By Thomas F. Schwartz Alphonse “Al” Capone remains one of the most legendary mobsters. His extensive empire of bootlegging during Prohibition and bribing leading political figures from the mayor to law enforcement officials in Chicago, made him the kingpin of the city. Capone tried to soften his ruthless acts protecting his criminal empire by providing … Continue reading Hoover’s Efforts to Jail Al Capone
By Thomas F. Schwartz One of the lesser known aspects of the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB) dealt with support of the Belgian lace makers. In 1915, a committee of Belgian women requested assistance for the importation of linen thread and needles as well as cash advances to keep the cottage industry of lace … Continue reading Lou Hoover and Belgian Lace
By Thomas F. Schwartz One of the most successful campaign films was the Will Irwin, Master of Emergencies silent film promoting Hoover’s presidency in 1928. Irwin used materials from the lost silent film on the Commission for Relief in Belgium made by Rosalie Ashton and the subject of previous blog posts. The battle within the … Continue reading The Internal Fight Over Showing Master of Emergencies to the Public
By Thomas F. Schwartz In many ways, Herbert Hoover represents a transition from a pre-modern presidency to what is more familiar to us as the modern presidency. In the pre-modern presidency, campaigning occurred only in brief periods before an election and not in off years. Press conferences were few and often the press corps were … Continue reading Charles Michelson’s Campaign Against Herbert Hoover
By Thomas F. Schwartz As has been mentioned in previous blog posts, Herbert Hoover was the last president to write complete drafts of all his speeches. He welcomed comments from individuals whose insights he trusted although he did not always incorporate their suggestions. Following his election in 1928 and in advance of his March 4, … Continue reading “Show your Heart”: A Reader’s Comment on Hoover’s First Inaugural Address
By Thomas F. Schwartz Lou Hoover was a prodigious letter writer. Her correspondence provides great insight into both the life of her husband as well as her own activities. Lou presents a graphic description of their efforts to assist stranded Americans in London at the beginning of World War I in a letter written to … Continue reading And the War Came: Lou Hoover and the Great War
By Thomas F. Schwartz History, some argue, is the study of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It is also the study of extraordinary people doing seemingly impossible things. Jan Karski is an example of the latter. A Polish diplomat, Karski was taken prisoner by Soviet military forces during the 1939 invasion by both Nazi Germany … Continue reading Jan Karski and Herbert Hoover
By Thomas F. Schwartz A popular children’s game is rock, scissors, paper: rock breaks scissors, scissors cut paper, paper covers rock. Hoover’s eye doctor, Maynard C. Wheeler offered an interesting variation on the game in his oral history about Herbert Hoover. Previous blog posts have detailed Hoover’s habit of smoking Cuban cigars and pipe smoking … Continue reading Rock, Scissors, Sandpaper
By Thomas F. Schwartz A recent viral video shows a famous Hollywood actor performing magic tricks. Surprisingly, it is not the actor at all but someone with an uncanny resemblance. “Deep fakes,” the use of artificial intelligence to create videos showing images so real, such as Queen Elizabeth performing a TicTok dance, that the fake … Continue reading The Phantom President
Herbert Hoover with President Elect Franklin D Roosevelt as they leave the White House on their way to the Inauguration ceremonies. By Thomas F. Schwartz Much ink has been spilled on the relationship between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. What began as friendly mutual cooperation ended in a bitter transition of power. It … Continue reading A Troubled Relationship
