At this time last year, I wrote a blog on Hoover’s return to the world stage in response to President Truman’s request for Hoover’s insights into the food situation in Europe immediately after V-E Day. I summarized an 18-page memo Hoover sent to Truman on May 31, 1945, recapping the main points of their 55-minute … Continue reading Revisiting Hoover’s Memo to Truman, May 1945
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
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
By Thomas F. Schwartz George Aubrey Hastings served as an administrative assistant to President Herbert Hoover. After Hoover left office, Hastings was asked to speak about his time in the White House and what he observed. In a talk before the National Republican Club on May 16, 1933, Hastings provided a glimpse into the … Continue reading An Average Day in the Life of a President
By Thomas F. Schwartz Many young people are in a hurry to grow up and be able to do things that their age prevents. Once they get older, they begin to pine for the previous unencumbered joys of childhood. It remains a great irony of life. Herbert Hoover was one of the many precocious youth … Continue reading A Problem of Youth: Herbert Hoover’s Changeable Age
The goodwill tour of Latin America by the Hoovers had ripples that extended long after they returned to the United States. Reciprocal visits by Latin American heads of state included: Pascual Ortiz Rubio, President of Mexico in December 1929, Dr. Enrique Olaya, President-elect of Columbia in early June 1930, and Dr. Julio Prestes, President-elect of … Continue reading Brazilian President-Elect Prestes Visits the Hoover White House
The Hoovers were not the only First Couple to go on a goodwill trip. Enrique and Maria Olaya Herrera, President-Elect and First Lady of Columbia, visited the Hoover White House in early June 1930. After serving eight years as Columbian Minister to the United States, Olaya was elected President in February 1930, but he did … Continue reading Campbell Hodges reports on visit of Columbia President-Elect and First Lady
by Spencer Howard Herbert Hoover is remembered today primarily as the President who struggled to contain the Great Depression. It’s hard for us to imagine how incredibly popular he was before entering the White House, and how he dazzled the world with his meteoric rise to fame. Hoover’s adult life leading up to the Presidency … Continue reading Wonder Boy — Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce
By Thomas F. Schwartz The Olympic games originated in ancient Greece as a religious and athletic festival, providing a forum of friendly competition among otherwise factious city-states. Revived in the late 1800s, the tradition of holding games every four years was well established by the 1920s. The United States hosted the 1932 winter games in … Continue reading Hoover and the 1932 Olympic Games
By Thomas F. Schwartz A tradition observed by Herbert and Lou Hoover annually invited the Diplomatic Corps and the public to the White House on New Year’s Day. The President and First Lady would head a receiving line and greet the Diplomatic Corps first and then the public. It was an exhausting event where several … Continue reading New Year’s Day, January 1, 1931
