Herbert Hoover For President

Black and white photograph of Herbert Hoover on a black background.  White text is printed above and below photograph. 

Herbert Hoover, despite being Secretary of Commerce for both the Harding and Coolidge administrations, never held an elected public position prior to his entrance into the Republican presidential primary of 1928. Nevertheless, his reputation as a humanitarian helped make him a trusted name amongst voters. Similarly, his association with the Harding and Coolidge administrations during the roaring 1920s convinced many that a Hoover administration meant a continuation of economic prosperity. Hoover won the 1928 election in landslide, beating the Democrat Al Smith.

It all came crashing down, however, eight months after Hoover took office. On October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed, ushering in the worst economic downturn known in American history: the Great Depression. The downward economic spiral showed little signs of easing by the time Hoover began preparing for re-election. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a New York Democrat, easily defeated Hoover, and entered the White House in Spring, 1933.

Upon leaving office, Hoover continued to remain a public fixture, both as an anti-communist crusader and humanitarian. Hoover died at the age of 90 in 1964.