(October 7, 2016) West Branch, Iowa
On this beautiful fall weekend, Susan and
I escaped to eastern Iowa for the wedding of one of our closest friends' son in
Iowa City. We set out a day ahead of the wedding festivities to do some touring.
Our first night was in West Des Moines, Iowa. On Friday morning, we toured The Herbert
Hoover Presidential Museum and Library in West Branch, Iowa.
The Hoover museum was built before the
era of federal General Services Administration funding for Presidential
Libraries. The facility is unassuming compared to the post federal funding recent
Goliaths.
We arrived at the exhibits and archives
mid-morning.
The Museum is a Tribute to Herbert Hoover
and has well displayed and interesting exhibits. This stop along the I-80
corridor is two hours well spent.
Our Museum visit completed, we traveled
back west to the Amana Colonies for lunch. We settled on the Ox Yoke Inn in
Amana, Iowa. The food was wholesome but as usual I made a bad menu choice.
After lunch we checked out the nearby tourist shops with interest. Out sole
purchase was a very nice blanket for grandson Will at the Amana Woolen Mill.
What
follows is my interpretation of a great man and a very well told story.
Like “A Tale of Two Cities”, it is the
story of the American President, who during his lifetime, at one time was the
most popular and well respected person in America and at another time the most
hated and despised. Despite these disparate perceptions the 31st
American President was always consistent to his conservative yet progressive
values and Quaker upbringing.
Herbert Clark Hoover was born August 1874
to Quaker parents. His mother was from Canada and his father, a blacksmith, was
an Ohioan. At age nine Hoover was orphaned and ultimately lived with an Uncle
and his family in Oregon. His Uncle was a physician and businessman.
Hoover who was called Bert, adopted
Quaker piety always strived to get ahead and improve himself. His Uncle by
instruction and personal example imbued into his nephew a strong work ethic.
Hoover did not attend high school but worked in his Uncle’s real estate office
and attended a business school at night learning mathematics, bookkeeping, and
typing. Hoover became a strong believer in Self Reliance.
Bert entered Stanford University in 1891. He served as the business manager for the football and
baseball teams. Under his administration both sports were profitable. Bert
received his degree in geology in 1895 a member of Stanford’s inaugural
graduating class.
Hoover was a proponent of the Efficiency
Movement, which became popular in the early 20th Century. The
movement sought to adopt best practices to identify and eliminate waste in
society and the economy.
He began his career working as a mining
engineer in Nevada City, California and after working at several mines in
California was hired variously by several British mining firms for assignments
in Australia and later China. Hoover was so competent he received an ownership
interest in the Bewick, Moreing, and Company (mining company). Some of Bewick’s
mines provided Hoover enormous income even after his death. At age twenty-seven
Hoover was a millionaire. Reportedly he received the largest annual salary for
a person his age among any other known person. In 1908 Hoover started his own
company and owned profitable companies on every continent except Antarctica.
Hoover became a Trustee of Stanford
University in 1912, a position he held until his death in 1964. Hoover was the
founder and benefactor of the Hoover Institution, founded in 1919 as a policy
think tank. The Hoover Institution is closely associated with Stanford.
During and after World War I he served as
the Administrator of the U S Food Administration providing humanitarian relief
to war torn Europe. Hoover led efforts saved Belgium from famine. Among the
most unusual and beautiful artifacts in his museum are the burlap flour sacks Belgium
woman embroidered and sent to Hoover in thanks.
Hoover was recognized as the “Boy
Wonder”, the Great Engineer”, the “Man Who Gets Things Done”, the “Problem
Solver.” In 1921 President Warren G Harding, selected Hoover to be Secretary of
Commerce. During the Roaring ‘20s Hoover became a symbol of America’s success.
He championed the building of better roads, street and highway safety,
electrification, and the adoption of Standardization. President Calvin Coolidge
put Hoover in charge of mobilizing and coordinating the relief efforts in
response to the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927.
In 1927, Coolidge surprisingly announced
(from his summer vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota) he would not run
for a second full term in the 1928 election. Hoover quickly became the leading
Republican candidate to replace Coolidge. He was elected defeating New York
Governor Al Smith in a landslide 21 million to 15 million popular votes and 444
to 87 in the Electoral College. From a political perspective Smith supported
repeal of Prohibition, while the Quaker Hoover opposed repeal. Hoover and John
Kennedy are the only two Presidents who refused a Presidential salary, though
JFK directed his to charity.
Hoover’s legacy and Presidency was framed
by the Wall Street Crash, the Great Depression and subsequent Massive National
Unemployment. Hoover who strongly believed in self-reliance implemented some
Public Works Projects to create employment and economic activity. I was shocked
to learn Hoover was a proponent of the Davis-Bacon Act that requires payment of
prevailing local wages on public works projects. He reluctantly approved the
Smoot Hawley tariffs and believing in a balance budget raised taxes. The
tariffs had the effect of increasing unemployment as the economy spiraled
downward. Near the conclusion of his Presidency (July 1932) the Bonus Army
marched on Washington. The (mis) handling of the nearly 40,000 persons encamped
in the Capitol City and violence that occurred during their demonstrations
caused an adverse onus on Hoover’s reputation.
Factoids I liked:
President Hoover established the first
Presidential Retreat, Rapidan Camp in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.
Hoover purchased it with his own funds at a cost of $120,000.
President Harry Truman enlisted
Hoover to implement the Marshall Plan, America’s European relief efforts after
World War II.
Herbert Hoover was the major
sponsor and supporter of the Boy’s Clubs of American. Mrs. (Lou) Hoover was an
ardent supporter of the Girl Scouts. In 1935 she led the first Girl Scout
Cookie Drive.
Herbert Hoover as Secretary of
Commerce was the first person to appear on television.
Herbert Hoover lived and worked
in 40 different countries. After his Presidency, for the rest of his life, he
resided in New York City living in apartment 31A at the Waldorf Astoria Towers.
Quote I liked:
“The
way to a National greatness is the path of self-reliance, independence, and
steadfastness in times of trial and stress.”
Valley
Forge, Pennsylvania
May 1931
