Herbert Hoover

Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) is best known as being the 31st President of the United States (1929-1933). However, prior to that, he was a successful mining engineer, humanitarian, and administrator. He had the longest retirement of any U.S. President and died 31 years after leaving office, during the administration of Lyndon Johnson — his fifth successor.

Achievements of the Hoover Administration

Even if the Hoover presidency has a negative imprint on it, it must be noted that there were some important reforms under the Hoover administration.

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The President expanded civil service protection, cancelled private oil leases on government lands and led the way for the prosecution of gangster Al Capone. He appointed a commission which set aside 3 million acres (12,000 km²) of national parks and 2.3 million of national forests; he appointed a Federal Farm Board that tried to fix farm prices, advocated tax reduction for low-income Americans, doubled the numbers of veteran hospital facilities, negotiated a treaty on St. Lawrence Seaway (which failed in the Senate), signed an act that made The Star-Spangled Banner the national anthem, wrote a Children's Charter that advocated protection of every child regardless of race and gender, built the San Francisco Bay Bridge, created an antitrust division in the Justice Department, required air mail carriers to improve service, proposed federal loans for urban slum clearances, organized the Federal Bureau of Prisons, reorganized the Bureau of Indian Affairs, proposed a federal Department of Education, advocated fifty-dollar-a-month pensions for Americans over 65, chaired White House conferences on child health, protection, homebuilding and homeownership. He also signed the Norris-La Guardia Act that paved the way for the New Deal's labor policy.

Related Topics:
Al Capone - National park - Federal Farm Board - Senate - The Star-Spangled Banner - National anthem - San Francisco Bay Bridge - Antitrust - Justice Department - Federal Bureau of Prisons - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Pension - Norris-La Guardia Act - New Deal

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In the foreign arena he helped to pave the way for Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Good Neighbor Policy" by withdrawing American troops from Nicaragua and Haiti, he also proposed an arms embargo on Latin America and a one-third reduction in the world's naval forces - the Hoover Plan. He and Secretary of State Henry Stimson outlined the Hoover-Stimson Doctrine that said that the United States would not recognize territories gained by force.

Related Topics:
Franklin D. Roosevelt - Nicaragua - Haiti - Embargo - Latin America - Hoover Plan - Henry Stimson - Hoover-Stimson Doctrine

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Supreme Court appointments

Hoover appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:

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• Charles Evans Hughes - Chief Justice - 1930
• Owen Josephus Roberts - 1930
• Benjamin Nathan Cardozo - 1932