By Thomas F. Schwartz Continued from part 1… As the title suggests, This Is Not Who We Are: America’s Struggle Between Vengeance and Virtue by Zachary Shore examines three episodes of American actions during the WWII period that were motivated by in part by vengeance but eventually turned into more virtuous behavior. The three episodes … Continue reading Germany and the Morgenthau Plan: Part Two
By Thomas F. Schwartz Fighting a war is costly both in human lives and military expenditures. More costly is securing a just peace with defeated enemies. As a previous blog explained, Herbert Hoover failed in his attempts to feed civilian populations in Poland and Finland at the outset of World War II, but not for … Continue reading Germany and the Morgenthau Plan: Part One
President Herbert Hoover and Vice President Charles Curtis. Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum photo 31-1932-62 By Thomas F. Schwartz Previous blogs have explored Herbert and Lou Hoover’s interest in motion pictures. Herbert Hoover hoped to create a documentary on the work of the Commission for Relief in Belgium hiring a script writer and creating a rough … Continue reading The Academy Awards and the White House
by Thomas F. Schwartz As noted in earlier posts, the Hoovers tended to read more of the classic British mystery novels than some of the more violent and psychological driven American writers. Two completely different approaches on the Rapidan shelves are Lynd Ward’s Mad Man’s Drum: A Novel in Woodcuts, and Horace Herbert Smith’s Crooks … Continue reading Mystery Writers Read by the Hoovers: Part XIII
by Thomas F. Schwartz With very few exceptions, most mysteries on the shelves at Camp Rapidan reflect what is often called “the golden age” of mystery writers who published in the decades of the 1920s through 1930s. Writers such as Agatha Christie and G.K. Chesterton already were well established in both Britain and America. Mary … Continue reading Mystery Writers Read by the Hoovers: Part XII
by Thomas F. Schwartz Part of Herbert Hoover’s genius in mobilizing Americans to conserve food in World War I was the use of mass media and symbolic gestures showing support. Urging American housewives to sign pledge cards indicating their support in “Hooverizing,” Hoover persuaded Americans to voluntarily reduce their consumption of needed food for the … Continue reading The Hoover Apron
by Thomas F. Schwartz Hoover’s tenure as Secretary of Commerce witnessed some of the greatest advances in technology with the development or expansion of radio, talking movies, commercial aviation, automobiles, telephones, and television. The Commerce Building in Washington, D.C. is named after Herbert Hoover in recognition of his many achievements as Secretary of Commerce. He … Continue reading The Hooverofon
by Thomas F. Schwartz A common technique used by advertisers engages the services of celebrities to endorse and promote their product. Current ethics laws prevent elected official from product endorsements. Such prohibitions did not exist for earlier generations of elected or appointed officials. A previous blog post indicated that Herbert Hoover was frequently approached as … Continue reading A 1927 Celebrity Endorsement
By Thomas F. Schwartz October ends with Halloween, a time of witches, ghosts, goblins, and all things scary and frightening. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum will host three film events during October that features Presidents threatened by zombies, vampires, and a small Iowa town [filmed in West Branch, Iowa] attacked by the living … Continue reading Things that go bump in the night
By Thomas F. Schwartz The movie Forrest Gump features Tom Hanks uttering the famous line: “Life is like a box of chocolates…You never know what you’re gonna get.” If the screen writer were mystery author Anthony Berkeley, it might be The Poisoned Chocolates Case. The French philosopher Voltaire posited, “The perfect is the enemy of … Continue reading Mystery Writers Read by the Hoovers Part XI: Life is a Box of Chocolates
