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Herbert Hoover (1874-1964)
Herbert Hoover was raised in Oregon and became one of Stanford’s first graduates. He became a successful mining engineer, working in several countries including China and Australia. In 1914, he headed an international relief program in Belgium. After the US entered World War I, President Wilson appointed him to oversee food production throughout the country. After the war, he returned to Europe to supervise the American Relief Administration in Eastern Europe. He ran for the Republican nomination for president in 1920 but lost out to the better-connected Warren Harding.
Hoover became Secretary of Commerce under Harding and stayed on after Calvin Coolidge succeeded him in 1923. Hoover was widely praised for his administrative acumen, and the Republican Party chose him as its nominee in 1928. He easily defeated Democratic nominee Al Smith in the 1928 general election. His presidency was preoccupied with attempting to help the US recover from the Great Depression of 1929. Unwilling to engage in extensive borrowing to restart the economy, Coolidge chose to support high tariffs to protect American industry from international competition. This led to a trade war that worsened the US economy, and by 1932 public opinion had turned strongly against the Republicans. Hoover was routed by Franklin Roosevelt in the general election that November.
After leaving the White House, Hoover continued to be involved in politics, criticizing the New Deal as an assault on individual freedom. He also opposed American involvement in Europe, backing the isolationist wing of the Republican Party. He lived for 31 years after serving as President, which is second only to Jimmy Carter.
This Challenge to Liberty (1936)
Hoover backed republican Alf Landon’s challenge to Franklin Roosevelt in 1936. He portrayed the New Deal as inimical to American values, suggesting that Democratic policies were undermining individual freedom and weakening the ability of Americans to succeed on their own. Much like William Graham Sumner, Hoover suggested that government intervention in the economy had created a new class of recipients of government assistance who shared the Roosevelt’s administration’s interest in government control of the economy. Alluding to the fact that unemployment had peaked at 25%, he argued that free enterprise should not be shackled when it had worked well for the remaining 75%. He claimed that Roosevelt’s massive expansion of the federal government would enslave Americans to high taxes and extensive government control over their lives, and promised to continue fighting even though it was clear that Roosevelt would win the 1936 election in a landslide–which he did.
…Through four years of experience this New Deal attack upon free institutions has emerged as the transcendent issue in America.
All the men who are seeking for mastery in the world today are using the same weapons. They sing the same songs. They all promise the joys of Elysium wi