Oct 4, 2024
In our chat today, we are focusing on our 31st President, Herbert Hoover. Born poor to a Quaker family in Iowa in 1874, Hoover was one of the first graduates of Stanford University in 1895. He earned a fortune as a mining engineer and had business interests on 6 of 7 continents. He rose to public prominence during World War I and joined the Woodrow Wilson administration as the leader of the Food Administration. He successfully ran for President in 1928 but his administration was quickly stained by Prohibition (which he inherited from the previous administration) and the stock market crash and Great Depression. He was soundly defeated in 1932. To help our student panel grasp the policies and worldview that shaped President Hoover, we are happy to welcome Stephen Tootle, Professor of History at the College of the Sequoias, for this informative discussion.