Herbert Clark Hoover was born in 1874 in West Branch, Iowa. He lived with his parents and two siblings in a small cottage. His father, Jesse, died of typhoid fever and his mother, Hulda, died of pneumonia, and Herbert became an orphan at age 10. He was raised by his uncles, first in Iowa and then in Oregon.At age 17, Herbert Hoover began working his way through Stanford University and earned a degreein engineering.
Hoover became a very successful mining engineer, making his fortune operating mines in SanFrancisco, England, Australia, and China. He married Lou Henry in 1899. Lou was actually born in Waterloo,Iowa, but Herbert first met her while they were attending Stanford.They had two sons who became accustomed to traveling the globe.
Though Hoover found personal wealth overseas, he gave up his mining career to direct emergencyrelief activities in Europe during World War I. He organized an effort to feed and clothe masses of starvingpeople in war-torn Belgium. In 1921, President Harding appointed him Secretary of Commerce. Hoover’s dedication to relief efforts made him a hero. In 1928, Hoover was elected the 31st president of the UnitedStates. Hoover’s rags to riches story gave the country hope that anyone can grow up to be president, even apoor orphan boy from Iowa.
Hoover took the oath of office in March 1929, when the nation was prospering,but the stock market crashed the following October and he was blamed as the economy fell and unemployment soared. Because of the Great Depression, Hoover was often seen as an unsuccessful president. As aresult, he was overwhelmingly defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the next election. However, Hoover waswidely praised for his many other accomplishments. For his leadership in war and famine relief, he is remembered as «The Great Humanitarian.»