Hoover, Herbert (Clark)

31st president of the USA 1929–33, a Republican. He was secretary of commerce 1921–28. Hoover lost public confidence after the stock-market crash of 1929, when he opposed direct government aid for the unemployed in the Depression that followed.

Hoover was born in West Branch, Iowa. He became a mining engineer, and travelled widely before World War I. After the war he organized relief work in occupied Europe. A talented administrator, he was subsequently associated with numerous international relief organizations, and became food administrator for the USA 1917–19. President Wilson later made him a member of the War Trade Council, and as such he took part at Paris in the negotiation of the Versailles Treaty. In 1928 he defeated the Democratic candidate for the presidency, Al Smith (1873–1944), by a wide margin.

The shantytowns, or Hoovervilles, of the homeless that sprang up around large cities after the stock-market crash were evidence of his failure to cope with the effects of the Depression and prevent the decline of the economy. He was severely criticized for his adamant opposition to federal relief for the unemployed, even after the funds of states, cities, and charities were exhausted. In 1933 he was succeeded by F D Roosevelt.