Cadillac radiator badge, ca. 1922 National Museum of American History #TR.325528.261. Three months after the publication of Herbert Hoover's American Individualism, Herbert Howard Rice, president and general manager of the Cadillac Motor Car Company, dedicated a plaque in honor of the Le Sieur Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. Born March 5, 1658, and founder of … Continue reading The Use of “American Individualism” in Popular Culture
Hoover and friends at his 75th birthday celebration, Stanford University. Left to right: Harold Fisher, Ray Lyman Wilbur, Edgar Rickard, Herbert Hoover. (HHPL-M image 31-1949-37) The death of former President Herbert Hoover on October 20, 1964 elicited condolences from world leaders and ordinary people. Some of the most moving letters to Hoover’s sons came from … Continue reading Harold H. Fisher’s Letter of Condolence on the death of Herbert Hoover
First edition of Herbert Hoover's American Individualism No author is without critics and Herbert Hoover’s American Individualism had many, some thoughtful and others simply dismissive. As both critics and supporters alike point out, Hoover’s musings are not a systematic treatment of the topic. Some find Hoover’s statements impressionistic while others see them as a portal … Continue reading Critics of American Individualism
Herbert Hoover's American Individualismrepublished by the Hoover Institution Press December 2022 will mark the one-hundredth anniversary of Herbert Hoover’s publication, American Individualism. A mere seventy-two pages, the book was Hoover’s meditation on the recent upheavals brought about by World War I and Hoover’s thoughts on the best path forward for America. Much of it is … Continue reading American Individualism: A Centennial Anniversary
One of the U. S. Food Administration "Girls Club" lunchrooms established by Lou Henry Hoover, ca. 1918. Herbert Hoover issued a circular for the employees of the US Food Administration stating: “For some time I have felt that the Food Administration should make a special effort insuring satisfactory living quarters for our women workers. Mrs. … Continue reading Mrs. Hoover and Washington Housing Shortages: Part 2
Some of the women who worked for the U. S. Food Administration, 1917. These women are in the Food Conservation Division. Washington, D.C. witnessed notorious shortages of affordable housing for the many single women who filled government positions during World War I and World War II. Several Hollywood films alluded to it, the most famous … Continue reading Mrs. Hoover and Washington Housing Shortages: Part I
By Thomas F. Schwartz As previous blog posts have demonstrated, Herbert and Lou Hoover enjoyed viewing Hollywood films. One of the most powerful individuals in Hollywood was not a studio head but the executive assistant to Louis B. Mayer of MGM, Ida Koverman. Ida began her career in the jewelry business and became an executive … Continue reading Ida Koverman, Hollywood, and Herbert Hoover
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 Thom as F. Schwartz Lewis Strauss, one of Herbert Hoover’s close personal advisors, broached the idea of both Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt issuing a joint statement early in 1933 condemning the mistreatment of German Jews. FDR declined and Hoover privately instructed Frederic Sackett, the US Ambassador in Germany, to “exert every influence of our … Continue reading Emergency Conference to Save the Jews of Europe: Herbert Hoover’s CBS Broadcast
By Thomas F. Schwartz Herbert Hoover relied on accurate reporting from a variety of sources on the impact famine and food shortages were affecting area in Russia from 1921-23. As Secretary of Commerce for President Harding, Hoover could not travel abroad to see for himself the tragedy already gripping many parts of the Russian empire. … Continue reading James Putnam Goodrich: Witness to the Famine
