Herbert Hoover

Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st President of the United States (1929–33). He was a professional mining engineer and was raised as a Quaker. A Republican, Hoover served as head of the U.S. Food Administration during World War I, and became internationally known for humanitarian relief efforts in war-time Belgium. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business under the rubric "economic modernization". In the presidential election of 1928, Hoover easily won the Republican nomination, despite having no elected-office experience. Hoover is the most recent cabinet secretary to be elected President of the United States, as well as one of only two Presidents (along with William Howard Taft) elected without electoral experience or high military rank.

Herbert Hoover, Jr.

Herbert Charles Hoover, Jr. (August 4, 1903 – July 9, 1969) was a successful engineer, businessman, and politician. He served as United States Under Secretary of State from 1954 to 1957. His father was President Herbert Hoover.

Biography

Early years, 1903—1928

Herbert Charles Hoover was born in London on August 4, 1903. He was the elder son of President Herbert Clark Hoover (1874—1964) and First Lady Lou Henry (1874—1944). He was named for his father, Herbert, and his maternal grandfather, Charles Delano Henry, but throughout his life was known as Herbert Hoover, Jr. His father, an engineer, was in London working for Bewick, Moreing & Co. By the age of two, Herbert Jr. had been round the world twice. One of his earliest memories was riding a wagon piled high with gold with his father in Australia. The family lived near Stanford University while he was growing up, and he took great pride in serving as water boy for the Stanford Indians football team. During the 1918 flu pandemic, Hoover contracted influenza, which left him with a hearing impairment that affected him for the rest of his life. Hoover began taking an interest in radio sets at age 14. He attended his father's alma mater, Stanford University, graduating with a degree in general engineering in 1925. He later studied at the Harvard Business School, and then won a fellowship from the Daniel Guggenheim Fund to study aviation economics. His work focused on the economics of radio in the aviation sector.