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Herbert Hoover: Pipe Smoker... and Perhaps Worst President in History
The 31st president of the United States, Herbert Hoover is popularly remembered as one of the worst presidents in history. That reputation, however, is somewhat undeserved and partially the result of political propaganda advanced by the opposing party and Franklin Roosevelt, who ran against him in 1932 and despite his New Deal being no more effective in resolving the economic downturn than his predecessor. That's not to say it's entirely undeserved. Hoover made mistakes.
Roosevelt and Hoover started as friends but became rivals and enemies. The market crash that led to the Great Depression occurred only seven months after Hoover took office and ended only after the advent of the Second World War. Hoover took much of the blame for it, and some of his actions were certainly contributory. He was a remarkable man who became President at a terrible time, and his positive contributions have been overshadowed by the devastation of the Great Depression and his mistakes in combating it. In some ways, he was despicable; in others, he was admirable.
Early Life
Hoover's story is classic rags-to-riches, complete with being born in 1874 into a working-class family. His father was a blacksmith who died of a heart attack 10 days before Christmas when Hoover was six, and his mother died three years later of typhoid fever, leaving him an orphan. He lived for the next year and a half with a nearby uncle before being sent to another uncle in Oregon.
Despite having nothing to his name, Hoover managed to earn acceptance into the very first class of a new university: Stanford, in California. He worked part-time jobs to subsidize himself and majored in geology, graduating in 1895 as a mining engineer.
Employment was difficult after graduation. He worked a variety of back-breaking jobs until being hired by Bewick, Moreing & Co, a company operating gold mines in Western Australia. Traveling back and forth across the Outback and surveying mining locations, he recommended that the company purchase the Sons of Gwalia gold mine, which ended up being, well, a gold mine. It was enormously successful. Hoover's efforts contributed to the company controlling about half of the gold interests in Western Australia.
He worked part-time jobs to subsidize himself and majored in geology
Such was his success that he was given a junior partnership, and shortly thereafter, he was offered an irresistible opportunity in China, where he developed multiple gold mines. He instituted labor reforms based on merit and stopped the practice of long-term service contracts, improving the lives of much of his Chinese labor force. By 1901, Hoover was the operating partner of Bewick, Moreing.
In 1908, Hoover sold his shares in the company and divested himself of it, becoming an independent consultant and investor specializing in redeveloping ailing mining companies and extracting zinc from mining tailings — material left over after extracting ore. Based in London with his wife, he traveled worldwide and invested in companies on every continent. By 1914 his personal fortune was valued at more than $4 million, equivalent to about $100 million in today's currency. He was 40 years old.
he traveled worldwide and invested in companies on every continent
Humanitarianism
It was at this time that Hoover's drive to serve the public asserted itself. The First World War broke out in the summer of 1914, stranding about 120,000 American tourists in Europe. They could not access money, and ships had stopped crossing the Atlantic Ocean. They couldn't find accommodations, transportation, or the basic necessities for living.
Hoover, with other Americans living in London, organized. This is where Hoover excelled. He was a leader and a great organizer, and he got things done. His group provided financial assistance, shelter, food, and transportation. In America, Hoover's skills were noticed, his reputation skyrocketed, and he was lauded as a hero.
Another humanitarian disaster arose in October of that year. The Germans had invaded Belgium and the population was at risk of starvation. Hoover instituted the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB) and developed the infrastructure for providing food to millions of people trapped by the German army. Working 14 hours a day, Hoover gained diplomatic protection for the CRB after weeks of negotiations with the Germans and the British. As a neutral, humanitarian organization, the CRB was granted passage through the British naval blockade.
Germany was less interested in policing cities of starving people than in advancing military goals and agreed to let the provisions through. However, to reach and then maintain that agreement over the five years necessary, Hoover made more than 40 voyages across the North Sea to negotiate. He did all of this as a private citizen; he was not connected to the U.S government in any capacity. The CRB was an entirely private undertaking, and it would inform the way humanitarian efforts proceeded into present times.
Hoover made more than 40 voyages across the North Sea to negotiate
While initial funds were being raised, Hoover used his own money because lives were at risk; he couldn't wait for funds while people starved. Under Hoover's leadership, the CRB is estimated to have saved nine million lives. It was an enormous undertaking requiring masterful organization, and Hoover delivered. He was now an internationally acclaimed humanitarian.
When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Hoover to lead the U.S. Food Administration to control food supplies. The Allied countries of Great Britain, France, and Italy relied on the U.S for food, especially wheat. It was necessary for the U.S. to reduce its consumption so that supplies could be sent abroad for the war effort. Food prices in America rose 40 percent in the year from 1916-1917. Hoover's Food Administration worked tirelessly and capitalized on patriotism to reduce waste throughout the country so that food enough for the war effort could be distributed.
With campaigns to save food for the Allied Powers, he was able to stabilize prices and avoid rationing: "Meatless Mondays," "Wheatless Wednesdays," and similar slogans helped decrease domestic consumption without rationing. Hoover always felt that voluntary and patriotic motivations were more powerful than mandates and rigidity.
Public Service
The war ended in 1918, and in 1919 Congress formed the American Relief Administration with a budget of $100 million, putting Hoover in charge. Poland and Soviet Russia were at war, and the ARA worked to provide clothing, medical treatment, and food for 500,000 children in Poland. Russia was experiencing a famine that threatened 20 million people, and Hoover once again overcame political boundaries to help. Within months, Hoover's ARA was feeding 11 million people every day in 19,000 locations.
Hoover's ARA was feeding 11 million people every day
All of these efforts made Hoover enormously popular and enhanced the reputation of the United States, which from that point onward would become the vanguard of relief efforts anywhere in the world that needed help.
More Disaster Relief
Hoover had never run for public office, but such was his popularity that many wanted him to run for President in the 1920 election, including Franklin Roosevelt, who personally visited Hoover to urge him to run. Hoover, considered by most of the population as one of the greatest Americans of the 20th century, declined.
Warren Harding won that election and made Hoover the Secretary of Commerce. The Commerce Department had only vague responsibilities at that time, but Hoover made it a powerhouse, investing in infrastructure, eliminating waste, prioritizing efficiency, and conserving natural resources. Under Hoover, the Commerce department organized and regulated radio broadcasting as radio had become ubiquitous in households across the nation. He developed regulations for the air-travel industry, instituting the federal government's responsibility to inspect planes for safety and for licensing pilots. He developed emergency landing fields and required runways be equipped with lights and radio.
With rising vehicular traffic came a rise in casualties, and Hoover organized conferences to establish vehicle standards, traffic control measures, and driving rules. His efforts brought about uniform standards from one municipality to the next, making it easier and safer to drive.
When the levees broke during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, 600,000 people were suddenly homeless. Flood response was not in the purview of the Commerce department, but nonetheless the governors of six states devastated by the flood implored President Calvin Coolidge to appoint Hoover to coordinate flood response. At that time it was thought that emergencies such as floods were the responsibility of local authorities and Coolidge resisted a federal response, but he relented under political pressure.
Partnering with the Red Cross, Hoover raised $17 million ($250 million in today's currency) in donations, established more than 100 tent cities, and began recovering the 16 million acres of land affected. He was an unparalleled administrator, but he was also aware that his efforts placed him squarely in the public consciousness and he was intent on advancing his reputation so that he could run for President. His efforts were met with appreciation, adulation, and respect, and he was the most popular public official in the U.S. However, his flood response was marred by racism and the mistreatment of African Americans in refugee camps.
He was an unparalleled administrator
Black refugees were forced into heavy labor and coerced by the National Guard, which kept people from escaping the poor conditions of the Red Cross camps under threat of beatings and even death. Indoor facilities were provided for white refugees, but African Americans were placed in outdoor camps with inadequate food and shelter, and their homes were not among those that would be rebuilt. Black refugees were forced to unload supplies from ships and carry them through water that was often hip-deep for miles at a time. Blacks did almost all of the labor, slept on the wet ground, and received only bread and molasses to sustain themselves while whites received cooked meat and canned fruit while living in hotels and repurposed warehouses and department stores. Whites were evacuated while blacks remained behind to provide labor. White children were given medical care before black children. Clothing was provided for whites first. All of the camps were segregated. When they needed cheap labor, the U.S. government and the Red Cross in essence reinstituted slavery.
Hoover suppressed reports of these details. While some newspapers decried the practices, others reported only on the wholesome aspect of local volunteers helping local people, and Hoover's reputation was mostly untarnished.
Despite the fact that U.S. citizens were forced under duress to provide the labor necessary to rebuild after the flood, Hoover emerged as a hero who prioritized the safety and the well being of the people. He was elected President in the 1928 election, winning by a landslide with 444 of 531 electoral votes. Part of his platform was to eliminate poverty, with a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage — ironic promises in light of what was about to befall the nation.
Hoover emerged as a hero who prioritized the safety and the well being of the people
He did some good things while President. He opposed government intervention and coercion, preferring volunteerism. He closed tax loopholes for the rich and tried, though failed, to reduce taxes for lower income families. He stabilized farming prices by establishing the Federal Farm Board. He coordinated the Justice Department and the IRS to prosecute gangsters like Al Capone. He spearheaded commissions for the betterment of the lives of children. He set aside 5.5 million acres for national forests. Rather than using federal funds, he depended on private donors, alleviating the tax burden on the American people and always mindful of the federal budget, which he was determined to keep balanced.
The Crash
The stock market crash of 1929 started Hoover's downward trajectory. During WWI, farmers had increased productivity to support the war by automating and going into debt to buy machinery. After the war, this increased productivity and excess food resulted in reduced food prices, making farming an unsustainable profession. Many farmers lost their farms and moved to the cities.
Making things worse, a horrendous drought made the midwest a dustbowl. Americans began accumulating crushing debt. It was a time of "buy now, pay later" for washing machines, houses, cars, and other conveniences. Banks were lending money at increased volumes for businesses and private individuals alike. Because the stock market was doing so well before the crash, many borrowed money to speculate on the market and earn much more in dividends than the interest to be paid on those loans.
Farm failures, overextension of credit, and then the stock market crash combined for a perfect storm of economic catastrophe. Banks stopped lending money. Businesses couldn't sell products, so they lowered prices, which led to lower profits and the firing of employees. People out of work couldn't afford to buy things, so business profits were reduced even more. Businesses closed. People couldn't pay their mortgages and lost their homes. Because there was little trust in financial institutions, everyone went to the banks to collect their money, and banks couldn't cover the outlay; they had to call in loans to try to cover the demand, and because debtors could not pay, thousands of banks simply closed. There was no insurance on money in banks in that day; they were independent. People went to their banks and were told that their money was gone, never to return. Everything they owned, everything they had saved, every hope they had, was wiped out.
Hoover met with business leaders and campaigned hard to maintain current wages for the people and avoid cutbacks. He instituted the expansion of railroads, public utilities, and construction to provide economic stimulus. He authorized massive public works projects to try to resuscitate the economy. Interest rates were reduced. It was assumed that the market crash would lead to only a short economic downturn of perhaps 60 days, similar to the short depression of 1920-21. Unfortunately, he was so intent on balancing the federal budget that he resisted welfare programs.
He authorized massive public works projects to try to resuscitate the economy
Among his largest mistakes was signing the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which was designed to protect American consumers but resulted in increased prices for goods around the world when other nations retaliated with their own tariffs. The result was devastating and prices for goods rose, increasing the already insurmountable financial burden on ordinary people.
Unemployment reached around 25 percent, and everyone blamed Hoover. Homeless people built shantytowns of cardboard and wood scraps, calling their makeshift homes "Hoover hotels" and the neighborhoods where they were built "Hoovervilles." The only heat they had was from fires in 55-gallon drums, which they called "Hoover heaters." Hoover's name, which had been one of hope and respect a few years earlier, was now used to symbolize everything that was wrong with the economic disaster that was the Great Depression.
The Bonus Army
Herbert Hoover and group outside White House, Washington, D.C., 1929
Perhaps the most damaging blow to Hoover's political career was his response to protests staged by WWI veterans, who had been promised a bonus for their war service to be paid no earlier than 1945. That payment was meant to be compensation for lost civilian wages during service. They marched on Washington to demand immediate payment when it was so desperately needed rather than to wait for better times.
By June of 1932, more than 20,000 veterans were encamped in Washington. Sympathetic citizens brought them supplies. A bill was in Congress to distribute the funds early, and the veterans were there to lobby and wait for the outcome. However, Congress and Hoover decided that the $2.5 billion necessary was better spent on other economic stimuli, and in July, the bill was soundly defeated.
While many veterans left Washington after that, many did not. A riot broke out when D.C. police tried to evict veterans from some abandoned buildings. Authorities asked that federal troops be utilized to clear buildings, and Hoover agreed, giving clear instructions that the veterans were to be treated gently and escorted back to their main encampment.
Hoover agreed, giving clear instructions that the veterans were to be treated gently
Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of Staff, was in charge of the operation and he defied his orders, chasing the veterans and their families with tanks, cavalry, and tear gas back to their camp, which he burned to the ground.
There was much brutality against people who had fought for their nation just a few years before, and both the reality and the optics of the situation were dire. Hoover took responsibility for the disaster, and it doomed his election hopes. Franklin Roosevelt would win the Presidency, and Hoover's one term as President would be over.
Post Presidency
Hoover lived until 1964 and much of his energy was spent trying to revitalize his reputation. He hoped to run again for the Presidency, but the Great Depression had too tarnished his name. Roosevelt wanted nothing to do with Hoover and snubbed efforts to involve him in any matters, but in 1947, President Harry Truman appointed him to lead the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government. There, Hoover utilized his famous organizational and administrative skills to help eliminate fraud and inefficiency, and consolidate agencies. The Hoover Commission did much to strengthen the White House and the executive branch of the government.
Truman and Hoover at the dedication ceremony for the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
Pipe Smoking
Despite myriad resources documenting Hoover's humanitarian and political endeavors, little can be found about his pipe smoking. We know he was a pipe smoker mostly from photographs from the time he was a mining engineer until late in life. In Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive (1975) by Joan Hoff Wilson, there is a mention of pipes:
At least until World War II, he continued to wear the standard outfit of a bygone era, a conservative dark blue or brown double-breasted suit with high black shoes and a stiff white collar. His friends later recalled that he often wore these veritable "neck vices" when engaging in his favorite relaxation — fly fishing. Throughout his life, Hoover also enjoyed "clean" jokes, cigars (later in life he switched to a pipe), martinis, any dish made of corn, driving fast, and reading mystery stories before going to bed. (29)
An amusing comment is referred to in Herbert Hoover: A Public Life (1979) by David Burner, in which Hoover mentions the right kind of doctor in connection with tobacco:
Hoover's last years were spent amidst some travail. In 1958 he managed to attend the Brussels World Fair; barely a dozen Belgium relief workers were still alive to celebrate their earlier fellowship. Suffering from stomach pain, he had his gall bladder removed in 1962. A sound doctor, he said, must be opposed to exercise and in favor of tobacco. His interest in finishing "Freedom Betrayed," an unpublished history of Communist influences on the West, kept him at work, though he was deaf and now nearly blind. (338)
"A sound doctor, he said, must be opposed to exercise and in favor of tobacco"
In another biography, The Many Worlds of Herbert Hoover (1966) by James P. Terzian, a pipe is reported as an important aspect of Hoover's leisure time:
Hoover was a respected man of wealth before his fortieth birthday, actually a millionaire several times over. But he lived quietly, without ostentation, a reserved, portly figure, keenly competent in his profession and painfully shy in all public appearances. In the banking houses and board rooms he invariably appeared in a dark double-breasted suit. The stiff, high-collared shirt he wore in summer and winter became his distinguishing trademark, though at a mining site he donned the baggy coveralls and hard helmets of his profession. But given a few hours off, Herbert Hoover would jump into a pair of hip boots, grab a fishing pole and, pipe in mouth, contentedly cast into the nearest stream. The Bill of Rights, he jokingly once remarked, was based on life, liberty and the pursuit of fish. (59)
Terzian again refers to Hoover's pipes in terms of his favorite pastime, fishing:
During his term, the President sought relief from the rigors of office at a rustic mountain retreat in the Blue Hills of Virginia which he bought with his personal funds. Here, a hundred miles from Pennsylvania Avenue, he donned hip boots, stoked his pipe and waded into the Rapidan River, fly rod in hand. For a blissful few hours Hoover the President became Hoover the fisherman, his favorite role. Some years later, he presented the entire property to the Boy and Girl Scout organizations. (120)
And in a book titled Hoover Off the Record (1934) by Theodore G. Joslin (secretary to the President, 1931 to 1933), the importance of Hoover's pipe smoking is underscored:
He smoked much of the time that he worked, despite his Quaker upbringing, almost always drawing on a long, thick cigar, but occasionally pulling on a favorite pipe in the privacy of his study or when out in the open. Smoking was a pleasure to him. (16)
Last photograph taken of President Herbert Hoover shaking hands with President John F. Kennedy
In 1962, Hoover underwent surgery to remove a mass from his large intestine, resulting in massive internal bleeding that took his life the next day. He is remembered with mixed feelings by most. He was a man who accomplished much, who literally saved millions of lives, and who also caused suffering on an appalling scale during the Great Depression. Do they cancel each other? Some scholars defend Hoover and argue that his negative reputation is undeserved; others see him as incompetent, and most accept that he was someone whose extremes of performance altered the lives of everyone. He does seem to have been honorably following his understanding of what was best for the country.
He was a pipe smoker, and like the rest of us, he was complex. His achievements scaled from world-altering humanitarianism to deplorable and tragic on a massive scale. A man with enviable skills and intelligence, he was placed in a position that few could adequately navigate. Many may remember him as the worst President, but perhaps he should be better thought of, in our charitable moments, as a humanitarian who accomplished much, saved millions of lives, and discharged his duty as he thought best for the nation and the people who depended on him.
- "Don't Blame Hoover," by David M. Kennedy, Stanford Magazine, January/February 1999.
- Hoover Off the Record (1934) by Theodore G. Joslin (secretary to the President, 1931 to 1933)
- Herbert Hoover: A Public Life (1979) by David Burner
- The Many Worlds of Herbert Hoover (1966) by James P. Terzian
- Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive (1975) by Joan Hoff Wilson
- Yale's Historical Review
- Historyonthenet.com
- Washingtontimes.com
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Comments
What an amazing history lesson. I felt like I was watching the History Channel in my head. If you were my history teacher when I was in the 7th and 8th grade, I would have paid better attention. Sounds like President Hoover and Carl Jung were looking for the same kind of doctor. An excellent portrayal of a president that I have read very little about, it held my attention all the way through. Thank you.
👍 story. Lot of stuff I did not know. I enjoyed it very much. Looks like he was President at a bad time in American history. MacAuther was brutal. 😯
Presidents are supposed to lead, but do not operate in a vacuum. In my opinion, as worst presidents go, he isn't even in the top five. Great lesson in history as usual.Your Obedient Servant;Mike
Perhaps he was the worst President until Trump came along and claimed that title for himself!
Fascinating! I studied a lot of US history but Hoover was barely mentioned -- only as the dope who brought about the Depression (if anything, he had the impossible task of capping an erupting volcano). I was a bit shocked at MacArthur's (obviously one of the more famous pipe smokers of all time) shameful handling of the veterans' protests Hopefully Lady Nicotine provided some solace for Hoover, man who clearly has gotten, in a lot of ways, a seriously bum rap.
The current president is by far the worst ever.
Thank you for another wonderful article today. I think President Hoover was basically a good man who made a some mistakes. He was in politics for the right reasons, to be of service to our country, the United States.What is so terrible for us now, is all the politicians and bureaucrats under the influence of foreign money and control. We do need a man like Herbert Hoover again.
The current president is far from perfect, but a veritable angel and a genius compared to the last one.
Thank you for sharing this interesting information.I'm glad to have had the opportunity of learning about the president HOOVER.
Great article, thank you. Just a heads up on the photo of Hoover standing with the group outside the White House. If you look closely, they are civil war veterans and wearing GAR medals.
Hoover was an effective manager. His handling of the great flood won him the presidency. However, after the crash an effective manager is not what the country needed, hence the ignominious reputation. History provides several examples of terrible presidents-Harding, WH Harrison, Buchanan--but with the facts of our 45th finally getting full airing none of our past presidents can possibly compete for worst ever. Hoover isn't even in the mix.
For those of you (deleted insulting word) who think that the 45th President was so bad... take a look at your retirement funds... take a look at the prices at the gas station and the grocery store... take a look at the crime statistics and murder rate... take a look at the ominous developments of war threatening over hot spots in the world... if you like all of this then by all means elect more Democrat's and abolish the Republican Party... for me I will vote for America and Americans First and smoke my churchwarden stuffed with Casey Jones Beyond Brave while I wave my American Flag and salute those who sacrifice and risk all for our beloved USA!
This is one more great article by Chuck Stanion.
A great article. An honest, informative look at the complicated history of a former President with no agenda. More, please!
Coolidge (like Reagan) presided over an economy galloping toward disaster and left his successor to take the blame (i.e., the elder Bush). Hoover's misplaced confidence of unshakeable faith in the so-called "free market" to right itself has been proved false time and time again. Nasty little dig at Roosevelt -- I'm sure the millions who benefited from WPA and other public aid projects would disagree.
Another well written and well balanced article. Thank you