Recognize this man? He was the president who was blamed for the Great Depression--Herbert Hoover. And on this date in 1874, he was born to a Quaker family in West Branch, Iowa. He was orphaned in 1884, and 1885, he went to live with his uncle in Newberg, Oregon. He went to Stanford University when it opened in 1891, and he graduated as a mining engineer.
He married his college sweetheart, and together they went off to China. In 1900, he and his wife were caught up in the Boxer Rebellion. They eventually were able to leave for London. He was there when WWI broke out, and he was instrumental in helping stranded tourists get back home. During the War, he was appointed head of the Food Administration, and he was extremely successful in keeping the Allies fed.
Under Presidents Harding and Coolidge, he served as Secretary of Commerce. He then became the Republican Presidential nominee in 1928, and he became the 31st President of the United States. And but ten months later, the Great Depression occurred, and he became the scapegoat. He truly did try to relieve the economic suffering, but it would appear that he had plenty of opponents in Congress.
I did not realize that he served as a chairman to reorganize the Executive Departments under both President Truman and President Eisenhower. He continued to work on several writings and papers up until his death on October 20, 1964, at the age of 90.
For more information, please check out:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/herberthoover/
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Herbert_Hoover
http://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/herbert-hoover.html
