American President: An Online Reference Resource

In-depth information reviewed by prominent scholars on each President and administration

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874 - 1964)


Herbert Clark Hoover

31st President of the United States (1929-1933)

Born: August 10, 1874, West Branch, Iowa

Nickname: None

Education: Stanford University (graduated 1895)

Religion: Society of Friends (Quaker)

Marriage: February 10, 1899, to Lou Henry (1875-1944)

Children: Herbert Clark (1903-1969), Allan Henry (1907-1993)

Career: Engineer

Political Party: Republican

Writings: The Challenge of Liberty (1934), America’s First Crusade (1942), Memoirs (3 vols., 1951-52), The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson (1958)

Died: October 20, 1964, New York City, New York

Buried: West Branch, Iowa

A Life in Brief: Upon accepting the Republican nomination for President in 1928, Herbert Hoover predicted that “We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among us.” Hoover won the presidency that year, but his time in office belied his optimistic assertion. More....

Essays on Herbert Clark Hoover and his Administration


Herbert Clark Hoover:
A Life in BriefLife Before the PresidencyCampaigns and ElectionsDomestic AffairsForeign AffairsLife After the PresidencyFamily LifeThe American FranchiseImpact and LegacyKey Events
First Lady:
Lou Hoover
Vice President:
Charles Curtis
Secretary of State:
Henry L. Stimson (1929 - 1933)
Secretary of War:
James W. Good (1929 - 1929)Patrick J. Hurley (1929 - 1933)
Secretary of Commerce:
Robert P. Lamont (1929 - 1932)Roy D. Chapin (1932 - 1933)
Secretary of the Treasury:
Andrew W. Mellon (1929 - 1932)Ogden L. Mills (1932 - 1933)
Attorney General:
William DeWitt Mitchell (1929 - 1933)
Secretary of Agriculture:
Arthur M. Hyde (1929 - 1933)
Secretary of Labor:
James J. Davis (1929 - 1930)William N. Doak (1930 - 1933)
Postmaster General:
Walter F. Brown (1929 - 1933)
Secretary of the Interior:
Ray L. Wilbur (1929 - 1933)
Secretary of the Navy:
Charles F. Adams (1929 - 1933)

Consulting Editor: David E. Hamilton

Professor Hamilton is an associate professor of history at the University of Kentucky. His writings include:

From New Day to New Deal: American Farm Policy from Hoover to Roosevelt, 1928-1933 (University of North Carolina Press, 1991)


Presidential Speeches

Below are selections from the Miller Center's Herbert Clark Hoover speech collection. To view the Miller Center's other speeches by Herbert Clark Hoover or by another President, please click one of the two links at the bottom of the page.

March 4, 1929 - Inaugural Address

Miller Center Scholarship and Speakers

The Miller Center of Public Affairs is a national nonpartisan center to research, reflect, and report on American government, with special attention to the central role and history of the presidency. Below is a selection of Miller Center resources on Herbert Clark Hoover.

 Listen to George Nash’s 1992 presentation at the Miller Center on Herbert Hoover’s 1932 Campaign.

Click here to learn more about the Center’s National Commission on Presidential Press Conferences and its relationship to Hoover.

Scripps Library Reference Resources

Below are links to reference resources prepared by the Miller Center's Scripps Library that are designed to help students and scholars quickly conduct their research.

Bibliography on Herbert Clark Hoover and his Administration

Information on Herbert Clark Hoover's Private and Public Papers

Speeches | Speech Archive
Academic Programs | Public Programs
Policy Programs
Presidential Bibliographies | Presidential Papers
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