Tuesday, November 08, 2016
Herbert Hoover: A Life
by Glen Jeansonne
Growing up, I was fed the popular view of Herbert Hoover--he was a meek little man who had the misfortune to be president when the stock market crashed and was unable to do anything to fix it. Glen Jeansonne, however, would have you believe that Herbert Hoover was a great man. He made a believer out of me.
While Hoover certainly didn't end the Great Depression, he did fill his long life with other great accomplishments. Professor Jeansonne traces his life from his birth in Iowa, through his education at Stanford University, a successful career as a mining engineer and as a leader of relief efforts during World War I. It was Hoover's great success in these areas that led his fellow Republicans to select him first as Secretary of Commerce and then President. Hoover responded to the financial crisis of the 30s like he did to the food crises of World War II--encouraging a decentralized response with a lot of involvement with local governments and communities. According to Professor Jeansonne, Hoover did accomplish a lot to lessen the crisis. However, the problem was too big to solve in a single, four year term and there were all too many people willing to put the blame on the President. Hoover lost his bid for re-election and spent almost the next twenty years being the Democrats' poster child for bad government. However, he rose up to the challenge and through his writing and community involvement, continued to serve and influence society for another 30 years.
Herbert Hoover: A Life was an easy, enjoyable read. I might have preferred it if Professor Jeansonne had wrote a bit more about the events of the time that played into Herbert Hoover's life, but I suppose there are longer biographies out there that might fill that bill. (He does indeed include a thorough essay on the sources he used to write the book.) His bias toward Hoover is fairly obvious, but to be expected. It'll be interesting to pick up a biography of FDR and see what that author has to say about Hoover. All in all, it's a book well worth reading.
Check it out!
LibraryThing link
Growing up, I was fed the popular view of Herbert Hoover--he was a meek little man who had the misfortune to be president when the stock market crashed and was unable to do anything to fix it. Glen Jeansonne, however, would have you believe that Herbert Hoover was a great man. He made a believer out of me.
While Hoover certainly didn't end the Great Depression, he did fill his long life with other great accomplishments. Professor Jeansonne traces his life from his birth in Iowa, through his education at Stanford University, a successful career as a mining engineer and as a leader of relief efforts during World War I. It was Hoover's great success in these areas that led his fellow Republicans to select him first as Secretary of Commerce and then President. Hoover responded to the financial crisis of the 30s like he did to the food crises of World War II--encouraging a decentralized response with a lot of involvement with local governments and communities. According to Professor Jeansonne, Hoover did accomplish a lot to lessen the crisis. However, the problem was too big to solve in a single, four year term and there were all too many people willing to put the blame on the President. Hoover lost his bid for re-election and spent almost the next twenty years being the Democrats' poster child for bad government. However, he rose up to the challenge and through his writing and community involvement, continued to serve and influence society for another 30 years.
Herbert Hoover: A Life was an easy, enjoyable read. I might have preferred it if Professor Jeansonne had wrote a bit more about the events of the time that played into Herbert Hoover's life, but I suppose there are longer biographies out there that might fill that bill. (He does indeed include a thorough essay on the sources he used to write the book.) His bias toward Hoover is fairly obvious, but to be expected. It'll be interesting to pick up a biography of FDR and see what that author has to say about Hoover. All in all, it's a book well worth reading.
Check it out!
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, PresidentialBioReadingList
// posted by John @ 10:15 AM 
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