Former President Herbert Hoover shaking hands, 1940 Popular histories are meant to provide a broad audience access to history that is not written exclusively for an academic audience. As such, the writing tends to be livelier with numerous anecdotes that are memorable but might lack veracity. Footnotes, that are intended to keep academic writings honest … Continue reading Modern Hoover Myths: Part I
Peggy Ann, Joan and Peter Hoover at the White House, December 1930. by Spencer Howard Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover’s grandchildren were an important but little publicized part of the Hoover White House. Their youngest son, Allan, had just graduated from Stanford University and was still single when his father became President, but, their older … Continue reading The Hoover grandchildren at the White House
by Spencer Howard Ninety years ago today, on December 6, 1932, President Herbert Hoover sent his fourth and final State of the Union message to Congress. “In accord with my constitutional duty, I transmit herewith to the Congress information upon the state of the Union together with recommendation of measures for its consideration,” Hoover wrote. … Continue reading President Hoover’s final State of the Union
Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura and President Herbert Hoover outside the White House, September 27, 1929. (HHPL-M image 31-1929-a88) During his four years in office, President Hoover met a variety of foreign leaders, both military and civilian. On September 27, 1929, Hoover met Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura of Japan and a group of midshipmen under his command to … Continue reading A Friendship Through Peace
Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis, June 1928 (HHPL-M image 31-1928-46) by Spencer Howard One question often asked is whether Vice President Charles Curtis attended Cabinet meetings during the Hoover Administration. At that time, it was a novel idea; only President Warren Harding had routinely included his vice president, Calvin Coolidge, in Cabinet meetings. Under most … Continue reading Did Vice President Charles Curtis attend Hoover’s Cabinet meetings?
by Spencer Howard On May 20, 1932, the fifth anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s record-setting non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland on her own non-stop solo flight. Fifteen hours later she landed in Ireland, becoming just the second person and the first woman to achieve the feat. She was … Continue reading Amelia Earhart and the Distinguished Flying Cross
The Great Stock Market Crash of 1929: Why History Textbooks and the Conventional Wisdom Get It Wrong By Thomas F. Schwartz History textbooks tell us that the 1929 stock market crash signaled the beginning of the “Great Depression.” Warning signs of overvaluation and buying on the margin were flashing red lights that a corrective path … Continue reading The Great Stock Market Crash of 1929: Why History Textbooks and the Conventional Wisdom Get It Wrong
by Spencer Howard When Herbert Hoover became President in 1929, one of his early initiatives was to call for a national conference on child health. Hoping to build on the work of the non-profit American Child Health Association, an organization he had founded in 1923, President Hoover announced that the purpose of his proposed conference … Continue reading Herbert Hoover’s vision for healthy children – Part 2: The Children’s Charter
Herbert Hoover won the 1928 election in a landslide over Democrat Al Smith of New York. Four years later Hoover lost the 1932 election in a landslide to New York Democrat Franklin Roosevelt. The intervening four years marked the onset of the Great Depression. Ever pragmatic, Hoover knew that the American people would place their … Continue reading Herbert Hoover on Public Acceptance of the President
by Spencer Howard The fall of 1929 is typically remembered for the October stock market crash, but did you know that 1929 also witnessed a pandemic scare, one that ended almost as soon as it started? It wasn’t Covid-19 or even the Spanish Flu; it was Parrot Fever. Known to science as Psittacosis, parrot fever … Continue reading Parrot Fever — the 1929 pandemic
