HOOVER, HERBERT CLARK
Herbert Clark Hoover was the thirty-first president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1932. A wealthy mining engineer, Hoover directed humanitarian relief efforts during and after World Wars I and II. His presidency was
devastated by the STOCK MARKET crash of 1929
and the ensuing Great Depression.
Hoover was born August 10, 1874, in West
Branch, Iowa. His father and mother died when
he was young, and he was raised by an uncle in
Oregon. He entered the first first-year class at
Stanford University and graduated in 1895 with
a degree in mining engineering. He became an
expert on managing and reorganizing mines
throughout the world. He spent time in Aus-
tralia and China before setting up his own engi-
neering firm in London in 1908. By 1914
Hoover had become a millionaire.
Hoover became involved in relief work dur-
ingWORLD WAR I. In 1914 he served as director of
the American Relief Commission in England,
which helped one hundred twenty thousand U.S.
citizens return home after being stranded at the
outbreak of the war. The British government then
asked him to lead the Commission for Relief in
Belgium. His main achievement during this
period was the distribution of supplies to civilian
victims of the war in Belgium and France.
After the United States entered the war in
1917, President WOODROW WILSON named
Hoover U.S. food administrator. In this capacity
Hoover coordinated the production and conser-
vation of food supplies that could be used for
the war effort.Hoover also chaired the European
Relief and Reconstruction Commission, direct-
ing activities of numerous relief departments
and organizing the distribution of provisions.
After the war Hoover coordinated the American
Relief Administration. This agency provided
food to millions during the famine of 1921 in
the Soviet Union.
Hoover’s humanitarian efforts made him an
international figure. Democrats and Republi-
cans sought to make him a presidential candi-
date in 1920, but Hoover rejected their offers.
Instead, in 1921 he accepted the position of sec-
retary of commerce in the administration of
