preview

Herbert Hoover 's Tragic Childhood

Decent Essays

Herbert Hoover was orphaned at the tender age of nine after his father suffered a heart attack while battling pneumonia shortly after his mother fell ill with a combination of pneumonia and typhoid fever and passed away. The death of both parents left Herbert and his siblings to live the rest of their childhoods with distant relatives. Hoover’s tragic childhood did not in any shape or form foreshadow his future. For the majority of Hoover 's life, he was tossed around from relative to relative for a few years until he landed in the care of his Uncle Dr. John Minthorn, who was a resident of Oregon. Hoover was able to get a high school education and major in geology at Stanford University in California. While attending college at …show more content…

Hoover ran the U.S. Food Administration at the request of President Woodrow Wilson. Hoover did quite well as the head of the U.S. Food Administration in leading the effort to preserve food and essential supplies that helped aid European allies. During the war, Hoover had become a household name and the verb "Hooverize" was used, and that meant to ration household supplies. World War 1 officially ended in November of 1918 when the armistice treaty was signed. President Wilson then appointed Hoover to lead European Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in which he supplied over 30 million tons of American supplies to help aid the war-torn European countries. Hoover 's service during World War 1 helped him gain the trust of President Wilson. With that confidence well established between both men, President Wilson relied on Hoover 's knowledge of world affairs during the Versailles Peace Conference. The next year, Hoover founded a Library named after himself at Stanford University that served as an archive for World War 1 documents and records. The private organization became the Hoover Institution, which was devoted to the study of war and peace. In the 1920s Hoover was in the running to be elected president as a member of the Republican Party, and he did not make it. Republican Warren Harding won the 1920s presidential election and then appointed his fellow contender Hoover as his secretary

Get Access