a telegram from the groom, in which he described the upcoming trip to Asia and invited her to marry. The girl agreed. The couple married by marriage on February 10, 1899 in the city of Monterrey. Following the example of her husband, Lou Henry adopted the Quaker faith. The newlyweds sailed on a ship to China the very next day after the wedding. The wife was always next to Herbert. She died in 1964.
The Hoovers had two children. Herbert was born in 1903, became an engineer and diplomat. Like his father, he graduated from Stanford University. He worked as an engineer in the aircraft industry, as a geophysicist, and in the 50s he was Secretary of State responsible for Middle Eastern communications. The youngest son Allan also became a mining engineer and spent most of his career in California.
Entrepreneur and philanthropist
In 1901, Herbert Hoover left China. He became a co-owner of Bewick, Moreing & Co, a mining company. For a while he returned to Australia. In 1908, Hoover began his career as an independent consultant. A period of cooperation followed with companies around the world. The specialist managed to work in San Francisco, London, New York, St. Petersburg, Paris and even in Burma, where he once caught malaria. The future president of the United States collaborated with the Ural tycoons. In particular, he helped develop the Kyshtym copper deposit, and then managed the mines in the Altai Mountains. Thanks to a successful investment, Herbert Hoover became a wealthy man by 1914. His personal fortune was about $ 4 million.
Hoover's life changed dramatically after the outbreak of World War I. In the summer of 1914 he was in London. The American consul in the UK asked Hoover to help organize the return of US citizens who were in mortal danger in Europe. It was a huge mass of people - about 120 thousand people.
Then, future president Herbert Hoover created a commission to help occupied Belgium. The Germans even agreed to let in humanitarian aid that was delivered to the mainland by sea. At this time, the British fleet kept Germany in a naval blockade. The British also did not oppose the delivery of goods to civilians. The Hoover Commission quickly gained serious influence. She bought food in Australia and America, and her fleet amounted to several dozen ships.
The future 31st president of the United States himself crossed the front line several times and constantly risked his life. His active peacekeeping could not remain without attention. In 1919, the Washington Prize was awarded to Hoover for his many services to humanity and engineering.
Minister of Commerce
Towards the end of the war, Hoover became a famous and prominent figure. In 1918, by decision of President Woodrow Wilson, he led the American Assistance Administration. She did the same: organizing aid for a devastated Europe (most of the cargo was delivered to Poland and Czechoslovakia). And although World War I had already ended then, a new bloody conflict erupted in Russia, where the Civil War began.
In 1919, the Hoover organization began to help the white Northwest Army. The Americans delivered wheat and grain flour, beans, peas, condensed milk, and lard. In 1921, Hoover became US Secretary of Commerce. He was appointed by President Warren Harding, who rightly appreciated the wealth of experience of a skilled organizer.
It is noteworthy that in this post, Hoover played an important role in shaping the American radio industry. At that time, broadcasting using these devices was regulated by the Department of Commerce and personally by Hoover. It was so large that the Federal Court limited the powers of the head of the department. Because of this, for several years, Americans suffered from total chaos in their own radios, when different stations went on the air at the same frequency.
The mess was settled in 1927. Congress adopted the famous Radio Act, according to which a special Federal Commission on Radio was created.
Help for Soviet Russia
In 1921, a terrible famine began in Russia, which hit the Volga most strongly. The reason for this was the Civil War, a tough food surplus policy and complete devastation in the village. Having a considerable influence abroad, the writer Maxim Gorky asked the American government for assistance. Hoover was known for his anti-Bolshevik position, but agreed to support the starving. In August 1921 in Riga, the American Assistance Administration and People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Maxim Litvinov signed an agreement on the supply of humanitarian supplies to Soviet Russia.
Initially, assistance was provided exclusively to children and patients. The Americans organized dining rooms, where only the most needy hungry people could get. They received a special entrance card.
In Petrograd alone, Americans opened 120 canteens, in which more than 42 thousand children ate. The main food flows were directed to the Volga region: Samara, Kazan, Saratov and Simbirsk provinces (in total about 7 thousand kitchens appeared there). A few months after supplies began, Hoover in Washington managed to convince Congressmen to expand funding for the program.
The problem was that at that time, US officials did not recognize the Soviet government. Deliveries to Russia ceased in 1923. During this time, according to the People's Commissariat for Foreign Trade, about 585 thousand tons of food, medicine and clothes were imported.
Presidency
In 1928, Hoover (as a member of the Republican Party of the United States) entered the next presidential race. His main rival was Democrat Alfred Smith. Hoover was able to win thanks to his reputation. Behind him was personal success as a businessman and helping Europe during the war. In addition, the Americans considered the trade secret a merit of the astonishing economic boom of the 1920s.
However, the presence in the main state post of Hoover was marked by the beginning of the Great Depression. The stock market crisis has caused the collapse of the entire economy. Hoover had to cope with the economic storm, which was unparalleled in either the United States or Europe. The anti-crisis policy of the president boiled down to several main points. Firstly, he tried to give additional development to small private business. Secondly, Hoover persuaded entrepreneurs not to reduce their own production. A serious irritant in society was the conflict between trade unions and employers. The president tried to soften this confrontation.
In addition, Hoover proposed a massive public works program that was supposed to solve the problem of rising unemployment. In 1930, Congress approved the plan and allocated $ 750 million for its implementation. But, despite attempts by the state to intervene in the situation, the situation continued to deteriorate. In the summer of 1930, employers began to massively reduce their production.
At the suggestion of Hoover, Congress created a fund that financed the most important railways, as well as credit and banking organizations. At the same time, the president vetoed the law on direct financial assistance to the unemployed, believing that excessive cash injections would deprive such people of initiative in finding a new job. By 1932, their number reached an unprecedented 12 million people, and all American production during the crisis decreased by 50%.
Unrealized Reforms
It is curious that when Hoover first came to power in early 1929, he was going to carry out economic reforms that were supposed to further weaken the influence of the state on the economy. It was a progressive course of libertarianism, or the so-called principle of non-intervention. In compiling the economic program, Hoover relied on his own experience as an entrepreneur who has worked in many countries around the world.
Other important events of domestic politics in 1929-1933 the establishment of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Hoover also strongly advocated pension reform, as a result of which every American over 65 was supposed to receive $ 50 a month. Due to the Great Depression, this initiative never came to fruition.
Foreign policy
In 1928, Herbert Hoover conducted an unprecedented tour in ten countries of Latin America. During the trip, he delivered 25 speeches, and the visits themselves led to the relaxation of relations with the countries of the continent. During his stay in Argentina, Hoover nearly became a victim of the assassination attempt of a local anarchist.
Despite all the difficulties, the president managed to lay the foundations of a new “good neighbor” policy, which replaced many “banana wars”. This cliche called US stocks directed against the Caribbean and Central America, when the Americans, in particular, controlled Puerto Rico and Cuba. The policy of the “good neighbor” was continued under Roosevelt. It was then, in 1934, that American forces left Haiti.
Re-election failure
The catastrophic situation in the economy undermined the authority of Hoover. The 1932 presidential election was approaching, and his level of support was prohibitively low. During traditional pre-election performances in front of voters, Hoover had to face a hostile, embittered audience. The rival of the president was Franklin Roosevelt. He won the election, becoming the next head of the United States.
The Republican candidate suffered a natural defeat. Contemporaries accused Hoover of failing to adopt an anti-crisis program that could calm the economic storm. Roosevelt, taking extreme measures and proposing a new course, corrected the situation. At the same time, today's historians have noted that Hoover turned out to be a hostage to the situation. He was not lucky to become president on the eve of the crisis that erupted not because of his fault, but for objective reasons that had been accumulating for decades. Hoover supporters have noted and continue to note that during the peak of the Great Depression, no measures by the president could help America.
Late Years and Heritage
Roosevelt's radicalism was that he strengthened the role of the state in the economy to the extreme, which contradicted the usual US market model.
Hoover, becoming a private individual, over the years criticized the policies of his successor. When the Second World War began, he advocated not to interfere in European affairs.
Hoover returned to public service during the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. An experienced manager led a commission leading the reform of the state apparatus. He wrote many articles and books, including memoirs, in which he described his vivid adventures of his youth. Hoover was ex-president for a record-breaking 31-year term. He died on October 20, 1964 in New York. The former first person was 90 years old. The place of his last resting place was his native Iowa.
The USA cherishes the memory of the 31st president, who, despite all the nuances of the Great Depression, managed to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of his fellow citizens by old age. Many objects and places are named after him. The most famous is the Hoover Dam (Arizona). This dam on the Colorado River is today considered unique. Its construction began during the presidency of Hoover in 1931, and ended already under Roosevelt in 1936. The first drafts of the dam appeared back in the 1920s. Hoover was then Minister of Commerce and became a member of the commission responsible for the dam project. Thanks to her, she managed to establish water supply in southern California and the development of local agriculture, as well as curb the obstinate mountain river.