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The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover #1
The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: Years of Adventure, 1874-1920
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
524 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
About the author
Herbert Hoover
247 books24 followersHerbert Clark Hoover, the 31st President of the United States (1929–1933), was a mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted government intervention under the rubric "economic modernization". In the presidential election of 1928 Hoover easily won the Republican nomination. The nation was prosperous and optimistic, leading to a landslide for Hoover over the Democrat Al Smith, whom many voters distrusted on account of his Roman Catholicism. Hoover deeply believed in the Efficiency Movement (a major component of the Progressive Era), arguing that a technical solution existed for every social and economic problem. That position was challenged by the Great Depression, which began in 1929, the first year of his presidency. He tried to combat the Depression with volunteer efforts and government action, none of which produced economic recovery during his term. The consensus among historians is that Hoover's defeat in the 1932 election was caused primarily by failure to end the downward spiral into deep Depression, compounded by popular opposition to prohibition. Other electoral liabilities were Hoover's lack of charisma in relating to voters, and his poor skills in working with politicians.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 5, 2021
I was only planning to read the non president era so I'll mark when I've read the presidential era, but it's mostly just very interesting stories of engineering in the early twentieth century. Hoover travelled the world for his work and was a much more interesting person than simply the president who caused the great depression.
I read this because I was interested in his work on alchemy through the translation of the book de re metallica.
I read this because I was interested in his work on alchemy through the translation of the book de re metallica.
July 29, 2017
Actually found his early years inspiring and interesting. Did not read the other two memoirs.
February 23, 2015
This is the first volume of three, carrying Hoover from his birth in Iowa up to 1920 - the conclusion of his role as Food Administrator for the United States during WWI. The first part covers his boyhood, time at Stanford University (he was one of the first students at the new university), and his beginnings and subsequent success and wealth in the engineering field. A self-made millionaire, Hoover displays a lively wit and has many anecdotes to tell in this part of the book. His writing is somewhat dry as far as his profession goes, and he gives too many statistics about mine operations and profits (this tendency for statistics gets really pronounced later when he brings up table after table of food donations and distributions).
The second, and longest part, of the book concerns his roles as first the Belgian Food Administrator, and then as that of the U.S. after he demonstrates his proficiency for administrative detail. While parts of this section are interesting, mostly they are academic in nature and written almost more for a student doing research on the subject.
The third section of the memoir has to do with his involvement in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. He focuses on his relations with President Woodrow Wilson as well as various other high-ranking officials. Hoover had a lot of influence, or at least he makes it appear that way, for a time until Wilson suffers what seemed to be a mini-stroke and became much more rigid and uncompromising in his demeanor.
Hoover does mix in some personal opinions and private family stories to liven things up here and there. Overall, this is worth reading to get a sense of who the man was and how he was able to make himself into a very influential person. One side note: in a few footnotes, he takes some potshots at FDR. While not surprising, it is somewhat unseemly as FDR had nothing to do with the event that took place in this volume.
Grade: C+
The second, and longest part, of the book concerns his roles as first the Belgian Food Administrator, and then as that of the U.S. after he demonstrates his proficiency for administrative detail. While parts of this section are interesting, mostly they are academic in nature and written almost more for a student doing research on the subject.
The third section of the memoir has to do with his involvement in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. He focuses on his relations with President Woodrow Wilson as well as various other high-ranking officials. Hoover had a lot of influence, or at least he makes it appear that way, for a time until Wilson suffers what seemed to be a mini-stroke and became much more rigid and uncompromising in his demeanor.
Hoover does mix in some personal opinions and private family stories to liven things up here and there. Overall, this is worth reading to get a sense of who the man was and how he was able to make himself into a very influential person. One side note: in a few footnotes, he takes some potshots at FDR. While not surprising, it is somewhat unseemly as FDR had nothing to do with the event that took place in this volume.
Grade: C+
January 26, 2008
What an interesting life he led. If he hadn't happened to be elected President on the eve of the Great Depression, his reputation as a humanitarian and public servant would be very different today -- that's a big shadow to come out from under.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews