WEBVTT

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Welcome, deep divers. Today, we're plunging into,

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well, one of the most compelling and often, I

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think, misunderstood figures in American history.

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Definitely complex. We're talking about a man

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globally celebrated for saving millions from

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starvation, literally millions, a self -made

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millionaire engineer, yet his very name, almost

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cruelly, became synonymous with national despair,

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Hoovervilles. Yeah, it's such a stark contrast,

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isn't it? It really is the paradox of Herbert

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Hoover. Exactly. Picture this orphan kid, humble

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Quaker beginnings in Iowa, rising to international

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fame, immense wealth, just through sheer brain

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power and drive. And then he's just vilified,

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politically shattered, really, during the biggest

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economic crisis the country had ever faced. His

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story, it just defies any easy labels. It really

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does. So our mission today for you is to peel

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back those easy labels. We want to dive deep

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into the multifaceted man behind them. And get

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past the headline. We'll uncover his surprising

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triumphs, the deeply held beliefs that really

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guided him, and the immense, often just overwhelming

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challenges he faced. And we're drawing from a

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pretty comprehensive overview of his life and

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career here. Right. We're pulling out those crucial

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nuggets, those insights that really define his

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legacy, hopefully giving you a fuller picture.

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So let's unpack this truly fascinating American

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story. Let's do it. early life and unexpected

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beginnings. Okay, so to really get Hoover, you

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almost have to start with his childhood. It's

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a story of, well, remarkable hardship, but also

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this almost unbelievable resilience. Yeah, it

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sets the stage for so much. He was born in West

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Branch, Iowa, that's 1874, into a devout Quaker

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family. Quakers, right. His father, Jesse Hoover,

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was a blacksmith, also had a farm implement business,

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you know, modest but stable life. And his mother...

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hold a minthorn hoover, she was quite prominent

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in their church's prayer life. Known for her

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faith, but also apparently quite intellectually

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curious. But that stability, it just didn't last.

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Tragically short -lived, Herbert, or Bertie as

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they called him. He was only six when his father

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died suddenly. Heart attack, just 34 years old.

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Wow, six. Yeah, and the family struggled, obviously.

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Then, just three years later, his muddle gets

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typhoid fever and dies too, leaving Herbert and

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his two siblings completely Orphaned. I mean,

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it's almost impossible to imagine the emotional

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weight the practical burden Losing both parents

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before your 10. It's profound and this brutal

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early experience. It really shaped him it instilled

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this deep almost instinctual self -reliance and

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An absolutely unwavering work ethic you see that

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thread throughout his whole life. That's such

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a crucial point because he ends up bouncing between

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relatives. Lived for a bit with his uncle Alan

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Hoover on a farm back in Iowa, you know, learning

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the tough life of farming. Right. And then, age

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11, he moves clear across the country. Newburgh,

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Oregon. To live with another uncle, John Minthorn,

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he was a Quaker physician, also a businessman.

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A different kind of environment. Very different

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and apparently quite strict. Minthorn ran a tight

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ship and young Herbert found himself working

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as an office boy. Learned bookkeeping, typing.

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this early exposure to both physical labor on

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the farm and then the sort of nascent world of

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business. It's incredibly formative. You can

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just see how a kid facing those challenges, that

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kind of loss and upheaval, would develop this

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extraordinary capacity to just adapt and overcome.

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Absolutely. It really set the stage for a young

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man who wasn't going to be defined by, say, academic

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brilliance alone. Oh. Which is interesting, because

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when he gets to Stanford University in 1891.

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Part of the very first class, the pioneer class.

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Right, the inaugural class. He famously failed

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all his entrance exams except mathematics. Oh,

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but math. That's amazing. Yeah. He himself later

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said he's a mediocre student. Nah. But that label,

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it kind of misses where his real talents were,

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I think. And that's where it gets really interesting,

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doesn't it? Because maybe he wasn't hitting the

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books in the traditional sense, but his energy,

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it was channeled into these intensely practical

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things and campus leadership. Exactly. He had

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all sorts of part -time jobs, like doing laundry

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for other students, working as a geological assistant,

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just showing that innate drive. Always working.

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Always working. And more impressively, he co

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-founds the Romero Hall Boarding Club. This was

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the university's first student cooperative boarding

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house. A co -op, okay. Yeah, and it wasn't just

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about saving cash. The stated goal was sociability

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and economy. It was a pragmatic solution to student

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living costs, but it also shows that early talent

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for organizing, for community building. And this

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is the supposedly shy kid, right? Yeah, described

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as naturally shy. But his organizational skills

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just shone through. He becomes a student treasurer,

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famously manages both the baseball and the football

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teams, even helps organize the very first big

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game against Cal. Wow. So these weren't just

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fun activities. No, no. They were real opportunities

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to hone his leadership, his administrative skills,

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often kind of behind the scenes. And then he

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gets an internship with the U .S. Geological

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Survey that confirms it for him. Mining geology,

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that's his path. So the picture forming here

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isn't the bookish academic. Not at all. It's

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this profoundly practical, driven, resourceful

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young guy with this innate knack for organizing,

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leading, adapting. These are the exact traits

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that are going to define his incredible global

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career just a few years later. And those traits,

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yeah, they absolutely propelled him onto the

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global stage and with astonishing speed, really.

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After graduating, it's the panic of 1893. Tough

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time to find work. Right, a stark reminder of

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economic instability. But he eventually gets

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a job, low -paying, with a prominent mining engineer.

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Luby Jeanine. Started literally pushing ore carts,

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I think. Yeah, basic labor first, then moved

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up to a saying, eventually became an assistant.

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Real grunt work grounded him in the nuts and

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bolts of the industry. But then 1897 comes this

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huge opportunity. Light changing, really. He

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gets recruited by Buick, Mooring & Co. This was

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a top tier London based mining firm. And get

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this, he's just 23. They send him to Western

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Australia as their chief mining engineer. At

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23. 23. With a phenomenal salary for the time.

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$5 ,000 a year. That's like, what, nearly $190

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,000 today. Incredible, and his job. To basically

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revitalize these failing gold mines on the edge

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of the Great Victoria Desert. He arrives in this

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land he describes so vividly, characterized by

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black flies, red dust, and white heat. Sounds

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brutal. Oh, incredibly harsh. Isolated conditions

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really roughing it. It does sound like something

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out of an adventure novel. He's not just an engineer.

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He's like an explorer, a problem solver in the

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middle of nowhere. Absolutely. And his work in

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Australia, it was transformative. He brought

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in modern American mining methods, boosted efficiency,

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found new ore bodies. The company ended up controlling

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something like 50 % of Western Australia's gold

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production because of his efforts. 50%. That's

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staggering. But you mentioned it wasn't all smooth

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sailing. There was controversy. Right. And this

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is where it gets really interesting and reveals

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some early complexities in his thinking that,

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well, they echo later. See, to cut costs and

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also push back against the growing labor movement,

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Australian miners were organizing, pushing for

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better wages, safer conditions. Naturally. Hoover

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controversially brought in Italian immigrants.

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They'd work for less. Now this decision, economically

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driven, sure, but it sparked huge opposition

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from the Australian unions. Okay, I see. And

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these experiences, managing large scale operations

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in these really tough remote places, they kind

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of solidified his opposition to what he saw as

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restrictive labor protections. Things like minimum

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wage, workers comp. He felt the unfairly burden

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the owners hindered efficiency. So these hard

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knocks, real world experiences directly shaped

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his view on that tension between industry and

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labor, a tension that would, you know, dominate

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the century. Exactly. And from Australia, his

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career just keeps rocketing upward. He gets promoted

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to junior partner, moves to China, developing

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gold mines near Tianjin. China, OK. Another complex

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situation. Very. And his perspective there was

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also complex. He was genuinely interested in

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Chinese history and culture, studied law. language,

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collected artifacts. But at the same time, he

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publicly warned about what he called the inefficiency

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and perceived racial inferiority of Chinese workers.

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Ooh, that's difficult to hear today. It is, deeply

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problematic views, even for the time. But here's

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the contradiction. He held these views, yet he

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also tried to improve their terrible working

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conditions by ending these exploitative long

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-term servitude contracts. So a real contradiction

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there. Judgmental, yet reformist in a way. It

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speaks to the nuanced and, yeah, sometimes uncomfortable

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reality of looking back at historical figures.

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His time in China wasn't just complex, it was

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dangerous. In 1900, he and his wife, Lou Henry,

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they get trapped in Tianjin during the Boxer

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Rebellion. Right, the Boxer Rebellion. They're

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stuck with other foreigners, endure this harrowing

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siege, shelling, starvation. They barely survive

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until multinational forces rescue them. This

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direct experience of international conflict,

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chaos, it must have deepened his understanding

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of global politics immensely. Absolutely. First

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-hand experience. After that, he becomes an operating

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partner in a new Sino -British mining venture.

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His job requires constant travel. He's visiting

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mines across continents. He really is a global

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figure way before politics was even on the radar.

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But his time with Buick, mooring? It didn't end

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well? No, it ended pretty tumultuously. He left

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the company because of mounting legal and financial

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problems. There was a particularly nasty scandal

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involving a partner who admitted to stock fraud.

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But this difficult experience, it kind of propelled

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him into his next phase. He strikes out on his

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own, sets himself up as an independent mining

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consultant and financier based in London, his

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specialty. reviving troubled mining operations.

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They called him the Doctor of Sick Minds. Doctor

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of Sick Minds, I like that. He and his associates,

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they really were engineering doctors to sick

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concerns. And he built a global network doing

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this. Unparalleled network and expertise. He

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sets up offices in all the key financial and

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mining hubs. San Francisco, London, New York,

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Paris, Petrograd, even Mandalay. Wow. And by

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1914, through incredibly shrewd investments,

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brilliant engineering, he's amassed a personal

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fortune of $4 million. $4 million in 1914. That's

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over $125 million in today's money. Just astounding

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wealth. He co -founded the Zinc Corporation in

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Australia, introduced this groundbreaking froth

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flotation process for getting minerals out of

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ore. Froth flotation? Yeah, revolutionary method.

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Vastly improved recovery, especially for complex

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ores. He also worked extensively in Burma, in

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Russia. significantly boosting mineral production

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there, too. So he's not just a manager, he's

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an innovator. But beyond the business, you mentioned

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he was an intellectual. A serious one. He published

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his Principles of Mining in 1909. It becomes

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a standard textbook. And what's really surprising

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for the time is that the book actually reflects

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some progressive ideas. He endorsed things like

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the eight -hour work day, recognized the importance

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of organized labor. Which seems like a contrast

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to some of his earlier actions. It does. It highlights

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that complexity again. And then there's this

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remarkable scholarly achievement. He and his

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wife, Lou Henry, she was a fellow Stanford geology

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grad, very accomplished herself. They undertake

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this massive project. What was that? Translating

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George's Agricola's 16th century Deira Metallica.

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It's the classic work on mining and metallurgy

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written in Latin. Wow, translating a 16th century

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Latin text on mining. Exactly. Their translation,

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meticulously annotated, published in 1912, it's

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still considered foundational. It really shows

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their intellectual partnership. That's incredible.

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And personally? Well, despite that Quaker upbringing,

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he apparently rarely attended meetings as an

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adult. But he and Lou built this life together,

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had two sons, a life that was clearly intellectually

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vibrant and incredibly globally ambitious. OK,

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so you'd think, right? A guy with that kind of

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global success, huge wealth, intellectual pursuits.

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He'd just settle into private life. Seems logical.

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But then World War I happens, and it completely

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changes his path, redirects everything. How did

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it start? August 1914. War breaks out. There

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are something like 100 ,000 Americans stranded

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in Europe. Hoover's in London at the time. He

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uses his massive network to basically organize

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a committee, get them all home safely. Seems

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like a practical, helpful thing to do. Exactly.

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But it was the catalyst. He actually reflected

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on it later, saying, this is a great quote. I

00:12:30.490 --> 00:12:32.429
did not realize it at the moment, but on August

00:12:32.429 --> 00:12:35.830
3, 1914, my career was over forever. I was on

00:12:35.830 --> 00:12:39.090
the slippery road of public life. Wow. Slippery

00:12:39.090 --> 00:12:42.409
road. He knew it was a turning point. A dramatic,

00:12:42.690 --> 00:12:45.909
irreversible turn. From engineering and finance

00:12:45.909 --> 00:12:50.370
to this life of just unparalleled public service

00:12:50.370 --> 00:12:53.000
humanitarian work. And he jumped in with that

00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:55.840
typical Hoover energy. And his first huge project

00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:59.100
was just monumental, right? The Commission for

00:12:59.100 --> 00:13:02.139
Relief in Belgium, the CRB. Monumental is the

00:13:02.139 --> 00:13:05.279
word. Germany invades Belgium, occupies it, creates

00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.320
this massive food crisis because under international

00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.080
law at the time, the occupying power wasn't obligated

00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:13.559
to feed the civilians. OK, so the Belgians are

00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:15.820
starving. Exactly. But the British have a naval

00:13:15.820 --> 00:13:17.879
blockade against Germany. They won't let food

00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:20.200
in unless a strictly neutral party supervises

00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:22.600
the whole thing. Makes absolutely sure the food

00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:24.779
doesn't go to the Germans. Sounds like an impossible

00:13:24.779 --> 00:13:27.700
diplomatic nod. Completely impossible. And Hoover

00:13:27.700 --> 00:13:29.759
steps right into the middle of it. He essentially

00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:32.980
engineers the CRB. It becomes, as someone described

00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:35.940
it, a veritable independent republic of relief.

00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:39.000
An independent republic. Yeah. With its own flag,

00:13:39.100 --> 00:13:42.100
its own navy, factories, mills, railroads. This

00:13:42.100 --> 00:13:44.000
organization operated on a scale and with a level

00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:46.159
of diplomatic independence, you just didn't see

00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:48.570
outside. of actual governments. That's incredible.

00:13:48.769 --> 00:13:50.830
How did he manage it? He worked from London,

00:13:51.330 --> 00:13:54.169
14 hour days apparently, coordinating this huge

00:13:54.169 --> 00:13:56.669
fleet of ships, negotiating supply routes, dealing

00:13:56.669 --> 00:13:58.549
directly with the German occupation authorities.

00:13:59.070 --> 00:14:01.250
He crossed the North Sea, which was dangerous

00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:04.570
during the war, 40 times to negotiate. 30 times.

00:14:04.870 --> 00:14:08.529
Administering relief for 9 million war victims.

00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:12.480
nine million people. An American diplomat, Walter

00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:16.120
Page, recognized just how insane this was. He

00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:18.659
said Hoover was probably the only man living

00:14:18.659 --> 00:14:21.519
who has privately, i .e. without holding office,

00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:24.340
negotiated understandings with the British French,

00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:26.679
German, Dutch, and Belgian governments. Privately

00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:29.320
negotiated. Yeah. It just shows this unbelievable

00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:32.340
skill in diplomacy, logistics, and building trust

00:14:32.340 --> 00:14:35.100
between warring sides, all for humanitarian aims.

00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:37.120
It's like a master class in global problem solving.

00:14:37.220 --> 00:14:39.200
Just stunning. A stunning display of genius,

00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:41.360
really. So when the US finally enters the war

00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:43.879
in 1917, President Wilson knows exactly who to

00:14:43.879 --> 00:14:46.679
call. He sees Hoover's unique abilities and appoints

00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:49.039
him to lead the US Food Administration. The food

00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:52.169
czar. He quickly earns that nickname, yeah. recruits

00:14:52.169 --> 00:14:54.049
hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the

00:14:54.049 --> 00:14:58.470
country. His main goal was twofold. Get essential

00:14:58.470 --> 00:15:01.169
food to the Allies to keep them fighting, and

00:15:01.169 --> 00:15:03.649
stabilize food prices at home to prevent economic

00:15:03.649 --> 00:15:07.529
problems. And crucially, he wanted to do it without

00:15:07.529 --> 00:15:10.730
resorting to mandatory rationing, which was politically

00:15:10.730 --> 00:15:12.730
really difficult. So how did he do it without

00:15:12.730 --> 00:15:15.129
rationing? He launched the Hooverizing campaign.

00:15:15.129 --> 00:15:17.549
Yeah. Voluntary conservation. It was incredibly

00:15:17.549 --> 00:15:20.059
successful. Not just a slogan, it mobilized the

00:15:20.059 --> 00:15:22.240
whole country. Right. Meatless Mondays. Meatless

00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:24.220
Mondays, Wheatless Wednesdays, and when in doubt,

00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:27.960
eat potatoes. Families across America bought

00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:30.899
in. These small collective actions had a massive

00:15:30.899 --> 00:15:34.240
impact. They shipped 23 million metric tons of

00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:37.399
food to the Allies. 23 million tons. It was absolutely

00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:39.320
crucial in preventing the Allies from collapsing

00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:42.220
and ultimately helped win the war. And this effort

00:15:42.220 --> 00:15:45.320
earned Hoover huge national acclaim, especially

00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:47.779
among progressives who just admired his expert

00:15:47.779 --> 00:15:50.679
administration, his efficiency. So the war ends

00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:54.379
November 1918. Armistice. But the crisis isn't

00:15:54.379 --> 00:15:57.960
over. Far from it. Europe is devastated. Widespread

00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:01.059
starvation looming. Estimates were maybe 400

00:16:01.059 --> 00:16:04.340
million people at risk. 400 million. Yeah. So

00:16:04.340 --> 00:16:07.639
Hoover just seamlessly transitions the Food Administration

00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:10.220
into the American Relief Administration, the

00:16:10.220 --> 00:16:14.169
ARA. Another massive undertaking, providing aid

00:16:14.169 --> 00:16:16.570
across Central and Eastern Europe, even rebuilding

00:16:16.570 --> 00:16:19.409
critical infrastructure, railways, bridges. He's

00:16:19.409 --> 00:16:22.570
everywhere. And he becomes a close advisor to

00:16:22.570 --> 00:16:26.090
Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference. He's passionately

00:16:26.090 --> 00:16:27.870
advocating for the League of Nations for what

00:16:27.870 --> 00:16:31.210
he called a good peace, one based on reconciliation,

00:16:31.409 --> 00:16:34.110
not just punishment. Even John Maynard Keynes,

00:16:34.210 --> 00:16:36.590
who was famously critical of the Versailles Treaty.

00:16:36.750 --> 00:16:39.269
Right, Keynes ripped it apart. Exactly. But Keynes

00:16:39.269 --> 00:16:41.809
singled out Hoover for praise. He noted Hoover's

00:16:41.809 --> 00:16:45.029
realism, knowledge, magnanimity and disinterestedness.

00:16:45.490 --> 00:16:48.149
High praise from a tough critic. And this humanitarian

00:16:48.149 --> 00:16:50.070
drive, it went beyond just the allies, right?

00:16:50.470 --> 00:16:52.090
Absolutely. And this is crucial for understanding

00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:54.330
his character, I think. Despite a lot of political

00:16:54.330 --> 00:16:57.860
opposition back home, Hoover extends aid. to

00:16:57.860 --> 00:17:01.000
defeated Germany, and perhaps even more controversially

00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:03.820
to famine -stricken Soviet Russia. Millions were

00:17:03.820 --> 00:17:05.880
dying there. Aid to the Bolsheviks. That must

00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:08.359
have been unpopular. Hugely unpopular. But who

00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:10.779
were famously declared 20 million people are

00:17:10.779 --> 00:17:12.740
starving? Whatever their politics, they shall

00:17:12.740 --> 00:17:16.480
be fed. That act, driven by those deep Quaker

00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:18.920
values of universal compassion, it really makes

00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:21.859
you think, doesn't it? It does. How do you balance

00:17:21.859 --> 00:17:24.119
humanitarian needs against politics, especially

00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:27.549
in crisis? Where does empathy stop? It's a timeless

00:17:27.549 --> 00:17:30.170
question. And around the same time, 1919, he

00:17:30.170 --> 00:17:32.549
also sets up the Hoover War collection at Stanford.

00:17:32.950 --> 00:17:35.269
Now it's the Hoover Institution Library and Archives.

00:17:35.809 --> 00:17:38.289
He meticulously saved documents about the war,

00:17:38.470 --> 00:17:40.970
the revolutions, recognizing how important preserving

00:17:40.970 --> 00:17:43.769
that history was. So all this work, this global

00:17:43.769 --> 00:17:46.410
stage, it naturally makes him a potential presidential

00:17:46.410 --> 00:17:48.990
candidate in 1920. Completely propelled him into

00:17:48.990 --> 00:17:51.130
the national spotlight. And he appealed to progressives.

00:17:51.130 --> 00:17:53.329
He was advocating for some pretty forward -thinking

00:17:53.329 --> 00:17:56.740
stuff. Higher taxes on wealth. a minimum wage,

00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:00.420
a 48 -hour work week, ending child labor. Sounds

00:18:00.420 --> 00:18:02.859
almost like a Democrat today. Well, initially

00:18:02.859 --> 00:18:05.220
he didn't even declare a party. He kind of hoped

00:18:05.220 --> 00:18:07.460
maybe both parties would want him. Eventually

00:18:07.460 --> 00:18:10.000
he declared as a Republican. But it didn't work

00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:13.519
out. No. His progressive leanings, plus his close

00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:17.079
ties to the outgoing Democrat, Wilson, that alienated

00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:20.059
conservative farmers and the powerful Republican

00:18:20.059 --> 00:18:23.019
old guard. The political climate was just too

00:18:23.019 --> 00:18:25.880
polarized for someone who'd operated mostly above

00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:28.660
the partisan fray on this global humanitarian

00:18:28.660 --> 00:18:31.200
level. His candidacy basically fizzled after

00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:33.579
he lost the California primary. So his unique

00:18:33.579 --> 00:18:36.920
mix wasn't quite right for the party politics

00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:39.359
of the moment. Seems that way. Expert administration

00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:42.700
and progressive ideals. Maybe not what the established

00:18:42.700 --> 00:18:44.680
parties were looking for right then. OK, so the

00:18:44.680 --> 00:18:47.559
1920 presidential run doesn't pan out, but his

00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:51.579
reputation still sky high. humanitarian, brilliant

00:18:51.579 --> 00:18:55.500
organizer, undeniable. Absolutely. So President

00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:58.240
Warren G. Harding wins the election, recognizes

00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:00.819
Hoover's talents, offers him a cabinet post,

00:19:01.500 --> 00:19:03.460
and Hoover makes a really interesting choice.

00:19:03.660 --> 00:19:06.900
What does he pick? The Commerce Department, which

00:19:06.900 --> 00:19:09.019
back then was considered kind of a minor post,

00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:12.839
small budget, vaguely defined duties, mostly

00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:15.680
just Collecting statistics. Not exactly glamorous.

00:19:15.980 --> 00:19:17.900
Not at all. But this is Herbert Hoover, right?

00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:20.359
He had a radically different vision. He didn't

00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:23.339
see it as minor. He saw it as the hub of the

00:19:23.339 --> 00:19:26.259
nation's growth and stability. The hub. OK, ambitious.

00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:29.059
And he didn't just sit there. He dramatically

00:19:29.059 --> 00:19:31.779
expanded its power, its influence. He famously

00:19:31.779 --> 00:19:34.579
just seized responsibilities from other departments

00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:36.420
if he thought they were dropping the ball or

00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:38.759
if a new national need popped up. He just took

00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:41.750
them. Pretty much. This proactive, almost audacious

00:19:41.750 --> 00:19:44.910
approach quickly earned him that nickname. Secretary

00:19:44.910 --> 00:19:47.609
of Commerce and undersecretary of all other departments.

00:19:48.349 --> 00:19:50.809
That says it all. It really does. What's fascinating

00:19:50.809 --> 00:19:53.490
is how he just redefined the role, showed that

00:19:53.490 --> 00:19:56.329
characteristic drive, that belief in expert administration,

00:19:56.670 --> 00:19:59.789
efficiency, progress. He wanted to promote efficiency,

00:20:00.049 --> 00:20:02.910
cut waste, boost production, conserve resources.

00:20:03.329 --> 00:20:06.069
He talked about a third alternative, a path between

00:20:06.069 --> 00:20:08.809
unrestrained capitalism and socialism, government

00:20:08.809 --> 00:20:11.410
as a facilitator, a data gatherer, promoting

00:20:11.410 --> 00:20:13.990
voluntary cooperation. And he dives into new

00:20:13.990 --> 00:20:16.470
technologies with that same energy. Boundless

00:20:16.470 --> 00:20:20.250
zeal. Take radio. Just think, between 1923 and

00:20:20.250 --> 00:20:23.170
1929, the number of families with radios exploded

00:20:23.170 --> 00:20:26.109
from like 300 ,000 to over 10 million. It was

00:20:26.109 --> 00:20:28.470
chaos on the airwaves. The Wild West of radio.

00:20:28.750 --> 00:20:30.970
Totally. Hoover steps in. He organizes these

00:20:30.970 --> 00:20:33.109
national conferences, broadcasters, manufacturers,

00:20:33.410 --> 00:20:35.769
regulators, all in one room. They lay the groundwork

00:20:35.769 --> 00:20:38.900
for the Radio Act of 1927. This allowed the federal

00:20:38.900 --> 00:20:41.039
government to step in and regulate stations that

00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:43.980
were considered non -useful or just causing interference.

00:20:44.180 --> 00:20:46.180
It was groundbreaking stuff, regulating a brand

00:20:46.180 --> 00:20:48.619
new mass medium. And aviation, too. Air travel

00:20:48.619 --> 00:20:51.259
was just starting. Equally profound impact there.

00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:54.519
He saw the potential, but also the risks. He

00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:56.940
didn't want it to develop chaotically, so he

00:20:56.940 --> 00:20:59.160
actively encouraged private industry, but at

00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:01.680
the same time, pushed hard for safety regulations.

00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:04.559
Under him, the Commerce Department developed

00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:06.680
emergency landing fields across the country.

00:21:07.140 --> 00:21:09.640
They mandated lights and radio beams on runways,

00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:11.859
established federal power to inspect planes,

00:21:12.380 --> 00:21:15.440
license pilots. These were crucial steps, setting

00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:17.720
the precedent for federal oversight that eventually

00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:21.099
led to the FAA. He saw the future. and move to

00:21:21.099 --> 00:21:23.619
make it safer, more efficient. That practical,

00:21:24.019 --> 00:21:26.619
organizing mind again, even for everyday things.

00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:29.339
Absolutely. The automobile was changing everything,

00:21:29.579 --> 00:21:32.259
bringing mobility, but also new dangers in cities.

00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:34.640
So he hosts these national conferences on street

00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:37.140
and highway safety, experts city leaders. They

00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:38.960
come up with the uniform vehicle code and the

00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:41.160
model municipal traffic ordinance. Standardizing

00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:43.339
traffic laws. Yeah, promoting uniformity across

00:21:43.339 --> 00:21:46.819
states and significantly helping prioritize the

00:21:46.819 --> 00:21:49.680
car in city planning. It shows that foresight,

00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:52.519
again, anticipating the impact of new tech and

00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:54.940
trying to bring order to rapid change. Now, despite

00:21:54.940 --> 00:21:57.619
all the success, you mentioned he had this, uh,

00:21:57.660 --> 00:21:59.900
Britain problem because he'd worked for British

00:21:59.900 --> 00:22:02.579
firms. Right. Biographers point this out. There

00:22:02.579 --> 00:22:05.059
was this political risk, especially in that nationalistic

00:22:05.059 --> 00:22:08.900
era, that he could be painted as too pro -British,

00:22:09.019 --> 00:22:11.759
maybe even a British tool. So how did he handle

00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:15.769
that? Politically. Strategically. First, he cultivated

00:22:15.769 --> 00:22:18.589
that image of the dispassionate scientist, then

00:22:18.589 --> 00:22:21.589
the humanitarian during the war relief. And finally,

00:22:21.950 --> 00:22:24.490
he used a tactic he called twisting the British

00:22:24.490 --> 00:22:27.059
tail. Twisting the British tail. What does that

00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:29.819
mean? We saw it clearly during the rubber crisis

00:22:29.819 --> 00:22:34.059
of 1925 26 Britain controlled like 75 % of the

00:22:34.059 --> 00:22:36.519
world's rubber They set up this scheme to restrict

00:22:36.519 --> 00:22:39.640
exports and prices tripled it hammered American

00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:41.940
industries, especially cars. Okay Hoover went

00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:44.619
on the attack vociferously denounced it as a

00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:47.299
monopolistic practice. He basically turned British

00:22:47.299 --> 00:22:49.920
economic policy into a nationalist issue for

00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:53.259
Americans. It shows how even really capable public

00:22:53.259 --> 00:22:55.279
servants have to play the image game, manage

00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:57.960
political vulnerabilities to stay viable. Fascinating

00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:00.359
political maneuvering. And speaking of navigating

00:23:00.359 --> 00:23:03.660
challenges, the great Mississippi flood of 1927,

00:23:04.039 --> 00:23:07.259
huge disaster. Immense devastation. Banks, levies

00:23:07.259 --> 00:23:10.509
break across seven states. 1 .5 million people

00:23:10.509 --> 00:23:12.569
displaced. And even though disaster response

00:23:12.569 --> 00:23:14.750
wasn't technically commerce's job. The governors

00:23:14.750 --> 00:23:16.809
asked for Hoover specifically. They did. They

00:23:16.809 --> 00:23:19.190
asked President Coolidge to put Hoover in charge

00:23:19.190 --> 00:23:22.329
of the federal response. Coolidge was reluctant

00:23:22.329 --> 00:23:24.730
at first, you know, states' rights, local responsibility,

00:23:24.789 --> 00:23:27.230
but the political pressure was intense. So Hoover

00:23:27.230 --> 00:23:30.130
takes charge. And with that characteristic energy,

00:23:30.750 --> 00:23:34.309
sets up over 110 cities, deploys a fleet of over

00:23:34.309 --> 00:23:37.349
600 boats for rescue and supply. personally raises

00:23:37.349 --> 00:23:40.269
$17 million for relief. This rapid, effective

00:23:40.269 --> 00:23:42.390
leadership just boosted his national profile

00:23:42.390 --> 00:23:45.269
even more. By 1928, you could argue he was almost

00:23:45.269 --> 00:23:47.930
overshadowing Coolidge, the indispensable problem

00:23:47.930 --> 00:23:50.289
solver. But there was a darker side to that flood

00:23:50.289 --> 00:23:53.730
response. There was. A deeply troubling, often

00:23:53.730 --> 00:23:56.150
overlooked part. Hoover apparently ordered the

00:23:56.150 --> 00:23:58.509
suppression of reports about the widespread mistreatment

00:23:58.509 --> 00:24:01.009
of African Americans in the refugee camps. They

00:24:01.009 --> 00:24:04.299
faced forced labor, segregation. terrible conditions.

00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:07.299
He suppressed the reports. Why? Seems it was

00:24:07.299 --> 00:24:09.420
done with the cooperation of a prominent black

00:24:09.420 --> 00:24:12.599
leader, Robert Russell Moten. The understanding,

00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:14.980
apparently, was that Moten would get influence

00:24:14.980 --> 00:24:17.700
and consideration once Hoover became president.

00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:21.539
That's a really stark example of how even humanitarian

00:24:21.539 --> 00:24:24.119
efforts can get tangled up with political calculations

00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:27.440
and expose those deep racial injustices of the

00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:30.180
time. That's very disturbing. Beyond these huge

00:24:30.180 --> 00:24:32.400
events, what else was he doing at Commerce? He

00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:34.220
turned the department into this powerhouse of

00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:36.720
economic information, recruited top academics

00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:39.559
to publish reports, giving businesses and policymakers

00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:43.000
vital data. He pushed hard for industrial standardization,

00:24:43.380 --> 00:24:45.759
getting industries to agree on uniform sizes

00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:48.519
for everything from car tires to, believe it

00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:50.799
or not, baby bottle nipples. Baby bottle nipples?

00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:53.759
Seriously? Seriously. All about eliminating waste,

00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:56.460
boosting efficiency. He also strongly supported

00:24:56.460 --> 00:24:59.339
the Own Your Own Home campaign, worked with bankers

00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:01.680
to promote long -term mortgages, which really

00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:03.539
helped fuel housing construction in the middle

00:25:03.539 --> 00:25:06.519
class. Secured U .S. Steel's agreement to an

00:25:06.519 --> 00:25:09.079
eight -hour workday played a key role in the

00:25:09.079 --> 00:25:11.559
Colorado River Compact sorting out water rights

00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:14.420
in the West. He was incredibly active. Tireless.

00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:17.279
And all this success, this high visibility, plus

00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:20.240
the booming Roaring Twenties economy It made

00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:23.000
him the obvious choice for the 1928 Republican

00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:25.539
presidential nomination, secured it on the first

00:25:25.539 --> 00:25:28.000
ballot. And the election. Landslide victory over

00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:31.599
Democrat Al Smith. Won 58 % of the popular vote,

00:25:32.019 --> 00:25:35.759
444 electoral votes. People credited his reputation

00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:38.539
as the efficient expert, the prosperity, and

00:25:38.539 --> 00:25:40.819
also deep splits in the Democratic Party over

00:25:40.819 --> 00:25:43.059
things like religion. Smith was Catholic and

00:25:43.059 --> 00:25:45.240
Prohibition. Now, there was an interesting detail

00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:47.579
about the census. Yeah, it's often overlooked.

00:25:47.819 --> 00:25:51.299
The 1920 census results were never actually used

00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:53.940
to reapportion Congress. So the Electoral College

00:25:53.940 --> 00:25:56.460
in 28 was based on outdated population figures

00:25:56.460 --> 00:25:59.019
from 1910. Could it have changed the outcome?

00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:01.819
Hard to say definitively, but it's a factor.

00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:04.339
And his strategy in the South, the Lily White

00:26:04.339 --> 00:26:07.380
strategy? That was hugely significant and damaging

00:26:07.380 --> 00:26:09.900
in the long run. He deliberately removed black

00:26:09.900 --> 00:26:11.740
Republicans from leadership positions in the

00:26:11.740 --> 00:26:14.059
South, trying to appeal to white Southern voters.

00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:17.599
deeply alienated African -American leaders. And

00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:19.940
this contributed to the shift. Many historians

00:26:19.940 --> 00:26:22.940
see it as a key reason why black voters who had

00:26:22.940 --> 00:26:24.579
traditionally supported the Republican Party,

00:26:24.839 --> 00:26:27.000
the party of Lincoln, started moving towards

00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:28.519
the Democratic Party in the following decades.

00:26:29.220 --> 00:26:31.059
A major political realignment was beginning.

00:26:31.319 --> 00:26:33.319
So Herbert Hoover walks into the White House,

00:26:33.619 --> 00:26:37.240
March 1929, immense goodwill, this amazing reputation,

00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:40.579
great engineer, great humanitarian, and just

00:26:40.579 --> 00:26:43.500
boundless optimism. Oh, the optimism was palpable.

00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:46.579
He famously declared, given the chance to go

00:26:46.579 --> 00:26:48.660
forward with the policies of the last eight years,

00:26:49.019 --> 00:26:51.559
we shall soon, with the help of God, be in sight

00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:54.000
of the day when poverty will be banished from

00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:57.019
this nation. Banished from the nation, wow. And

00:26:57.019 --> 00:26:59.180
people believed it. It reflected that buoyant

00:26:59.180 --> 00:27:02.640
spirit of the roaring twenties. But beneath that

00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:05.140
shiny surface, some really dangerous economic

00:27:05.140 --> 00:27:07.960
problems were festering, largely ignored or at

00:27:07.960 --> 00:27:10.180
least downplayed. Like what? What were the warning

00:27:10.180 --> 00:27:12.589
signs? Well, you had the ongoing farm crisis.

00:27:12.990 --> 00:27:15.369
Agricultural prices had tanked after WWI and

00:27:15.369 --> 00:27:18.250
never really recovered. Consumer goods, especially

00:27:18.250 --> 00:27:20.829
cars, appliances, they were hitting market saturation.

00:27:21.450 --> 00:27:24.569
Demand was slowing down. Crucially, income inequality

00:27:24.569 --> 00:27:27.430
was massive and growing. Wealth was concentrated

00:27:27.430 --> 00:27:29.990
at the top, which limited purchasing power for

00:27:29.990 --> 00:27:32.029
most people. And the stock market. Yeah, the

00:27:32.029 --> 00:27:34.519
big one. Excessive speculation had driven stock

00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:37.920
prices way, way beyond their actual value. A

00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:40.339
classic bubble. Some regulators, some conscious

00:27:40.339 --> 00:27:42.640
bankers, they actually warned Coolidge and then

00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:45.960
President -elect Hoover urged them to curb speculation.

00:27:46.039 --> 00:27:48.839
But they didn't act. Both were reluctant. Limited

00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:50.700
government intervention was their philosophy.

00:27:51.059 --> 00:27:53.160
They didn't want to interfere directly with the

00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:55.579
Federal Reserve System's operations. And then?

00:27:55.900 --> 00:27:58.839
Then, just months into his term, October 1929,

00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:02.470
stock market crashes. Black Tuesday. It signals

00:28:02.470 --> 00:28:04.289
the brutal start of the Great Depression. And

00:28:04.289 --> 00:28:06.589
this just completely redefined his presidency.

00:28:06.890 --> 00:28:09.289
Completely transformed his image from savior

00:28:09.289 --> 00:28:13.950
to, well, perceived failure. His view of the

00:28:13.950 --> 00:28:16.650
problem was key. He didn't see it as a fundamental

00:28:16.650 --> 00:28:19.190
flaw in capitalism. He saw it primarily as a

00:28:19.190 --> 00:28:21.190
lack of confidence in the financial system. A

00:28:21.190 --> 00:28:23.930
confidence problem. Yeah. His philosophy, rooted

00:28:23.930 --> 00:28:26.329
in that Quaker background, his self -made story,

00:28:26.910 --> 00:28:29.930
it favored bolstering businesses, banks. He thought

00:28:29.930 --> 00:28:32.569
that was the way to restore stability. He strongly

00:28:32.569 --> 00:28:34.730
opposed direct federal relief to individuals.

00:28:35.190 --> 00:28:37.210
He feared creating a dole, something that would

00:28:37.210 --> 00:28:39.950
weaken self -reliance, initiative, the nation's

00:28:39.950 --> 00:28:42.710
moral fiber. He truly believed local governments,

00:28:43.009 --> 00:28:44.869
private charities should handle individual needs.

00:28:45.150 --> 00:28:47.309
So his initial response reflected that philosophy.

00:28:47.990 --> 00:28:51.069
Exactly. Volunteerism. Indirect action. Right

00:28:51.069 --> 00:28:53.130
after the crash, he calls in top business and

00:28:53.130 --> 00:28:56.809
labor leaders, urges them, don't cut wages, don't

00:28:56.809 --> 00:28:59.109
have strikes, keep things going voluntarily.

00:28:59.490 --> 00:29:01.849
He convinced railroads, utilities to spend more

00:29:01.849 --> 00:29:04.109
on infrastructure, hoping for private stimulus,

00:29:04.789 --> 00:29:06.890
urged the Fed to cut interest rates, secured

00:29:06.890 --> 00:29:08.569
more money for the federal farm board to help

00:29:08.569 --> 00:29:11.259
agriculture. All aimed at stimulus preventing

00:29:11.259 --> 00:29:14.359
deflation. Right. But all while sticking to his

00:29:14.359 --> 00:29:17.619
guns. No direct federal relief for the unemployed.

00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:20.440
State and local responsibility. That was his

00:29:20.440 --> 00:29:23.279
mantra. But then came a major misstep. The Smoot

00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:26.480
-Hawley Tariff. Huge controversial misstep. June

00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:29.380
1930. Hoover initially just wanted higher tariffs

00:29:29.380 --> 00:29:32.130
on agricultural goods to help farmers. But it

00:29:32.130 --> 00:29:34.589
got tangled up in Congress. The final bill jacked

00:29:34.589 --> 00:29:37.150
up tariffs on hundreds of imported goods across

00:29:37.150 --> 00:29:39.109
the board. Did he support that broader bill?

00:29:39.509 --> 00:29:41.230
He wasn't directly involved in the congressional

00:29:41.230 --> 00:29:43.529
wrangling, but over a thousand economists warned

00:29:43.529 --> 00:29:46.309
against it. Still, he felt he had to sign it.

00:29:46.450 --> 00:29:48.309
It was the main legislative achievement of the

00:29:48.309 --> 00:29:50.589
Republican Congress, and he feared a political

00:29:50.589 --> 00:29:53.009
backlash if he vetoed it. And the consequence?

00:29:53.210 --> 00:29:58.029
Severe. Immediate. Canada. France. dozens of

00:29:58.029 --> 00:30:00.210
other countries retaliated instantly with their

00:30:00.210 --> 00:30:02.869
own tariffs on American goods. It sparked this

00:30:02.869 --> 00:30:05.509
vicious global trade war. International trade

00:30:05.509 --> 00:30:08.670
just collapsed. It made the economic crisis catastrophically

00:30:08.670 --> 00:30:12.250
worse everywhere. So it backfired badly. Horribly.

00:30:12.670 --> 00:30:15.089
Historians often cite it as a major factor that

00:30:15.089 --> 00:30:17.529
deepened the Depression. It wrecked his political

00:30:17.529 --> 00:30:20.049
standing, worsened the economy, isolated the

00:30:20.049 --> 00:30:22.329
U .S. It was a critical turning point, really.

00:30:22.410 --> 00:30:24.390
And the situation kept getting worse. Yeah. End

00:30:24.390 --> 00:30:27.549
of 1930, unemployment hits 11 .9 percent. worrying.

00:30:27.809 --> 00:30:30.069
But people still didn't grasp how deep this is

00:30:30.069 --> 00:30:33.650
going to be. Then, 1931, a wave of catastrophic

00:30:33.650 --> 00:30:36.529
bank failures wiped out savings, paralyzed credit,

00:30:36.990 --> 00:30:39.349
just escalated the collapse dramatically. And

00:30:39.349 --> 00:30:41.910
Hoover's position on the gold standard? He refused

00:30:41.910 --> 00:30:44.009
to abandon it, tied the dollar's value to gold.

00:30:44.130 --> 00:30:46.250
He saw any alternative as irresponsible, called

00:30:46.250 --> 00:30:48.349
it collectivism, thought leaving gold would cause

00:30:48.349 --> 00:30:50.329
runaway inflation, destroy financial stability

00:30:50.329 --> 00:30:52.890
completely. He also blamed Europe partly, right?

00:30:53.210 --> 00:30:56.049
Deeply convinced the weak European economy. tangled

00:30:56.049 --> 00:30:59.369
in war debts was dragging America down. Germany

00:30:59.369 --> 00:31:01.730
was near collapse in 31, so he initiated the

00:31:01.730 --> 00:31:05.009
Hoover moratorium, a one -year halt on all European

00:31:05.009 --> 00:31:07.589
war debt and reparations payments, hoped it would

00:31:07.589 --> 00:31:10.079
give them breathing room. Did it work? Well -intentioned,

00:31:10.140 --> 00:31:12.660
but ultimately, no. It didn't stop further defaults,

00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:14.779
didn't stop the cascading financial crisis in

00:31:14.779 --> 00:31:17.380
Europe, and tragically, that deepened economic

00:31:17.380 --> 00:31:20.019
distress, especially in Germany. It directly

00:31:20.019 --> 00:31:22.619
fueled the rise of extremist movements. Figures

00:31:22.619 --> 00:31:25.160
like Hitler capitalized on that despair. So by

00:31:25.160 --> 00:31:28.160
mid -1931, things are really bad. Unemployment

00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:31.759
soaring. 15 % by mid -31. Painfully clear this

00:31:31.759 --> 00:31:34.119
was way worse than any previous downturn. And

00:31:34.119 --> 00:31:36.759
Hoover himself. He was naturally reserved, hated

00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:39.079
public speaking, political showmanship. He struggled

00:31:39.079 --> 00:31:41.099
badly with his public image. And his opponents

00:31:41.099 --> 00:31:43.920
seized on that. Oh, effectively and often cruelly.

00:31:44.180 --> 00:31:47.220
Democrats painted him as cold, incompetent, reactionary,

00:31:47.259 --> 00:31:49.680
just out of touch. Those awful terms sprung up.

00:31:49.819 --> 00:31:51.740
Hoovervilles for the shanty towns, Hoover leather

00:31:51.740 --> 00:31:54.500
for cardboard shoes, Hoover blanket for newspapers.

00:31:54.759 --> 00:31:57.579
They became these pervasive symbols of his perceived

00:31:57.579 --> 00:32:00.039
failure. It really makes you wonder, doesn't

00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:03.380
it, how much did his personality, his communication

00:32:03.380 --> 00:32:06.319
style, maybe his aversion to public performance,

00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:09.119
how much did that affect his ability to lead,

00:32:09.420 --> 00:32:11.799
even with his experience and intentions? It's

00:32:11.799 --> 00:32:14.180
a huge question. It highlights just how crucial,

00:32:14.480 --> 00:32:17.240
effective public communication showing empathy

00:32:17.240 --> 00:32:20.660
really is during a national crisis. Regardless

00:32:20.660 --> 00:32:23.559
of underlying competence. Okay, so early 1932,

00:32:23.720 --> 00:32:27.519
unemployment is nearing, what, 23 %? Just catastrophic

00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:30.539
numbers. The pressure on Hoover is immense. Unbearable.

00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:33.119
Faced with just undeniable suffering across the

00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:35.980
nation, the total failure of his voluntary approach,

00:32:36.339 --> 00:32:38.660
he finally, finally agrees to more direct federal

00:32:38.660 --> 00:32:41.039
action. This was a huge shift for him given his

00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:43.380
core beliefs. What was the big move? The Reconstruction

00:32:43.380 --> 00:32:46.200
Finance Corporation. The RFC established January

00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:49.319
1932. This is a powerful new federal agency designed

00:32:49.319 --> 00:32:50.940
to give government -backed loans to struggling

00:32:50.940 --> 00:32:53.880
banks, railroads, local governments. So the government's

00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:56.259
stepping in to prop up institutions. Exactly.

00:32:56.559 --> 00:32:59.019
An unprecedented expansion of federal power in

00:32:59.019 --> 00:33:01.799
peacetime. Now, it did save a lot of banks and

00:33:01.799 --> 00:33:04.380
businesses from failing completely, prevented

00:33:04.380 --> 00:33:08.440
an even deeper collapse. But... It didn't really

00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:10.299
stimulate lending or kick -start the economy

00:33:10.299 --> 00:33:12.779
like Hoover hoped. Why not? Partly because it

00:33:12.779 --> 00:33:15.180
was run by pretty conservative bankers. They

00:33:15.180 --> 00:33:18.660
were maybe understandably hesitant to make risky

00:33:18.660 --> 00:33:21.160
loans in that climate. And it was definitely

00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:23.779
trickle -down aid, help the big institutions,

00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:26.400
hope it eventually reaches individuals, rather

00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:28.539
than direct relief. What else did he do around

00:33:28.539 --> 00:33:30.940
them? He signed the Federal Home Loan Bank Act,

00:33:31.640 --> 00:33:34.000
created a system like the Fed, but... for housing,

00:33:34.359 --> 00:33:36.720
to try and stabilize that market. Help pass the

00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:39.240
Glass -Steagall Act of 1932 that was emergency

00:33:39.240 --> 00:33:42.440
banking law to expand credit, stop gold hoarding.

00:33:42.859 --> 00:33:45.519
And then July 32, another concession, the Emergency

00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:48.500
Relief and Construction Act, a $2 billion public

00:33:48.500 --> 00:33:50.619
works bill to create jobs. These all sound like

00:33:50.619 --> 00:33:53.299
pretty major federal actions for a fiscal conservative.

00:33:53.640 --> 00:33:55.819
Extraordinary moves for him, completely against

00:33:55.819 --> 00:33:57.859
his instincts in many ways. But the budget was

00:33:57.859 --> 00:34:00.900
still a massive problem. Huge problem. After

00:34:00.900 --> 00:34:03.720
a decade of surpluses, the government had a crippling

00:34:03.720 --> 00:34:07.660
deficit in 31. Hoover, deeply believing in balanced

00:34:07.660 --> 00:34:10.099
budgets for stability and confidence, proposed

00:34:10.099 --> 00:34:13.159
a drastic 30 % tax increase. Increased taxes

00:34:13.159 --> 00:34:15.539
during a depression? Yeah. Led directly to the

00:34:15.539 --> 00:34:18.880
Revenue Act of 1932. Increased taxes across the

00:34:18.880 --> 00:34:21.940
board, individual income, corporate taxes. The

00:34:21.940 --> 00:34:25.239
top income tax rate soared to 63 % highest since

00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:27.800
the early 1920s. Did it balance the budget? Nope.

00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:30.500
Despite those huge tax hikes, the government

00:34:30.500 --> 00:34:32.820
still ran a significant deficit. It just shows

00:34:32.820 --> 00:34:35.159
the overwhelming scale of the Depression. Even

00:34:35.159 --> 00:34:37.079
massive tax increases couldn't keep up with the

00:34:37.079 --> 00:34:39.460
collapsing economy, the unemployment, the urgent

00:34:39.460 --> 00:34:42.539
need for spending. He was trapped. Raise taxes

00:34:42.539 --> 00:34:44.960
and depress the economy more, or run deficits

00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:46.659
which he thought would destroy national credit.

00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:49.099
Let's shift gears a bit. Civil rights and this

00:34:49.099 --> 00:34:51.360
Mexican repatriation policy, that sounds concerning.

00:34:51.579 --> 00:34:54.559
It's a really difficult and complex part of his

00:34:54.559 --> 00:34:57.510
presidency. Hoover rarely spoke publicly about

00:34:57.510 --> 00:35:00.489
civil rights. He believed minorities should progress

00:35:00.489 --> 00:35:03.909
through education, hard work, individual effort,

00:35:04.250 --> 00:35:06.610
not federal intervention. Now, his supporters

00:35:06.610 --> 00:35:08.949
point out, he did appoint more African Americans

00:35:08.949 --> 00:35:11.289
to federal jobs than Harding or Coolidge combined.

00:35:11.570 --> 00:35:14.710
But he faced huge condemnation from civil rights

00:35:14.710 --> 00:35:17.769
leaders for refusing to back a federal anti -lynching

00:35:17.769 --> 00:35:20.579
law. Many saw that as a basic matter of justice.

00:35:20.940 --> 00:35:24.320
And the Lily White strategy continued? Yes. That

00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:26.480
calculated political move in the South, removing

00:35:26.480 --> 00:35:29.519
black Republicans to court white voters. It continued,

00:35:29.880 --> 00:35:32.340
deeply alienating African -American leaders and,

00:35:32.340 --> 00:35:34.260
as we said, pushed them towards the Democrats.

00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:36.960
His nomination of Judge John Jay Parker to the

00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:38.960
Supreme Court, a conservative Southerner with

00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:41.500
an anti -labor, anti -black record, just fueled

00:35:41.500 --> 00:35:44.599
that fire. The NAACP and organized labor joined

00:35:44.599 --> 00:35:46.760
forces to defeat that nomination in the Senate.

00:35:47.019 --> 00:35:49.139
And the Mexican repatriation. What exactly was

00:35:49.139 --> 00:35:51.760
that? It's truly disturbing. In a desperate,

00:35:52.260 --> 00:35:54.619
misguided attempt to reduce unemployment, Hoover

00:35:54.619 --> 00:35:57.900
wanted to slash immigration. An executive order

00:35:57.900 --> 00:36:00.719
in 1930 required migrants to have proof of employment

00:36:00.719 --> 00:36:04.199
before coming. Then his administration actively

00:36:04.199 --> 00:36:06.639
supported and organized these coercive campaigns

00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:09.960
to prosecute and deport illegal immigrants, mainly

00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:11.920
targeting Mexican -Americans in California and

00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:13.840
the Southwest. So, coercive campaigns targeting

00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:17.019
Mexican -Americans. Yes. Between 300 ,000 and

00:36:17.019 --> 00:36:20.019
maybe even 2 million Mexicans and Mexican -Americans

00:36:20.019 --> 00:36:23.360
were repatriated, deported, or basically expelled

00:36:23.360 --> 00:36:26.280
during the 1930s, the vast majority during Hoover's

00:36:26.280 --> 00:36:28.309
term. And here's the shocking part. Estimates

00:36:28.309 --> 00:36:30.690
are 40 to 60 percent of them were U .S. citizens

00:36:30.690 --> 00:36:33.329
by birth. American citizens were deported? Yes.

00:36:33.579 --> 00:36:36.380
It's an incredibly dark chapter. Some scholars

00:36:36.380 --> 00:36:38.880
argue it meets modern definitions of ethnic cleansing

00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:41.840
because it targeted a specific group, often regardless

00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:44.400
of citizenship. It's a tough aspect of his legacy

00:36:44.400 --> 00:36:46.480
to confront. Absolutely. On a slightly different

00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:49.280
note, what about Native Americans? There, he

00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:52.440
did take some positive steps. He reorganized

00:36:52.440 --> 00:36:54.340
the Bureau of Indian Affairs to try and limit

00:36:54.340 --> 00:36:57.179
the exploitation of Native Americans, improve

00:36:57.179 --> 00:37:00.139
their condition somewhat. Okay. What about prohibition?

00:37:00.699 --> 00:37:03.780
Still the law of the land? Very much so. Hoover

00:37:03.780 --> 00:37:06.059
took office, urging everyone to obey the 18th

00:37:06.059 --> 00:37:08.579
Amendment and the Volstead Act. He set up the

00:37:08.579 --> 00:37:10.519
Wickersham Commission to study how effective

00:37:10.519 --> 00:37:12.900
Prohibition was, probably hoping they'd give

00:37:12.900 --> 00:37:15.420
it a thumbs up. But they didn't. No, the report

00:37:15.420 --> 00:37:18.039
was damning. Criticized the failed enforcement,

00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:21.139
noted the massive public opposition, the rise

00:37:21.139 --> 00:37:24.039
of organized crime. But Hoover, worried about

00:37:24.039 --> 00:37:26.860
losing support from Prohibition advocates, refused

00:37:26.860 --> 00:37:29.320
to endorse any changes. He stuck with it, even

00:37:29.320 --> 00:37:31.239
though public opinion was clearly shifting. He

00:37:31.239 --> 00:37:34.179
did. But the tide had turned. People saw it as

00:37:34.179 --> 00:37:36.719
a failure. It bred crime, disrespect for the

00:37:36.719 --> 00:37:39.840
law. By January 33, Congress approved the repeal

00:37:39.840 --> 00:37:42.400
amendment. It was ratified as the 21st Amendment

00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:45.639
by December 33. The Noll experiment was over.

00:37:46.300 --> 00:37:48.099
His administration just had to ride out that

00:37:48.099 --> 00:37:50.079
powerful wave of public sentiment. And foreign

00:37:50.079 --> 00:37:52.219
relations. The world was getting increasingly

00:37:52.219 --> 00:37:54.840
tense. Yeah, historian William Lichtenberg said

00:37:54.840 --> 00:37:57.599
Hoover was the last American president to take

00:37:57.599 --> 00:38:00.360
office with no conspicuous need to pay attention

00:38:00.360 --> 00:38:03.610
to the rest of the world. Ironically, he presided

00:38:03.610 --> 00:38:06.630
over the unraveling of the post -WWI order. How

00:38:06.630 --> 00:38:09.650
so? In Latin America? He actually moved towards

00:38:09.650 --> 00:38:11.670
non -interventionism there, which was a positive

00:38:11.670 --> 00:38:14.610
shift. Released the Clark memorandum in 1930,

00:38:14.909 --> 00:38:17.230
rejecting the old Roosevelt corollary that justified

00:38:17.230 --> 00:38:19.769
U .S. intervention, he ended the occupation of

00:38:19.769 --> 00:38:22.539
Nicaragua. nearly ended the one in Haiti. And

00:38:22.539 --> 00:38:24.940
disarmament, was that a priority? A big priority.

00:38:25.139 --> 00:38:27.760
He genuinely wanted to cut military spending,

00:38:27.960 --> 00:38:30.699
foster peace. He got the 1930 London Naval Treaty

00:38:30.699 --> 00:38:32.719
signed, which capped certain types of warships,

00:38:33.300 --> 00:38:35.599
a real achievement. But his bigger proposals

00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:38.340
of the 1932 World Disarmament Conference, like

00:38:38.340 --> 00:38:40.960
outlawing tanks, bombers, chemical warfare, they

00:38:40.960 --> 00:38:43.079
went nowhere. Tensions were just too high globally.

00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:46.059
What about Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 31?

00:38:46.119 --> 00:38:49.539
That was a major crisis. Huge crisis. Japan's

00:38:49.539 --> 00:38:52.360
sense of a puppet state violates treaties. The

00:38:52.360 --> 00:38:54.599
Hoover administration deplored it, but they were

00:38:54.599 --> 00:38:57.099
cautious. Didn't want to antagonize Japan too

00:38:57.099 --> 00:38:59.400
much. They feared weakening moderate elements

00:38:59.400 --> 00:39:02.219
in Japan and maybe alienating a potential counterweight

00:39:02.219 --> 00:39:04.260
to the Soviet Union, which Hoover saw as the

00:39:04.260 --> 00:39:06.219
bigger ideological threat. So what did they do?

00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:08.699
Their main response was the Stimson Doctrine,

00:39:08.840 --> 00:39:11.119
named after a secretary of state. It basically

00:39:11.119 --> 00:39:13.239
said the US wouldn't recognize any territory

00:39:13.239 --> 00:39:15.940
taken by force. A moral statement, but it had

00:39:15.940 --> 00:39:18.420
no real military or economic bite. All these

00:39:18.420 --> 00:39:21.659
immense pressures, domestic crisis, global instability,

00:39:22.300 --> 00:39:23.880
and then came the bonus army. Yeah, the bonus

00:39:23.880 --> 00:39:26.559
army incident. June 1932, probably the single

00:39:26.559 --> 00:39:29.099
most damaging event for his image. Thousands

00:39:29.099 --> 00:39:33.110
of WWI veterans, desperate, broke. March on Washington.

00:39:33.309 --> 00:39:35.789
Demanding their war bonuses early. Exactly. Bonus

00:39:35.789 --> 00:39:38.550
is not due until 1945. They set up these camps,

00:39:38.809 --> 00:39:41.610
these Hoovervilles, right near the Capitol. After

00:39:41.610 --> 00:39:43.530
offers of money to leave didn't work for everyone,

00:39:44.030 --> 00:39:46.050
local police tried to evict the remaining veterans.

00:39:46.210 --> 00:39:48.489
It turned violent. Two protesters were killed.

00:39:48.610 --> 00:39:51.389
And Hoover called in the Army. He made that fateful

00:39:51.389 --> 00:39:54.670
decision. Sent in U .S. Army troops under General

00:39:54.670 --> 00:39:57.039
Douglas MacArthur. And MacArthur, well, he went

00:39:57.039 --> 00:39:59.340
way beyond his orders. Believing he was fighting

00:39:59.340 --> 00:40:02.099
some kind of communist revolution, he aggressively

00:40:02.099 --> 00:40:05.340
cleared the camps, used cavalry, tanks, tear

00:40:05.340 --> 00:40:08.480
gas, burned the shantytowns down. Tanks against

00:40:08.480 --> 00:40:11.000
veterans. Which is horrific. Now, Hoover hadn't

00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:13.539
specifically ordered that level of force, but

00:40:13.539 --> 00:40:16.400
crucially, he endorsed MacArthur's actions afterward.

00:40:16.679 --> 00:40:20.159
It just cemented that public image. Cold, unsympathetic,

00:40:20.380 --> 00:40:22.360
willing to use the military on his own citizens.

00:40:22.840 --> 00:40:26.380
A PR nightmare. So heading into the 1932 election.

00:40:26.710 --> 00:40:29.510
Things look bleak. Bleak is an understatement.

00:40:29.690 --> 00:40:32.309
Crisis raging, bonus arnie fresh in everyone's

00:40:32.309 --> 00:40:34.949
minds. Nobody really expected him to win. He

00:40:34.949 --> 00:40:37.210
didn't even face serious opposition for the Republican

00:40:37.210 --> 00:40:39.250
nomination, which tells you something. And FDR.

00:40:39.449 --> 00:40:41.889
Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigned on bold government

00:40:41.889 --> 00:40:45.190
action, a new deal. He attacked Hoover, relentlessly

00:40:45.190 --> 00:40:47.690
blamed him for the Depression, painted him as

00:40:47.690 --> 00:40:50.530
indifferent to suffering. Hoover, he broke tradition,

00:40:50.650 --> 00:40:53.349
actually went out and gave nine major radio addresses

00:40:53.349 --> 00:40:55.570
defending his administration, his philosophy.

00:40:55.829 --> 00:40:58.239
How did that happen? go, but poorly. His delivery

00:40:58.239 --> 00:41:02.099
was described as monotone, awkward, serious demeanor,

00:41:02.159 --> 00:41:03.940
just couldn't compete with Roosevelt's charismatic

00:41:03.940 --> 00:41:06.880
fireside chats. And the crowds he faced. Historians

00:41:06.880 --> 00:41:09.420
say perhaps the most hostile crowds ever seen

00:41:09.420 --> 00:41:11.960
by a sitting president. His motorcade got pelted

00:41:11.960 --> 00:41:14.599
with eggs, rotten fruit. There were even assassination

00:41:14.599 --> 00:41:17.440
threats. His attempts to defend his record just

00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:20.159
didn't land. The hardship was too overwhelming.

00:41:20.440 --> 00:41:23.260
And the result? Crushing defeat, lost decisively.

00:41:23.369 --> 00:41:26.349
carried only six states. His popular vote dropped

00:41:26.349 --> 00:41:29.389
by almost 19 percentage points from his 28 landslide.

00:41:29.750 --> 00:41:32.050
Just a humiliating end, cementing that image

00:41:32.050 --> 00:41:34.030
of the president who couldn't solve the depression.

00:41:34.730 --> 00:41:37.150
So after that devastating loss, Hoover leaves

00:41:37.150 --> 00:41:39.869
Washington. A bitter man, you said. Understandably

00:41:39.869 --> 00:41:42.409
bitter. And he begins this incredibly long post

00:41:42.409 --> 00:41:46.269
presidency. Yeah. 31 years. From 1933 until 1953,

00:41:46.389 --> 00:41:48.489
he was the only living former president, a record

00:41:48.489 --> 00:41:51.210
only broken by Jimmy Carter much later. Imagine

00:41:51.210 --> 00:41:53.679
carrying that weight. through decades of huge

00:41:53.679 --> 00:41:56.239
change. And he became a major critic of FDR.

00:41:56.619 --> 00:41:59.980
Oh, a constant vocal critic. He grew increasingly

00:41:59.980 --> 00:42:03.059
conservative, became the foil to FDR in the New

00:42:03.059 --> 00:42:05.719
Deal, wrote several books laying out his arguments.

00:42:06.079 --> 00:42:08.420
The challenge to liberty in 1934 is probably

00:42:08.420 --> 00:42:10.829
the most famous. What did he say? He attacked

00:42:10.829 --> 00:42:13.610
Roosevelt's policies fiercely, called the NRA,

00:42:13.630 --> 00:42:15.969
the National Recovery Administration, fascistic,

00:42:16.469 --> 00:42:19.769
called the 1933 Banking Act gigantic socialism.

00:42:20.170 --> 00:42:22.969
He genuinely believed the New Deal was undermining

00:42:22.969 --> 00:42:27.150
core American values, individualism, self -reliance,

00:42:27.530 --> 00:42:29.829
limited government, feared it was leading towards

00:42:29.829 --> 00:42:32.090
totalitarianism. Be sure to run again? He did.

00:42:32.409 --> 00:42:34.550
Despite being deeply unpopular, he actually hoped

00:42:34.550 --> 00:42:36.769
for another shot, sought the Republican nomination

00:42:36.769 --> 00:42:39.449
in 36 and 40, but the party passed him over both

00:42:39.449 --> 00:42:41.650
sides. Interestingly, he was the last president

00:42:41.650 --> 00:42:43.389
to actually seek public office after leaving

00:42:43.389 --> 00:42:45.769
the White House until Donald Trump did in 2022.

00:42:46.010 --> 00:42:48.050
Wow. Now, during the lead up to World War II,

00:42:48.230 --> 00:42:51.349
his views were controversial. Very much so. He

00:42:51.349 --> 00:42:54.230
remained staunchly isolationist. In 1938, he

00:42:54.230 --> 00:42:56.130
actually traveled to Europe and met with Adolf

00:42:56.130 --> 00:42:59.789
Hitler. He met Hitler. Yeah. He apparently expressed

00:42:59.789 --> 00:43:02.829
dismay about the persecution of Jews, but he

00:43:02.829 --> 00:43:05.170
came away believing Hitler wasn't a direct threat

00:43:05.170 --> 00:43:09.199
to the U .S. He saw FDR's foreign policy as provocative,

00:43:09.539 --> 00:43:11.159
thought it was stopping Europe from reaching

00:43:11.159 --> 00:43:13.139
some kind of accommodation with Germany, which

00:43:13.139 --> 00:43:16.440
he felt was smarter. So he opposed U .S. involvement

00:43:16.440 --> 00:43:19.760
in the war. Vigorously. Opposed Lindley's. Became

00:43:19.760 --> 00:43:21.920
a prominent member of the isolationist America

00:43:21.920 --> 00:43:24.639
First Committee. Now his humanitarian side still

00:43:24.639 --> 00:43:27.619
flickered. He rejected FDR's offers for official

00:43:27.619 --> 00:43:30.199
wartime relief roles, but he did help set up

00:43:30.199 --> 00:43:32.440
the Commission for Polish Relief, aided Belgian

00:43:32.440 --> 00:43:35.820
civilians again in 1940. But he was against allying

00:43:35.820 --> 00:43:38.659
with the Soviets. Strongly against it. After

00:43:38.659 --> 00:43:42.300
the Nazis invaded the USSR, he publicly disparaged

00:43:42.300 --> 00:43:45.820
any tacit alliance with Stalin. He said, war

00:43:45.820 --> 00:43:48.119
alongside Stalin to impose freedom is more than

00:43:48.119 --> 00:43:50.809
a travesty, it is a tragedy. His unpopularity

00:43:50.809 --> 00:43:53.010
meant FDR didn't call on him for any wartime

00:43:53.010 --> 00:43:55.449
service, which apparently frustrated him personally,

00:43:55.610 --> 00:43:58.630
given his relief experience. And in 45, not knowing

00:43:58.630 --> 00:44:00.909
about the atomic bomb, he advised Truman against

00:44:00.909 --> 00:44:02.889
demanding unconditional surrender from Japan,

00:44:03.369 --> 00:44:05.289
worried about allied casualties in an invasion,

00:44:05.789 --> 00:44:08.510
still focused on saving lives, even in war. It's

00:44:08.510 --> 00:44:11.070
amazing how those political views and his humanitarian

00:44:11.070 --> 00:44:13.570
side seem to coexist, sometimes uneasily. But

00:44:13.570 --> 00:44:15.909
after the war, his image started to change. Slowly,

00:44:16.250 --> 00:44:19.079
unexpectedly, yeah. A rehabilitation began. And

00:44:19.079 --> 00:44:20.980
surprisingly, he struck up a friendship with

00:44:20.980 --> 00:44:24.460
President Harry S. Truman. Despite huge ideological

00:44:24.460 --> 00:44:26.900
differences, Truman actually valued Hoover's

00:44:26.900 --> 00:44:29.880
expertise, rows above the partisan history. Truman

00:44:29.880 --> 00:44:33.500
used Hoover's expertise. In 46, Truman sent Hoover

00:44:33.500 --> 00:44:37.239
to Germany and Italy, a fest, the post -war food

00:44:37.239 --> 00:44:40.800
situation. Hoover's reports were sharp, critical

00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:43.820
of U .S. occupation policy. But his work directly

00:44:43.820 --> 00:44:46.019
led to launching a school meals program that

00:44:46.019 --> 00:44:49.119
fed 3 .5 million kids in the American and British

00:44:49.119 --> 00:44:51.880
zones. Still the humanitarian. And the Hoover

00:44:51.880 --> 00:44:55.079
Commission? Right, 1947. Truman appoints him

00:44:55.079 --> 00:44:57.239
to lead the Commission on Organization of In

00:44:57.239 --> 00:44:59.840
a Scab Executive Branch, tasked with finding

00:44:59.840 --> 00:45:02.320
ways to eliminate waste, streamline government,

00:45:02.760 --> 00:45:05.300
strengthen White House control. Here's the irony.

00:45:05.820 --> 00:45:08.500
The guy who slammed FDR for concentrating power

00:45:08.500 --> 00:45:10.800
now believed a stronger presidency was needed

00:45:10.800 --> 00:45:13.320
for the atomic age. That is ironic. How was his

00:45:13.320 --> 00:45:15.159
relationship with later presidents? He supported

00:45:15.159 --> 00:45:17.519
Dewey against Truman in 48, but they stayed friendly.

00:45:17.980 --> 00:45:20.139
He apparently disliked Eisenhower, thought Ike

00:45:20.139 --> 00:45:22.219
didn't do enough to roll back the New Deal, but

00:45:22.219 --> 00:45:23.880
Ike still appointed him to another commission.

00:45:24.239 --> 00:45:26.260
His public standing really did improve in these

00:45:26.260 --> 00:45:29.159
later years. Partly his service, partly his self

00:45:29.159 --> 00:45:31.019
-deprecating humor, that famous line. Or one

00:45:31.019 --> 00:45:33.260
about the depression. Yeah. I am the only person

00:45:33.260 --> 00:45:35.159
of distinction who's ever had a depression named

00:45:35.159 --> 00:45:37.940
after him. I kind of broke the ice, let people

00:45:37.940 --> 00:45:40.000
see him differently. Did he take the presidential

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:42.480
pension when it was offered? He did. Congress

00:45:42.480 --> 00:45:45.579
passed the former President's Act in 58, offered

00:45:45.579 --> 00:45:49.559
$25 ,000 a year. Hoover was wealthy, didn't need

00:45:49.559 --> 00:45:52.619
it. But he apparently accepted it so as not to

00:45:52.619 --> 00:45:55.059
embarrass Truman, who supposedly did need the

00:45:55.059 --> 00:45:57.099
money and whose situation helped get the law

00:45:57.099 --> 00:45:59.500
passed. Interesting. And his relationship with

00:45:59.500 --> 00:46:02.420
JFK. He declined offers for roles from Kennedy.

00:46:02.699 --> 00:46:05.460
But surprisingly, he defended the Kennedy administration

00:46:05.460 --> 00:46:07.780
after the Bay of Pigs disaster and during the

00:46:07.780 --> 00:46:10.719
Cuban Missile Crisis. And he was reportedly genuinely

00:46:10.719 --> 00:46:13.860
distraught by Kennedy's assassination. This whole

00:46:13.860 --> 00:46:16.320
post -presidency shows him finding his way back

00:46:16.320 --> 00:46:18.619
into public life, not through politics, but through

00:46:18.619 --> 00:46:21.480
service, writing, and this gradual public acceptance.

00:46:21.559 --> 00:46:24.539
He kept writing too. Prolifically. Wrote that

00:46:24.539 --> 00:46:27.730
biography, The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson. which

00:46:27.730 --> 00:46:29.929
maybe reflected his own understanding of facing

00:46:29.929 --> 00:46:33.329
huge global challenges as president. His magnum

00:46:33.329 --> 00:46:35.929
opus, though, was Freedom Betrayed, published

00:46:35.929 --> 00:46:39.150
after his death. A massive critique of FDR's

00:46:39.150 --> 00:46:41.730
foreign policy, especially allying with the Soviets,

00:46:42.250 --> 00:46:44.590
reflected his lifelong anti -communism. And his

00:46:44.590 --> 00:46:46.869
very last written words were to Truman. Yeah,

00:46:47.050 --> 00:46:49.110
just six days before he died. Truman had slipped

00:46:49.110 --> 00:46:51.550
in the bathtub. Hoover wrote him of this charmingly

00:46:51.550 --> 00:46:54.010
characteristic note. Bath tubs are a menace to

00:46:54.010 --> 00:46:56.610
ex -presidents for, as you may recall, a bathtub

00:46:56.610 --> 00:46:58.869
rose up and fractured my vertebrae when I was

00:46:58.869 --> 00:47:00.969
in Venezuela on your world famine mission in

00:47:00.969 --> 00:47:03.730
1946. My warmest sympathy and best wishes for

00:47:03.730 --> 00:47:05.769
your recovery. That's quite a closing line. It

00:47:05.769 --> 00:47:08.210
is. poignant, a little humorous, he lived to

00:47:08.210 --> 00:47:11.550
be 90, died in New York City October 20, 1964,

00:47:12.130 --> 00:47:13.929
received a state funeral, buried back in West

00:47:13.929 --> 00:47:16.429
Branch, Iowa next to Lou Henry, held that record

00:47:16.429 --> 00:47:18.969
for the longest retirement until Carter, a life

00:47:18.969 --> 00:47:21.650
that spanned just immense change, profound personal

00:47:21.650 --> 00:47:24.360
transformation. So after tracing this incredible

00:47:24.360 --> 00:47:27.360
complex life, what is Herbert Hoover's legacy?

00:47:27.739 --> 00:47:30.280
He left office incredibly unpopular, reviled

00:47:30.280 --> 00:47:33.880
even. Extremely unpopular. His reputation really

00:47:33.880 --> 00:47:36.059
didn't start to recover until the 1970s, maybe

00:47:36.059 --> 00:47:38.880
even later. Historians today generally give him

00:47:38.880 --> 00:47:42.099
credit for his, quote, genuine belief in volunteerism

00:47:42.099 --> 00:47:44.780
and cooperation. and for the innovation of some

00:47:44.780 --> 00:47:48.480
of his programs, especially those later, unprecedented

00:47:48.480 --> 00:47:50.079
federal interventions during the Depression.

00:47:50.159 --> 00:47:53.019
But the criticisms remain. Oh, definitely. They

00:47:53.019 --> 00:47:55.639
note his perceived political ineptitude, his

00:47:55.639 --> 00:47:58.739
stiffness, and crucially, his failure to really

00:47:58.739 --> 00:48:01.480
grasp the severity, the unprecedented nature

00:48:01.480 --> 00:48:04.699
of the Depression in those critical early stages.

00:48:04.920 --> 00:48:07.000
There's that quote from Nicholas Lemon. Right.

00:48:07.019 --> 00:48:09.829
Lemon captures that common perception well. Hoover

00:48:09.829 --> 00:48:12.789
remembered, as the man who was too rigidly conservative,

00:48:13.250 --> 00:48:15.489
the hapless foil to the great Franklin Roosevelt,

00:48:16.130 --> 00:48:18.210
the politician who managed to turn a Republican

00:48:18.210 --> 00:48:21.199
country into a Democratic one. Polls of historians

00:48:21.199 --> 00:48:23.300
consistently rank him in the bottom third of

00:48:23.300 --> 00:48:26.300
presidents, 36th in that 2017 C -SPAN poll, for

00:48:26.300 --> 00:48:28.579
instance. It's fascinating how his presidency,

00:48:28.980 --> 00:48:30.780
specifically the Depression, just overshadows

00:48:30.780 --> 00:48:33.739
everything else. It really does. That period

00:48:33.739 --> 00:48:36.400
of immense struggle became so intertwined with

00:48:36.400 --> 00:48:39.780
the historical narrative that it tragically eclipsed

00:48:39.780 --> 00:48:43.079
decades of extraordinary humanitarian work, incredible

00:48:43.079 --> 00:48:46.289
administrative achievements. That's the paradox

00:48:46.289 --> 00:48:48.489
we started with. Yet despite all the criticism

00:48:48.489 --> 00:48:51.289
of his presidency, there's still widespread praise

00:48:51.289 --> 00:48:54.349
for his humanitarian work. Consistent, widespread

00:48:54.349 --> 00:48:57.150
praise for that. And for his dedication to public

00:48:57.150 --> 00:48:59.610
service, both before and after the White House.

00:49:00.250 --> 00:49:02.809
Richard Pipes, the historian, put it starkly,

00:49:03.369 --> 00:49:05.869
Herbert Hoover has the rare distinction of having

00:49:05.869 --> 00:49:09.090
saved millions. For many, that remains the core

00:49:09.090 --> 00:49:11.510
of his character, even if the presidential years

00:49:11.510 --> 00:49:14.340
cloud it. Now, the legacy in race is complicated.

00:49:14.539 --> 00:49:17.260
Very complicated, very difficult. Racist remarks

00:49:17.260 --> 00:49:19.679
were common then, sadly. Contemporaries noted

00:49:19.679 --> 00:49:21.539
Hoover reportedly never indulged in them while

00:49:21.539 --> 00:49:23.739
president. But privately, his views reflected

00:49:23.739 --> 00:49:26.460
the prejudices of the era. He considered white

00:49:26.460 --> 00:49:29.320
people inherently superior, viewed mixture of

00:49:29.320 --> 00:49:31.400
bloods disadvantageous. That's hard to reconcile.

00:49:31.619 --> 00:49:34.739
It is. Yet despite these deeply problematic personal

00:49:34.739 --> 00:49:37.719
beliefs, he did support education and work for

00:49:37.719 --> 00:49:39.960
black progress, like his support for Tuskegee

00:49:39.960 --> 00:49:43.159
Institute and his wife. Lou Henry Hoover made

00:49:43.159 --> 00:49:45.760
that brave move, inviting Jessie DePriest, wife

00:49:45.760 --> 00:49:48.340
of the first black congressman in decades, to

00:49:48.340 --> 00:49:51.639
a White House tea. Broke the color bar. A symbolic

00:49:51.639 --> 00:49:54.780
act, but significant. But leaders like W .E .B.

00:49:54.980 --> 00:49:58.380
Dubois were critical. Very critical. Dubois called

00:49:58.380 --> 00:50:01.380
him an undemocratic racist. And that lily white

00:50:01.380 --> 00:50:04.159
strategy in the South? Many historians see it

00:50:04.159 --> 00:50:06.199
as a pivotal reason for black voters leaving

00:50:06.199 --> 00:50:09.139
the Republican Party. His early experiences in

00:50:09.139 --> 00:50:11.340
China also seemed to shape his views on Asians,

00:50:11.940 --> 00:50:14.119
wrongly believing they lacked mechanical instincts.

00:50:14.760 --> 00:50:17.019
Some think this influenced his restrictive immigration

00:50:17.019 --> 00:50:19.559
policies. It just reminds you, historical figures

00:50:19.559 --> 00:50:21.380
are rarely simple heroes or villains. They're

00:50:21.380 --> 00:50:23.820
products of their time with both admirable qualities

00:50:23.820 --> 00:50:26.260
and deeply flawed views. His name is still attached

00:50:26.260 --> 00:50:29.079
to a lot of places, though. His legacy is physically

00:50:29.079 --> 00:50:31.820
present. Oh, absolutely. etched into the landscape.

00:50:32.500 --> 00:50:34.719
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum

00:50:34.719 --> 00:50:37.360
in West Branch, Iowa. The Hoover Minthorn House

00:50:37.360 --> 00:50:40.059
in Oregon, where he grew up. His Rapidan Fishing

00:50:40.059 --> 00:50:43.099
Camp in Virginia, now a historic landmark. The

00:50:43.099 --> 00:50:45.099
Lou Henry and Herbert Hoover House at Stanford,

00:50:45.500 --> 00:50:48.039
now the university president's home. And of course,

00:50:48.139 --> 00:50:50.480
the Hoover Institution at Stanford, that major

00:50:50.480 --> 00:50:53.019
think tank. And the big one, Hoover Dam. Hoover

00:50:53.019 --> 00:50:56.230
Dam, iconic feat of engineering. numerous schools,

00:50:56.449 --> 00:50:59.730
even two minor planets, 932 Huveria and 3063

00:50:59.730 --> 00:51:02.409
Herberta. There's a square name for him in Warsaw,

00:51:02.449 --> 00:51:05.010
Poland, for his relief work there. And that quirky

00:51:05.010 --> 00:51:07.710
medicine ball game, Hoover Ball, his doctor invented

00:51:07.710 --> 00:51:10.289
to keep him fit. Hoover Ball. Hoover Ball. And

00:51:10.289 --> 00:51:12.369
reflecting that early career, he's in the National

00:51:12.369 --> 00:51:14.829
Mining Hall of Fame, along with Lou Henry and

00:51:14.829 --> 00:51:16.809
the Australian Prospectors and Miners Hall of

00:51:16.809 --> 00:51:19.489
Fame, too. His impact on global mining was lasting.

00:51:20.210 --> 00:51:22.150
So wrapping this up, this deep dive really shows

00:51:22.150 --> 00:51:25.530
Hoover as this man of just immense. talent, relentless

00:51:25.530 --> 00:51:28.690
drive, deep humanitarian conviction, his early

00:51:28.690 --> 00:51:31.730
career, unprecedented success, engineer, relief

00:51:31.730 --> 00:51:34.329
organizer, literally saving millions. It was

00:51:34.329 --> 00:51:36.710
astonishing pre -presidency. But then the presidency

00:51:36.710 --> 00:51:38.889
itself, tragically hitting right at the start

00:51:38.889 --> 00:51:41.309
of the Great Depression, cements this totally

00:51:41.309 --> 00:51:44.079
different image. Perceived in action, political

00:51:44.079 --> 00:51:47.000
misjudgment. We've seen how his core beliefs,

00:51:47.579 --> 00:51:49.880
individualism, limited government, even shaped

00:51:49.880 --> 00:51:52.960
by some early progressive ideas, just clashed

00:51:52.960 --> 00:51:55.340
violently with the demands of this unimaginable

00:51:55.340 --> 00:51:58.000
economic crisis. It's a powerful, profoundly

00:51:58.000 --> 00:52:01.420
complex story. Hoover's life, especially everything

00:52:01.420 --> 00:52:04.079
before and after the presidency, stands in such

00:52:04.079 --> 00:52:07.000
stark contrast to that presidential legacy. It

00:52:07.000 --> 00:52:08.739
really raises a provocative question for you,

00:52:08.760 --> 00:52:11.300
the listener. What's that? Can a lifetime of

00:52:11.300 --> 00:52:13.599
extraordinary service, a person's fundamental

00:52:13.599 --> 00:52:16.679
character, be truly eclipsed, totally redefined,

00:52:16.679 --> 00:52:19.019
by one period of immense challenge in how the

00:52:19.019 --> 00:52:20.900
public perceived it, especially when they're

00:52:20.900 --> 00:52:23.500
caught in a storm, maybe bigger than any one

00:52:23.500 --> 00:52:25.969
leader could fully control? And what does that

00:52:25.969 --> 00:52:28.190
tell us about how history remembers its leaders,

00:52:28.750 --> 00:52:31.349
about our own ability to see the nuances? That

00:52:31.349 --> 00:52:34.150
is a truly thought -provoking question to leave

00:52:34.150 --> 00:52:36.510
you with. We definitely encourage you to explore

00:52:36.510 --> 00:52:38.829
further. Maybe visit one of those memorials,

00:52:38.869 --> 00:52:41.510
dig into the Hoover Institution archives. Form

00:52:41.510 --> 00:52:44.469
your own nuanced understanding of this complex,

00:52:44.650 --> 00:52:46.530
pivotal figure in American history. Thank you

00:52:46.530 --> 00:52:48.070
for joining us on this deep dive.