By Thomas F. Schwartz
As previous blog posts have noted, Herbert Hoover urged Americans to learn by heart the lessons of the Declaration of Independence. The aspirational statements contained in the Declaration provided the distinctive American identity, separating our foundational ideals from other nations, especially the protection of the individual’s right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The address that Hoover gave at Grass Vally, California on July 4, 1935, contained many statements he had made before with two notable exceptions: his extensive discussion on his own “pursuit of happiness” and the gathering storm clouds of war from abroad.
Hoover viewed the “pursuit of happiness” as meaning Abraham Lincoln’s definition of the “right to rise”, or “the open field and fair chance” that allows individuals to obtain the rewards of whatever their talents, ambitions, and skills could provide them. Grass Valley and Nevada City were mining communities where in 1895, a recent Stanford graduate got his first practical lessons in mining. As Hoover recalled:
The first job was pushing a car. The sweat and grime of that job were good for the soul as well as the body. It was here that I was instructed by kindly Cousin Jacks [Cornish miners] in the differences between a gad and a moil, and how to pound the drill instead of my fist. Also, I learned from them how to warm up the bottom of an iron wheelbarrow with three stub candles so that it would be more comfortable sleeping during midnight lunch hour. It was here also that I knew a prospector who, with Mark Twain, held that it was wise to tell the truth once in a while because it pleased some people and astonished all the rest. And it was here I gained many friend who have held close all these years.
The two dollars Hoover earned in a ten-hour day, seven days a week, pushing ore carts provided his early mining income as well as giving him practical skills he used later. As he noted, “If you canvass the names of those American miners who developed and equipped the great mines of the Transvaal, or Rhodesia, or Kalgoorlie, of Broken Hill, of Burma, of New Zealand, and of China, you will find that a great majority had learned something of their job within twenty miles of where I stand. This region led in mining skill then and it has maintained its lead right down to this day.” Having worked in the gold mine at Grass Valley served Hoover well when he later applied to work the gold fields in Western Australia.
In his Memoirs, Hoover fondly recounts his bonding with the Cornish miners, learning some Cornish dialect, and earning their trust and respect. When Hoover ran for President in 1928, a group of miners “formed themselves into a special campaign committee for my election as President and carried the vote of every Cornish family in the region. With a little brushing up, I was still able to speak to them in their own terms at a Fourth of July speech many years later.” This is the speech Hoover references.