Yesterday we celebrated our 31st president's birthday. I was not in a huge rush to blog about it, since his actually birthday isn't for a few more days. You see, Herbert Hoover and I share a birthday (maybe). I think I've known this for years. You know, with those 'famous people who's birthday you share.' But, I think it's kind of lame that of all presidents, I get Herbert Hoover. I always pictured him as super boring and lame. But, besides being the president during the Great Depression, I actually knew nothing else about him. And, after learning all that I did, I sort of like the guy. He's certainly not boring, and his life is actually really interesting.
Anyway, as much as I love my president's project this year, I don't want to spend my birthday celebrating one. I'm sorry, Herbert, it's just not going to happen. So, we picked yesterday since Asa got to work from home (after a impromptu office day last week, he got to swap). I don't like when he misses a birthday. Oh, and I get to hold the folder!
This is Jesse and Hulda Hoover. Jesse was a blacksmith with a 'sunny and pleasant disposition', and Hulda (who was born in Canada) was a teacher. They were Quakers (making Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon the only two Quaker presidents).
They lived in a tiny two room white-washed cottaged built by Jesse in West Branch, Iowa. West Branch was (and still is) a very small town. When little Herbert Clark was born, West Branch's population was 265. (Today it's somewhere in the 2,000's) He was born sometime between the night of August 10th and 11th, and none of those 265 people bothered to record his time of birth, so nobody actually knows if we share a birthday or not. But, he did always used the 10th for his birthday.
Little Bertie, as he was called by his family, was the middle child. He had an older brother, Tad and a younger sister, May.
When Little Bertie was just two, everyone thought he had died. And not just like, he was hard to wake up. Nope, he had a nasty bout of croup and his family thought it was over. Pennies on his eyes, sheet over him and all that. Then an uncle showed up, and determined he wasn't actually dead. Crazy, right?
But, when Little Bertie was just 6, his father a 34 year old Jesse, got pneumonia, suffered a heart attack and died.
Hulda tried to support the family making money as a seamstress, but they were scraping to get by.
Three years later, Hulda too caught pneumonia, and died at the age of 35. Little Bertie was only 9 at the time, and now an orphan. He took it pretty well (and not in the crazy-I'm-out-to-kill-everyone-raging kind of way that Andrew Jackson did).
His brother and sister went off to live with relatives, and Bertie stayed behind in Iowa for awhile, living with an uncle.
With no parents to raise or protect him, Bert fell in with a bunch of young Native American boys who taught him how to hunt, use a bow and arrow, and generally survive anywhere in the world.
By the time he was 11, he was put on a train to live with another Uncle (and be reunited with his brother) out in Oregon. His uncle raised the boys with a slightly edited passages of the bible. Things like "turn your check"....."but if he smites you again, punch him." (For any non-bible scholars wondering which part isn't in the Bible it's the "punch your enemies" part.)
When in Oregon, Bert was put to school and chores. He had to feed the ponies twice a day, milk the cows, and split wood. But, it all taught him the value of hard work.
He went to school, and got good grades in math. Instead of attending high school, he went to night school and learned booking, typing, and continued his education in mathematics.
He met a visiting mining engineer who encouraged Bert (despite his lack of high school education) to apply to a brand new university in California. This new school was Stanford, and for it's inaugural class, tuition would be free. Bert failed the entrance exam, but got in anyway because of his "remarkable keenness".
Now, Bert was still super poor, and while tution was free. Living there was not. Sometimes, he'd live in the barracks housing the construction workers who were still building the university. He'd take whatever odd jobs he could. He did laundry, and took on newspaper routes. Later, he became manager of Stanford's football and baseball teams. Bert was a hard worker, and he would do anything he needed to do to keep himself afloat.
I think what I loved most about Bert is his major in college. You guys, he majored in GEOLOGY! How awesome is that? His Senior year he's busy learning about all these rocks and minerals and such, and in walks Lou Henry. Lou Henry is the only female at the whole school majoring in geology.
She was named after her dad (like Stanley Ann!), and was a total tom boy. This chick seems totally cool, and I love her. She spent her childhood going on camping trips, and rode horses (and not in a Jacqueline Kennedy-prissy-I-ride-horses kind of way), but in a dirty, tom boy, I hunt and fish and preserve specimens because I'm TAXIDERMIST kind of way. LOVE her.
But, Bert went ahead and graduated, and Lou stayed behind at Stanford to keep on studying rocks and minerals like any cool chick would do. Herbert, meanwhile, got offered a job with a British mining company, and took a job as a geologist and mining engineer while SEARCH AUSTRALIA GOLDFILEDS for investments. At the age of 22, Herbert finally headed east of the Mississippi. (Maybe it's just me, but the dude's job was to search for treasure! In Australia! How awesome!)
He often got to go on his adventures by camel. (Come on, like you wouldn't take a camel to work if you could?) Bert was a total success in Australia, and his big "mine find" was the wealthy Sons of Gwalia Mine. And if you have a big "mine find" of course your going to move up the ranks of your company.
Maybe because he was so awesome at treasure finding, or maybe because he had an argument with some guy (I mean, there's conflicting reports), he ends up being offered a job in China. Herbert, decides he will go, but he doesn't want to go alone. Thinking about Lou, Bert decides to send a text message (aka a cable) to her and ask her to marry him. So very romantic of him.
But lack of romance is no problemo for a girl like Lou, and she accepts. Herbert stops by California, picks up Lou, they get married, and the same day they board a boat for China, off to their next adventure. Because, the Hoover's, they're adventurers.
In China, Bert's job required him to travel through remote and dangerous areas, and of course Lou went right along with him.... because ADVENTURE!
In China, the couple learned how to speak Chinese. (Two fun facts about this. 1: They would often speak Chinese to each other in the White House when they didn't want to be overheard. And 2: To date, Lou is the only first lady to speak an Asian language). Oh, and Herbert, for the first time in his life was making some serious bank.
But then the Boxer Rebellion broke out. (If you're not familiar, long story short, some Empress/Emperor craziness went down. The Boxers emerged, and believed they possessed supernatural powers that protected them from harm, and planned to destroy everything in China, and exterminate any Chinese associated with foreigners and Christianity.)
Bert and Lou were stranded in China with a few soldiers to protect them. But, Bert and Lou kept on keeping on. Instead of worrying about themselves, they wanted to help.
So, they directed the building of barricades, and joined fire-fighters. They also directed food and water to a whole bunch of anti-Boxer Chinese.
Eventually, a German mail boat showed up to take them to safety. But, it's important to note the Hoover's humanitarian efforts, because despite what we know about his reaction to the Great Depression, he was one of the greatest humanitarians of his time. It just keeps going and going.
Over the next 5 years, the Hoover's circled the globe five times, going on adventure after adventure.
They had two boys, who were both born in London: Herbert Jr, and Allan.
And Herbert kept working hard. That's just what he did. He worked as hard as he possibly could. He wasn't seeking power, he just wanted to do good in the world.
Because of this, people were taking notice of "Young Hoover, the Great Engineer".
All his efforts led to great fortunes. He had turned some money, into lots of money, and lots of money into a crapload of money, the way all rich people do. By the time he was 40, the boy who had to live in the construction workers housing and take any odd jobs he could just to feed himself, was a millionaire.
When WWI broke out, Herbert was living in England. His humanitarian efforts continued, and he helped evacuate 120,000 Americans from throughout Europe. At one point his organization was feeding 10.5 million people a day. He event sent aid to the famine stricken Soviet Union. People accused him of aiding communism. Herbert simply replied "Whatever their policies, they shall be fed!"
Having gained national attention for his efforts, Woodrow Wilson asked him with meeting German commanders in the middle of the war to negotiated the bringing of aid to American troops held behind enemy lines.
Of course Herbert accepted, and here's where we get ANOTHER awesome Herbert Hoover story (they just keep coming!) So, the Germans meet with Herbert and his associates in a comfy room, sipping on martinis. But you know, that old Herbert, he's not about to stop working and relax and have a drink. He gives strict orders to his associates and the bartenders to only pour water in the American martini glasses, and save the gin for the Germans. Let them get sloppy drunk, while the Americans keep their wits about them.
But, he can't let the Germans know of his plans, so he asks for onions in the "martinis" instead of olives. The German's think it's weird, and the American's are all "oh no, that's totally how we drink martini's in America". The plan worked, the Germans got sloppier and sloppier while Herbert and his buddies kept their wits about them, giving them the advantage in the negotiations.
As a weird epilogue to this story, the drink Herbert made up on the spot (with actual gin, not just the onion water) caught on in American, and is called the Gibson Martini.
Anyway, aid was delivered, and Herbert was being recognized all over the world.
He even won the Nobel Peace Prize (like a whole slew of times!)
Warren Harding was up next, and he had a new job for Herbert...
...Secretary of Commerce. Of course we have the whole Teapot Dome Scandal, the death of Harding, and the ascension of Silent Cal!
But, Herbert isn't involved in any of that scandal-ness and Cal keeps him on. Herbert organized various public works throughout the country including the construction of a dam on the Colorado River (oh, and he also got to be the first person on TV!)
When Calvin decides he's not up for running for another term, people beg Herbert to run. At one point even FDR thinks he'd make a great president (and Hoover's a Republican!) Herbert decided to go ahead and run. It's not as though he grew up dreaming of becoming president. To Bert, it just seemed like a job that would allow him to do the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people.
Herbert had gained the reputation of being an honest, intelligent, hard-worker Despite the fact he had never held an elected office or served in the military, his stellar reputation ensured an easy, landslide victory for Herbert. He took 40 out of 48 states, one of the biggest majorities in the history of the Republican party.
On a rainy March day (we still hadn't switched to January 20th, that wouldn't come until FDR, it is possible Herbert's lame duck period was behind that change), Herbert Clark Hoover became our 31st president. A couple of interesting facts here.
1: Herbert is one of only two former presidents to be "sworn in" by a former president (William Taft was the Cheif Justice of the Supreme Court after his presidency and swore in both Hoover and Coolidge).
2. As a Quaker (though he did drink, so I'm not sure how devoted he was) rather than taking the oat of office he "affirmed" it.
And 3: Herbert's VP was Charles Curtis, a Kaw Nation Native American Indian. Charles was the first person with significant acknowledged Native American ancestry to reach either of the two highest offices).
When Herbert first took office, things were A.O.K. He moved in his wife, and dogs, and a couple of pet alligators who roamed the White House halls. (This guy, I love it!) Lou became the first lady to give regular radio broadcasts, and staff played Hooverball out on the White House lawn. (Think volleyball but with a medicine ball and a catching/throwing motion instead of spiking and bumping).
Millionaire Herbert wasn't in the job for the money, and decided to give his entire salary to charity (JFK is the only other president to do this). He wanted to help people, and he did want to work hard (he was said to scarf down his meals just to get back to work, never take vacations, and feel antsy and fidgety if he wasn't working).
And it might have been the time during Prohibition, but even a hard working Quaker (apparently?) needs a drink every now and again. The president can't just break the law. So, Herbert shows up at the Belgium Embassy every night for some Gibson Martini's, because hey, foreign soil technicality, baby! Whoo Hooo! Roaring 20's and all that jazz.
I mean, things were good. People had money, and the stock market was a fun gamble for everyone who was winning. (This board is from our game Panic on Wallstreet. Have you guys played it? So much fun! And, it saved me the time of explaining the stock market to the boys, they know how it works.)
But Herbert notices the gambling in the stock market, and sees the dangers. He tried to convince the more influential bankers to stop making loans to brokers who were being reckless.
His appeals to propose stiffer regulation of the New York Stock Exchange to the Federal Reserve, Congress, and the Governor of New York at time, FDR, went unheeded.
Then in October, only 7 months after Herbert took office, the U.S. economy began to show signs of weakness. Financial experts, who were apparently terrible at their job, claimed the economy was sound.
But then, you know, Black Tuesday abruptly brought the roaring 20's to a halt, and in it's place came the Great Depression.
You might remember last year when we celebrated Decades Week, and started with the 1930's. I know the boys remembered it, so I didn't have to go in too deep with Hoover villes, Hoover stew and Hoover blankets, and Bread lines. Herbert tried to help, he didn't want people suffering, hungry and cold. He had built his entire life on helping people in those exact situations. But, he thought helping them should be a local and voluntary responsibility, not that of the Federal Government. And, I can see his thinking in that. He had been the guy to coordinate efforts, to step up, to feed people. He wasn't an elected government official when he did that, he just did it because it was the right thing to do. But, he should have seen there weren't any other Herbert Hoover's out there coming to people's aid. He should have done something.
Herbert was in over his head, and despite how beloved and effective he was before his presidency, he just made bad decision after bad decision making things worse. He was a guy who had never held in elected office before he became president of the United States. This has happened before, and it didn't go great. Remember Sam Grant? I'm not saying you have to have the most impressive resume to be president, but I am saying history has not been kind of those with zero experience in the world of politics. Anyway, we even did that fun activity with the dust bowl, so they already knew all about that.
What we didn't talk about during the 30's day was the Bonus Army March. Basically 17,000 troops and 40-some-thousand supporters were marching demanding payment of service certificates given to the them by the government. Herbert called in General Douglas McArthur to conduct order, and his harsh treatment added to the negative opinions of the president.
President Hoover tried giving statements of confidence to the American people, but he was blamed for much of what was going wrong. No matter how fast he scarfed down his food, or how many hours he worked, people were losing confidence in him. He was working to ease the depressions, but the banking reforms, business loans, and public assistance programs he sponsored didn't do much. The Democrats started saying he caused the Great Depression, and to nobody's surprise he did not win re-election. This time it was a landslide (he only won 6 states) for the other guy. And the other guy was Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Herbert and Lou went back to California to a house they had built near Stanford. But people everywhere blamed Herbert for the Great Depression, and he had a hard time getting support for anything he did.
And when FDR finally opened the dam on the Colorado River that Herbert had started when he was Secretary of Commerce, FDR didn't even invite him, and instead of the previous agreed upon name of the Hoover Dam, FDR named it the Boulder Dam. (Kind of a jerk move, no?)
And Lou died, so that stinks.
Over FDR's presidency, things got better, and Herbert kept on keeping on. Harry Truman took office, and he wasn't quite so hard on poor Herbert Hoover. After WWII, Harry asked Herbert to circle the globe and coordinate efforts to avert global famine. He restored the name of the dam back to the Hoover Dam...
and he put Herbert in charge of the Hoover Commission, which helped reorganize and cut costs in the government.
Eisenhower kept Herbert around in a similar role.
He just kept on helping people, and he kept on working hard. he formed the Boys Club, and wrote an (apparently) people famous biography on Woodrow Wilson.
On October 20, 1964, Herbert Hoover died in New York. It had been 31 years, 7 months, and 16 days since he left office. At the time of his death, he had the longest retirement of any president in history. (Jimmy Carter surpassed him in 2012). He is one of 6 president's to reach 90 years of age (John Adams, Ford, Reagan, H.W. Bush, and Carter.) He was buried next to Lou at his presidential library in West Branch, Iowa.
By the time he died, he had rehabbed his imagine a bit. But for a guy who spent his whole life feeding people, and only running for president to help people, it's terrible that he's remembered as the guy who left American's hungry and on the streets during the Great Depression. Being the first man to become president without serving in the military or holding a public office, just on the strength of his character, he worked every minute of every day (he didn't even take a presidential sick day!) He might not have done much to help the Great Depression, but he wasn't responsible for it. I think he just ended up president at the wrong time. But, his fault or not, historians are pretty harsh on the guy and he consistently ranks in the bottom ten.
Even so, I think he was interesting. And, it's pretty cool I (maybe) share a birthday with him.
We added his props to his map of Iowa. Maps are our theme this month, since we're doing a few presidents that have the title of being the only president from their home state!
We've got some fun facts
and a famous quote.
We did our owl mail...
..and our historical hashtag... #GeologyRocks
The boys made cards...
Calib did his all in grey for the Great Depression.
And you'll notice Peyton with a blanket in his hand. He was really eager to get going on the activity.
We built a Hooverville! I know, we've done it before during decades week, but who doesn't want to make a blanket fort?
Plus, we have pillow pools to add inside the blanket fort. Does it get any better? Our cat, Maybel thinks not.
I found this weird recipe for Herbert Hoover, and we decided to make one tomato to give it a try.
It was weird. I liked it, but I didn't. Asa and I both had a couple of bites and couldn't really decided. Calib and Hayden were not fans, and Peyton didn't even try it.
For our main dinner, though, we had lamb, potato soup, and corn bread, all of Bert's favs!
That's it from here. Next time you hear from me I'll be the big THREE-FOUR. (No lie, I just totally did the math on that. Does anyone else have a hard time keeping track on how old they are? It's not like it really matters after a certain point, nobody asks you anymore anyway.)
Next Up: MY BIRTHDAY WEEKEND EXTRAVAGANZA (sort of, anyway, Calib and Peyton also have their summer reading lock-in party so plans have gone a bit screwy.)
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