Popular history reaches a wide audience and often inspires readers to delve more deeply into a topic. All history contains some misinformation. In most cases, it is based on sources that have since been replaced with writings that benefit from new primary materials that better inform the topic. Bill Bryson’s widely read One Summer: America … Continue reading Hoover and the Charge of Treason
President Hoover’s final State of the Union
by Spencer Howard Ninety years ago today, on December 6, 1932, President Herbert Hoover sent his fourth and final State of the Union message to Congress. “In accord with my constitutional duty, I transmit herewith to the Congress information upon the state of the Union together with recommendation of measures for its consideration,” Hoover wrote. … Continue reading President Hoover’s final State of the Union
Hoover and Postwar Humor
President Harry Truman and former President Herbert Hoover, 06/17/1947.(HHPL-M image #31-1947-30). The defeat of the Axis Powers in World War II did not usher an era of peace. Rather, decades of unease between the United States and the Soviet Union characterized the postwar world. This period would be termed the Cold War—the absence of direct … Continue reading Hoover and Postwar Humor
A Friendship Through Peace
Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura and President Herbert Hoover outside the White House, September 27, 1929. (HHPL-M image 31-1929-a88) During his four years in office, President Hoover met a variety of foreign leaders, both military and civilian. On September 27, 1929, Hoover met Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura of Japan and a group of midshipmen under his command to … Continue reading A Friendship Through Peace
The Use of “American Individualism” in Popular Culture
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
Harold H. Fisher’s Letter of Condolence on the death of Herbert Hoover
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
The Gift of Corn: Iowan Humanitarian Aid to Russia in the Famine of 1891-1892
Guest post by Olga Ovcharskaia, PhD candidate in Slavic Languages and Literature, Stanford University In January 1892, the people of Iowa read an appeal by the newly established Iowa Russian Famine Relief Committee: “While our granaries are loaded to bursting and our railways are blocked with grain trains, across the ocean, hundreds of thousands of … Continue reading The Gift of Corn: Iowan Humanitarian Aid to Russia in the Famine of 1891-1892
Critics of American Individualism
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
American Individualism: A Centennial Anniversary
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
Remembering the Queen: When Herbert Hoover met Queen Elizabeth II
Former president Hoover, Queen Elizabeth II and New York City Mayor Robert Wagner at luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, 10/21/1957. (HHPL-M photo 31-1957-49) by Spencer Howard As the world mourns the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, we have been asked if Herbert Hoover ever met the Queen. The answer is yes, in 1957. Despite … Continue reading Remembering the Queen: When Herbert Hoover met Queen Elizabeth II