Captioning performed by vitac its a spy story, its a humanitarian story, its a political and diplomatic story. Hoover was not very diplomatic by nature. The interesting thing is lou said later on that he was never the same after belgium. What he saw particularly the children. Remember, he was an orphan. All his life, there was something about hoover, he was not naturally gifted in social interaction. But with children, there was a different person. And belgium stamped him, for better or worse. The other remarkable thing again, building on what we said earlier, it was all voluntary. He appealed to the American People. He said, again, the American People, if you tell them what you need, they will give you their shirt off their backs. And there is a you go to west branch, the records are there. It is its a remarkable story there was one group, i think there was a kansas club of new york, who were going to build a clubhouse. And instead of building the clubhouse, they gave hoover the 500,000 that they had raised. And that was repeated over and over and over again. At this point, the United States wasnt in the war. But, again, that reinforced hoovers with belief that all his life, he was looking for a third way, between laissezfaire, capitalism, which he abhorred, and socialism, which he dreaded. And he came up with this terribly clunky, very hooveresque term of what was it . Voluntary association, the idea that without government coercion, without legislative edict, you could approach you could reach americans at the grassroots. Through churches, through the community chest, through the red cross, through a whole host of volunteer organizations. That was the backbone of america. That was the strength of america. That was what gave voice to american ideals. That was great. It worked. And Woodrow Wilson asked hoover to come home, and he had become a phenomenon, as you might imagine, and wilson entrusted him with something called the American Food administration. And he is its all voluntary. There are no ration cards in world war i. He uses propaganda. He uses public relations, this new embryonic science to reach people and touch people and motivate people to respond to his appeals. So there were meatless mondays and wheatless wednesdays. Not every campaign worked. There was a campaign by a pig, you know, a properly cared for pig is as sanitary as anything else. Well, the suburbs did not rise up and embrace that. Whale steak was adapted to some, though not many diets. Sugarless gum is a byproduct of the food administration. Again, the idea was, the American People would grow more, save more, and together they would basically feed their allies across the sea. The problem with that, theres two problems with that. Again, it confirmed hoover in his belief, which by now is a bedrock conviction, that whatever the problem, you know, you didnt need a government solution, you just needed to organize. Hoover also said the test of a democracy is that its organized from the ground up, not dictated from the top down. And again, people responded. It confirmed him in his faith. Economically, the legacy was, farmers grew more and more. They became addicted to foreign to surplus purchases overseas. And of course, in the 1920s, no more war, no more european markets. There was a slump. So there was an agricultural depression in america long before 1929. And that was one of the things that bedeviled president s through the period. Hoover and Woodrow Wilson became close, for what passes for close with either man, each in his own way was almost too rational, too cerebral for the political process. They were both in versailles. Wilson and hoover was part of the delegation. And later on, years later, hoover did something no America President had ever done. And in fact, the record stood until george w. Bush wrote about his dad. Hoover was the only american president to write a book about another american president. He wrote or deal of a president. Which is very sympathetic and a best seller. Hoover wrote two dozen books. That was the only one on the best seller list, but its a fascinating and what is in wilson that clearly appeals to hoover, its useful to know in terms of predicting many of the problems that hoover would experience in the white house. Who asked him to be commerce secretary and how long was he there and what impact did he have . The harding administration, Warren Harding, rather touchingly, aware of his own limitations, set out to recruit a cabinet of the best men. So Charles Evans hughes became secretary of state. And he asked hoover and basically gave hoover a choice. And hoover picked the commerce department, which in those days was perhaps the least Important Department in the cabinet. Well, of course, hoover being hoover, soon there were cartoons portraying hoover as secretary of commerce and undersecretary of everywhere else. And he did rub a lot of feathers, because he used well, he created something out of what was there. The federal radio commission. Radio is regulated because hoover started it. Forerunner of the fcc. And from the outset, he was certain that he did not want a bbctype arrangement. He did not want he wanted government to regulate the industry, but he didnt want government to run the industry. With, you know, enormous repercussions ever since. The first airfield in washington was hoover. Hoover field. Its over where the pentagon is now. He took he wrote zoning regulations that could be adapted all over the country. He promoted the construction of new housing, with standardized products. I mean, sounds kind of dull, but the fact is im trying to think. Hoover is an engineer. He thought like an engineer. He ate like an engineer. In the white house, it was famous, no state dinner could last more than 60 minutes. And he once eight five courses in 13 minutes. In the 1920s, he called his son into his office one day, his son, who was he was Herbert Clarke hoover. And he was Herbert Clarke hoover jr. And he said, you mind dropping your middle initial. And he said, no, but why. And he said, well, i have to sign my name hundreds of times a day if i dont have to. I mean, youve got to get yourself inside that kind of brain in order to understand both hoovers accomplishments and his lamtations. How long was he commerce secretary . He was commerce secretary for eight years almost eight years, under both at the tail end, after he had been nominated for president but 7 1 2 years under harding and coolidge. Theres a very poignant scene and you know, who knows what might have been. Harding had Great Respect for hoover. He never he said, you dont write the same gd english that i do. A well, thats im not sure that thats an insult. But in any event, but he had Great Respect for hoover and one thing i mentioned, both parties in 1920 flirted with the idea of nominating hoover. Wilson told his brotherinlaw that if level to him, he would choose his successor Herbert Hoover. And hoover talked to some democrats in 1920. But he decided, he was an old he was a bull moose republican. He was a Teddy Roosevelt progressive republican. In fact, his problem with the party throughout the 20s and throughout his presidency was from the right wing of the party, that never really trusted him and a lot of them were isolationist, too. And they held his cosmopolitan background against him. But anyway, he accompanied harding on the crosscountry voyage of understanding to alaska where harding felt ill and then they returned to san francisco. Its funny, Hoover Harding pressed Hoover Harding was clearly oppressed by something, and he couldnt get it off his chest. He couldnt sweep. So he played bridge endlessly, game after game of bridge. And its funny, hoover, who loved cards and was a mean canasta player in his later years, permanently lost his taste for bridge. Never played bridge again after harding died, because that trip had worn out his tolerance for the game, but also because of the tragic consequences of the trip. Harding asked him at one point, cryptically, if you knew of some great scandal within the administration, what would you do . And hoovers advice was to go public with it in all. Totally. He said, you would at least get credit for exposing the wrong doers. Harding didnt bring up the subject again. It was very clear to hoover that teapot dome and the other harding scandals had broken through and were you know, he said, later on, he said, people dont die of broken hearts. But people can get exhausted and be vulnerable to heart attacks because of profound disappointment. And clearly Warren Harding was disappointed. The completion of that story, harding died in august 1923. Coolidge becomes president. He retains hoover. They dont have the same chemistry that harding did. Coolidge was as suspicious of activity as hoover was unwilling to be inactive. And plus, i think coolidge sensed hoovers ambition. And yet, its interesting. When the mississippi overflowed to this day, by some measurements, its still the greatest Natural Disaster in American History. 1927. The flood covered thousands and thousands of square miles in the south. There was no government agency. There was no expectation that government would respond in any way. There was only Herbert Hoover. Who had this nickname, the master of emergencies. Well, this was a domestic emergency on the scale that he had dealt with overseas. So typically, he left washington, went out into the field, organized, you know, tent cities, Railroad Cars full of food, you know, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And its interesting, because in 1928, he ran against a very impressive governor of new york, al smith, charismatic figure, in many ways seen as sort of the father of modern liberalism before franklin roosevelt, his successor. And its, you know, no one writes about 1928 without emphasizing the bigotry, the anticatholic bigotry that smith ran into, particularly in the south. And extraordinarily, its not Barry Goldwater who broke the solid south and its not dwight eisenhower, its Herbert Hoover who carried texas and several other southern states. The assumption is he only carried them as a measure of the anticatholic bias that existed in the deep south. And that clearly was a factor. But theres another factor that tends to get overlooked. And that is the gratitude that people in the deep south felt, because hoover was the face of relief at the time of the floods. The only person, really certainly the only Person Associated with government who had tried to address their needs. I mentioned the harding story concludes in 1930, they built harding a great big hollow drum in marion, ohio, but they couldnt get anyone to dedicate it. Coolidge wouldnt go and dedicate it. And hoover, seven years after harding died, hoover took a train to marion and dedicated it. Not only did he dedicate it, but he used his speech to single out people in the audience who had been crooks in the harding administration. People who had hastened the president s death. I mean, it was a very gutsy thing to do. How was he picked by the Republican Party to be the candidate and how big did he win against al smith . In many ways, he was a reluctant choice. I mean, remember, this was a guy who had, you know, fraternized with the enemy. Had been part of Woodrow Wilsons war cabinet. He talked to democrats about 1920. Its a wonderful letter from Young Franklin roosevelt to a friend who had urged hoovers virtues. And fdr, you know, genial fdr agreeing saying, he certainly is a wonder. No one would be better than Herbert Hoover as a democratic nominee. But hoover was not interested in being a sacrificial lamb that year. He had you know, he knew enough about politics to know that in 1920, it was a republican year. So anyway, he allowed his name to be entered in the california primary against hiram johnson, a senator who was a militant isolationist. And the result was a mixed bag. He got enough votes to really wound johnson and make sure that johnson would not be nominated, but not enough votes to impress the professionals. Remember, that was the famous smokefilled Room Convention where senatorial cabal, according to legend met, and by process of elimination came up with Warren Harding. Well, the fact is, hoover was never a regular republican. Again, he had been a supporer of the bull moose third party. He was that kind of you know, in the 1920s, the closest thing to a modern parallel would be colin powell, say, in the 1990s. Or early, you know, post2000. Someone who, frankly, should have made the party proud to have as a member, but whom the base would instinctively shy away from, as a standardbearer. How big did he win by . He won big. He won by 6. 5 million votes. 21. 5 million votes to 15 million votes. However, underneath those numbers, there were portents for the future. One reason why al smith is held in, i think, higher regard than most unsuccessful candidates is theres a real sense that smith started something. The best evidence of that is cities american cities. Calvin coolidge carried new york city. The last republican to do so. Al smith, of course, carried new york city. But he carried a lot of other cities, as well. So you had actually the makings of an early realignment. Had there not been the Great Depression. Had hoovers reputation, in effect, not been destroyed during his single term of office. What is fascinating to speculate is would that breakthrough in the south, would that have been a onetime event, attributable, in fact, to al smith as an opponent, or might it, in fact, have foreshadowed a twoparty system . How did the Great Depression come about . I cant tell you. I cant answer that. And i think there are a lot of economists who would if theyre honest, respond the same way. There are clearly a number of factors, some of which are easily identified. I mean, the dislocations of the war. We had this crazy, crazy, quote, system, where as part of the versailles agreement, basically, crushing reparations were demanded by the victors of defeated germany, which was really in no position, economically, although it had been largely unscathed by the war. Nevertheless, so you had this crazy system where germany is borrowing money from the United States. The United States came out of world war i, the new financial centerpiece of the world. New york supplanted london. The United States came out of world war i for the first time in its history a creditor nation. The rest of the world owed it. But you had this system where american banks were loaning money to germany, which then used the money to pay off the reformations to anyway. In addition, domestically, you had a rotten banking system. Totally unregulated. There were banks that were speculating on the stock market. I mean, there were banks that were doing things with deposited money that would shock us today. You had wall street speculation, rank, overheated, baseless lots of people buying stock on margin, which is to say, in effect, they were borrowing funds. If the stock market ever went down, particularly if it went down sharply, they would have to sell their stock to pay off what they had bought. The whole system was jerry built. Hoover believed it was the cumulative impact of the war. The dislocations brought about by the war. It was true, it was an international phenomenon. It was not limited to the United States. But i for the life of me cant give you a single reason. One very important contributing factor was that glut of consumer goods in the 1920s. I mean, ironically, hoover, who celebrated the abundance of modern industry, you know, cars were affordable, so were refrigerators. So were, you know, other appliances. Homes, all of those homes that he built, but lots of them were bought on credit. But more than that, radio. I mean, aviation. You had these new industries that were taking off. But the market became literally glutted. And one thing economists know is that wages failed to keep pace with prices. So you had this gap which grew. And at the same time, you had millions of people who were in effect, overcommitted. They were living, in effect, paycheck to paycheck. They were speculating in stocks, but eventually, the purchasing power being what it was and remember, the farmers were depressed and its hard you know, 40 40 of the American Workforce in 1920s was in agriculture. So when you talk about an agricultural depression, nearly half the country was depressed, long before wall street collapsed. One other thing that is so easy to overlook, when youre looking at the failure of the economy to respond to the various stimulative efforts that hoover and some to even later on, fdr, you have to remember how tiny a percentage of the american gdp went to the government in those days. When Herbert Hoover became president in 1929, the federal budget was less than 4 billion. And a substantial part of that was going to veterans. The reason he vetoed the veterans bonus, for which he paid a very high price, in fact, it was one of those classic cases, youve been around this town long enough, there are instances where congress will pass something, knowing the president will veto it, so they dont have the take the heat. And the veterans bonus, which had been promised to world war i veterans, but many years down the road. I think in the 1940s. Well, of course, there was this, understandable, ground swell, demanding an early payment of the bonus. A 3 billion a year budget could have been doubled, and it would have been throwing a pebble into a river. I mean, criticisms of hoover for not being sufficiently vigorous in exe