Nominating a Candidate

 – the 1928 Republican National Convention Herbert and Lou Hoover in the doorway of their home the morning after he was nominated for president in 1928. by Spencer Howard In June 1928, Republican Party held its quadrennial convention to nominate candidates for President and Vice President of the United States.  Before the primaries and caucuses … Continue reading Nominating a Candidate

Hoover and the Teleprompter

A stereotype frequently attributed to Herbert Hoover is that he was cold and aloof. He did not have an official White House photographer (that would come with his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt) and refused to have his family and private life as fair game for media coverage. Unlike later Presidents that used the media to … Continue reading Hoover and the Teleprompter

Herbert Hoover in the White House

Author Charles Rappleye is an award-winning investigative journalist and editor. He has written extensively on media, law enforcement, and organized crime. The author of Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade, and the American Revolution; Robert Morris: Financier of the American Revolution; and his new book -  Herbert Hoover in the White House: The … Continue reading Herbert Hoover in the White House

Herbert Hoover a Superhero?

On August 10, 1962, Herbert Hoover celebrated his 88th birthday by attending the dedication and opening of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library -Museum in West Branch, Iowa. Accompanied by friend and former president Harry S. Truman, Hoover fondly reminisced about growing up in West Branch and celebrating the Fourth of July with firecrackers purchased by … Continue reading Herbert Hoover a Superhero?

Ain’t Misbehavin? The World of Gangsters

New Exhibit  April 23 - October 23, 2016 Hoover and Prohibition When President Herbert Hoover entered the White House in 1929, prohibition was already the law. The 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919 and took effect nationwide in 1920. It called for a ban on alcohol sales in one year. States struggled to enforce prohibition and the federal government … Continue reading Ain’t Misbehavin? The World of Gangsters

De Re Metallica, Translated

Before entering public service, Herbert Hoover was a successful and wealthy mining engineer. In fact, he and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover, both majored in geology at Stanford University. In 1905, Lou attempted to find an adequate English translation of the medieval mining treatise De Re Metallica by Georgius Agricola. Because classical Latin is not … Continue reading De Re Metallica, Translated

Caribbean Vacation

In March, 1931, Herbert Hoover decided to take a Caribbean cruise. He had taken only one brief vacation during the first two years of his Presidency, and badly needed some rest. The battleship Arizona had just finished a two year overhaul and was scheduled to make a "shakedown" cruise off the east coast, so the … Continue reading Caribbean Vacation

A Non-Political – and Entirely Political – Supreme Court Appointment

President Hoover at his desk. by Spencer Howard On January 12, 1932, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. submitted his resignation to President Herbert Hoover, citing ill health and age.  At 91 years old, he noted, "the time has come, and I bow to the inevitable."  In his 30 years on the Supreme Court, … Continue reading A Non-Political – and Entirely Political – Supreme Court Appointment

Inauguration Report

by Spencer Howard Herbert Hoover inauguration - Coolidge and Hoover drive from White House to Capitol 03/04/1929. HHPLM 31-1929-49 Seventy-three years ago this week Herbert Hoover was inaugurated as the 31st President of the United States on March 4, 1929. The basic facts are well known: it was a rainy day; the major topics of … Continue reading Inauguration Report