Herbert
Clark Hoover31st President of the United States, 1929-1933
Herbert Hoover was an extremely successful business man and public official when he was elected President in 1928. He entered the White House at a time of great prosperity, and Americans expected him to lead them on to even better days. Unfortunately, seven months after he took office, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began.
Although neither Hoover nor his policies had anything to do with the stock market crash and resultant Depression, he became the focus of the public's wrath. He appeared to act slowly in the emergency, but in reality he was the first President to use the power of the federal government to fight a depression. His own personal wealth undoubtedly made it even harder for him to appear concerned about the economic plight of average Americans, and he was resoundingly defeated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932.
| Election of 1928 | ||
| Candidate Herbert
Clark Hoover |
Popular Vote 21,429,109 |
Electoral Vote 444 |
| His Vice-President and Cabinet | |
| Vice-President | Charles Curtis |
| Secretary of State | Henry L. Stimson |
| Secretary of the Treasury | Andrew W. Mellon Ogden L. Mills (1932) |
| Secretary of War | Dwight F. Davis James W. Good (1929) Patrick J. Hurley (1929) |
| Attorney General | John G. Sargent William D. Mitchell (1929) |
| Postmaster General | Harry S. New Walter F. Brown (1929) |
| Secretary of the Navy | Curtis D. Wilbur Charles F. Adams (1929) |
| Secretary of the Interior | Roy O. West Ray L. Wilbur (1929) |
| Secretary of Agriculture | William M. Jardine Arthur M. Hyde (1929) |
| Secretary of Commerce | William F. Whiting Robert P. Lamont (1929) Roy D. Chapin (1932) |
| Secretary of Labor | James J. Davis William N. Doak (1930) |
| U.S. Events During His Administration | |
| Population in 1933 125,600,000 | |
| April 1929 | The Federal Farm Board was established by Congress. |
| October 29, 1929 | The stock market crashed. |
| 1932 | The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was established by Congress. |
| June 1932 | The "Bonus Army" of unemployed war veterans marched on Washington, D.C. |
| 1933 | The 20th Amendment to the Constitution changed the inauguration date from March 4th to January 20th. |
| World Events During His Administration | |
| 1930 | The London Conference limited the size of ships and navies. |
| 1931 | The United States declared a moratorium on World War I debts. |
| 1931 | The "Second Republic" was founded in Spain. |
| 1931 | Japanese troops invaded and occupied Manchuria. |
| 1933 | Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. |
Notes and Trivia
Hoover was the first multi-millionarie to become President.
The American President. www.americanpresident.org/history/herberthoover/
Presidents of the United States. The Internet Public Library. www.ipl.org/div/potus/hchoover.html
The White House. www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/hh31.html