Hoover, Herbert (Clark) (1874–1964)

US republican politician, Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the USA. An exponent of free market enterprise, his term of office coincided with the financial collapse of 1929 and the early years of the Great Depression. His reluctance to introduce federal aid to the unemployed made him unpopular and he lost the next election to the Democrats.

31st president of the USA 1929–33, a Republican. He was secretary of commerce 1921–28. Hoover lost public confidence after the stock-market crash of 1929, when he opposed direct government aid for the unemployed in the Depression that followed.

Hoover was born in West Branch, Iowa. He became a mining engineer, and travelled widely before World War I. After the war he organized relief work in occupied Europe. A talented administrator, he was subsequently associated with numerous international relief organizations, and became food administrator for the USA 1917–19. President Wilson later made him a member of the War Trade Council, and as such he took part at Paris in the negotiation of the Versailles Treaty. In 1928 he defeated the Democratic candidate for the presidency, Al Smith (1873–1944), by a wide margin.

The shantytowns, or Hoovervilles, of the homeless that sprang up around large cities after the stock-market crash were evidence of his failure to cope with the effects of the Depression and prevent the decline of the economy. He was severely criticized for his adamant opposition to federal relief for the unemployed, even after the funds of states, cities, and charities were exhausted. In 1933 he was succeeded by F D Roosevelt.

Hoover was called upon to administer the European Food Program 1947, and in the late 1950s he headed two Hoover commissions that recommended reforms in government structure and operations.