One small but admirable fact about hoover. During the 1928 election he refused to criticise Smith on the basis of his religion(He was the first Catholic to run for president). This is significant because smith's campaign was tarnished due to anti-Catholic views and lies that were believed by many US citizens at the time and hoover could have easily taken advantage of this but he didn't.
As an American my general knowledge of Hoover was limited to a nearly blank index card that read "Hoovervilles." "Great Depression." "Vacuum cleaner name." Thanks for this!
The most interesting thing about Hoover is that on paper he sounds like the perfect guy to be president during something like the great depression, yet in reality he struggled greatly to handle the situation like anyone else would.
I'm British and think what Hoover achieved needs to be taught in schools! We are often simply told that the American/British relationship is special, that we are like the older brother to America without really knowing why. The fact that so many Americans cut down on food to ensure we didn't starve is amazing! All I can truly say is 'thank you' because I have no doubt my ancestors and the ancestors of my friends and family would have benefited from this in some way, shape or form.
This man has a stunning talent for producing genuinely well researched subjects and presenting them in a riveting, gripping way. One of the greats on RUclips.
I remember the documentary series, The Presidents, started the segment on Hoover thus: "Before the Great Depression turned Herbert Hoover’s name into a synonym for Presidential failure, he was actually one of the most respected men in America. After the outbreak of WW1, Hoover had organised a relief effort that saved millions from starvation in war torn Belgium. He was later Food Administrator under Woodrow Wilson and Secretary of Commerce for both Harding and Coolidge. "History has badly blighted his reputation because he had the huge misfortune of being in office during the Depression. Hoover was elected President in 1928 because he widely acknowledged as the most important public figure of the ensuing decade,"
@@ligmasack9038 look up Hoover’s background, indeed, watch this video. He was no Socialist, he didn't believe in direct Government intervention to ward off the depression, instead relying on voluntarism, asking employers to voluntarily improve working conditions and wages
I suspect, in hindsight, Donald Trump might be looked on as being thoroughly average president (except for being a boorish ass) who, similarly, was the unfortunate victim of circumstance in 2020.
As an American I really appreciate your balanced and nuanced presentation of our history, or anyone's for that matter. You and your team are great about that. Cheers
They were also the best of friends. I read a book that discussed the friendships of presidents and apparently Hoover cried when Truman called him for advice on how to help feed Europe post-WW2 because Hoover spent over a decade being slammed by Roosevelt and he really did love helping people.
_The Great Depression was a Behemoth of such destructive force, that there was no president that could’ve survived it’s wrath._ Alas, as undeniable it may be the fact that perhaps Herbert Hoover as a president might’ve handled things somewhat better, it’s highly debatable that any other president it his place would’ve been able to do any better.
If it were possible it would be interesting to see what other strategies other presidents would've come up with but I doubt any of them would do much better given the times.
What we should also remember his that the POTUS is but one man. One man with a lot of power but still only one man. The economy is about what millions of men and women do or fail to do.
That's probably true, especially considering what an unprecedented event the Great Depression was. Sure, there had been other economic depressions before (both in the US and elsewhere), but none as severe or long-lasting, nor as international in scale. It was literally impossible for anyone to know how to respond. Literally anybody who was president when it started would've been doomed, and Hoover simply had the bad luck of being that man. If FDR had been president in 1929 and attempted the New Deal at that point, then by 1932 Americans would have been begging for someone like Hoover.
It seems like Hoover was a victim of the Peter Principle, people assumed that his great skill in coordinating humanitarian relief would translate into being a competent president.
There should be a variant of the Peter principle where the talents you falsified don't translate well to the job of president. Call it the Orange Rule.
I agree! The coordinating got food to the needy, but the coordinating did not actually produce the produce, or gave birth to more livestock. Hoover could’ve moved a bale of hay for a cow, but he couldn’t give birth to a cow to feed the people.
His skill of organizing aid was to a limited area in Europe where we, in the USA & other parts world, could pitch in & help. The Great Depression was worldwide issue which all countries where affected so there was no real help from outside so his personal experience thought one “lift themselves” out out of pit but everyone was in the pit of the Great Depression so couldn’t seen past that. Roosevelt saw that & used programs WPA & other programs to get the economy started & unfortunately with WWII get it fully running. Anyone from that era remember the war bonds to fund the war & so with the limited money that people got from WPA & other programs we couldn’t have funded the war too.
It is interesting because when I learned about Hoover in high school American history that our teacher actually portrayed him very positively as a president who just got caught up in a really bad situation at the wrong time. (The same history teacher also told us that he felt that Richard Nixon had been pretty much railroaded and failed by his staff during Watergate.) The one thing that I think this video exposes about Hoover is that he was really good when a crisis was blowing up around him but he really could not see the possibility of other problems occurring in the future. He was just one of those people who did well in the present when in the thick of things
I have always thought that if Nixon had been a Democrat, the Washington Post would have left him alone. LBJ did some illegal things and got away with them.
My partner, who is a political consultant, was interested in the first part of this, which covered Hoover's childhood and early efforts. I know less about any President than he does, so I was interested in the whole thing. Thank you for sharing your vast information!
Wow, this has to be one off the most interesting Biographics I've watched. What a crappy President but an absolutely amazing man. As an Australian all I learnt about him was his time in office, which honestly is an absolute blight on an otherwise massively inspirational life.
My grandmother lived right next door to the Hoover Minthorn House that's a museum in Newberg Oregon. Where Hoover went to as a child when he became a orphan. My brothers and I gone to the museum a lot. I learned a lot about him then. Hoover park across the street... Sloppy hill with a small creek running through it. And I been told by my mother that the house is where she met my father.
Interestingly, my great great grandfather Albert Abbott actually met with Hoover during World War One. The two met as part of a program meant to help the US set up patriotic fund raising groups after they entered the war in 1917. Albert had been working for the Red Cross and Ontario government as an organizer of such groups since 1915, so he was sent as part of a group of experts to meet with Hoover.
You forgot other major things he did after his presidency. Hoover was brought in by Harry Truman to organize food relief in Europe after World War 2, due to the past experience you described. It was very successful. Under Truman the Hoover Commission was also created, to reorganize government. The reorganization continued under Hoover into the Eisenhower Presidency where the final implementation was the creation of the department of Health. But a HUGE thing that Hoover did for Truman was when Truman asked him to work out how many casualties America would have in the invasion of Japan. Hoover told him 500k to a million American deaths. Pretty big incentive for Truman to drop Atomic bombs.
Herbert Hoover is one of those guys who never gets credit for the good he did and gets regularly blamed for things beyond his control. While the late 1920's economy probably could have benefited from more regulation in retrospect, Hoover couldn't have known that at the time. His early presidency enjoyed a massive economic boom, and he was probably perfectly comfortable letting things be. The start of the Great Depression would have destroyed the career and made a fool of any president who had been in office at the time--Hoover was just the guy who got handed the hot potato last.
@@lordrayden3045 While that's easy to say in retrospect, it's pretty clear that nobody in the Hoover administration realized just how bad things were going to get. He had bad advisors and was way too insulated from what the public was experiencing. We take the influence of the modern media on the actions of politicians for granted, but 1929 was a very different time.
@@generalkenobi5533 Of it was a recession I’d tend to agree However, it was a depression, look at the stats brought up in the video, this wasn’t a passing thing. This wasn’t going to go away
In a similar fashion the 2008 crash killed New Labour despite their rather doomed enthusiasm for the free market, from which the party still hasn't recovered today. Brown got the hot potato then Ed then Jezza then Keeves.
@@lordrayden3045 That was part of the problem - it wasn't immediately clear how bad the situation was. You're still looking at the situation with the benefit of hindsight, but keep in mind that when the crash happened, many economists thought it would blow over more easily. And once again, Hoover clearly had bad advisors. It's so easy to backseat drive on decisions made 92 years ago, but they didn't have real-time economic data available. You're assuming that Hoover knew how bad the situation was and didn't respond, but the rapid availability of information wasn't there.
Honestly, I like Herbert Hoover, and the Herbert Hoover National site is one of my favorite historical parks because it’s so quaint. Right off I-80 10 miles east of Iowa City. More people should visit; it’s humbling to visit.
I just wanted to thank you for saying this, and I agree. My grandfather was the President of the Hoover Birthplace Foundation, and, as a very young child, I got to watch a lot of the Library being built. The main thing I remember is that there were these baby blue tiles I thought were really pretty, and my Garndpa gave me one (which, of course, is long lost)-LOL! I also was at Hoover's burial, and I remember the 21 gun salute, and my Grandfather holding his hat over his heart, with tears streaming down his face. You've brought back some wonderful and powerful memories, and I'm grateful to you for that, and for recognizing the beauty of the Hoover Library, birthplace, and park.💖
Roosevelt hated Hoover, and went out of his way to see that Hoover played no role in WWII, even when his advisors urged him to take advantage of Hoover's great administrative skills. It was Truman who brought Hoover back into service.
Roosevelt despised Hoover even getting the Hoover Dam named the Boulder Dam. It was Truman that called Hoover into service to administer the Marshall Plan.
Please do a MegaProjects on the Holodomor and Stalin's agrarian reforms in the Ukraine. Hell hath no fury like a government bureaucrat with a 5 year plan....
Or a biography on Gareth Jones, the only reporter to accurately report the famine. Or a biography on Walter Duranty, the ignominious reporter for the New York Times who lied and denied it all, while working in Moscow.
T hank you isn't enough- my grandfather founded the Hoover Library and was a personal friend of Hoover's. So many people only associate him with negative things. You've done a great service to his legacy.💕
Man, we learned almost nothing about this guy in school (and I went to high school in 3 different states including both coasts). I really wish we had because he was clearly a fascinating man who was, if anything, a very good man who couldn’t lead his country out of a very tough situation.
Thank you for discussing Jimmy Carter as a great man, but an ineffectual President! President Carter was so revered in my childhood as a great example that great humanitarians are normally horribly politicians.
Poor guy failed to recognize that he was not an average person. His humility caused him to let people fend for themselves when they needed help the most. A tragedy
Thank you for this, as an American citizen- you're not taught this amount of detail in US History class. You're flung the basics, and then it's up to you to hope you can find enough unbiased sources to give you something of a round picture. Listening and watching your works is always a delight, because while you DO have your own bias- you always present the facts as well as you're able and let people decide how they want to think. This sort of content is the reason I subscribe and watch with interest.
FDR had the ability to give people hope in his fireside chats even if their circumstances were not improving that much. My grandfather practically worshipped FDR. FDR did understand politics and people.
As an American, I can vouch that context like this is surely missing in our education. Following up on this, everything is true. It's sad that noon Americans know more about our history than us
You could have also mentioned President Truman's bringing President Hoover back into public life, appointing to chair a commission that studied and made recommendations for the reorganization of the Federal government, most of whose recommendations were implemented. So, while Hoover had a disastrous presidency, he was still willing to re-enter public service.
@@ThorfinnSkullsplitter-fz7ff Its not FDR's fault. He slowly helped end the depression. You cant just expect a crisis to end quickly. And no he was not using policies from Kenya and was not a facist
I've heard one economist say something along the lines that policies implemented by Hoover were beginning to see an upward trend in the economy, and that the Great Depression would have ended much sooner had FDR not implemented policies that extended it.
When it comes to US Presidents, now Simon has to cover, in order: Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, McKinley, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Carter, Clinton, Obama and Biden.
As someone who does takes the very same approach in researching historical figures/events - I appreciate the "to be fair" mindset in doing these videos. It is the way history should be taught.
The mistake was to believe that operation excellence would automatically translate to strategic excellence. There is always this mustaken belief that someone who is good at one thing would necessarily be good at everything else. Someone who has sufficient insight into their personal strengths and weaknesses would not make that kind of mistake.
I remember my tenth grade American History teacher saying a quote from Albert E. Smith about how, looking back, he felt about the election in 1928. Smith said something to the effect of “I feel like the person who missed his train that later derailed.” Not sure exactly when he said that, but it meant that at first, he was upset about losing the Presidency, but once the Depression hit, he was like “Well, maybe it was a good thing I didn’t win.”
Thank you for this. As a person who grew up in Iowa it was disheartening to know that the only president from Iowa was a failure. Thank you for showing he was not a failure but a great humanitarian. It was unfortunate that the end of his term brought him only disrespect because of events out of his control and an inability to see the big picture.
Hoover is the epitome of "respect the man but pan the president." Unfortunately, there are many people who come from nothing who can't understand why some people are simply unlucky even if they did everything right. It makes total sense, since Hoover's mindset and aptitude was exactly what gave him his success, but often these people cannot possibly fathom why others cannot do the same and thus make poor national leaders unless they're also aware.
Very well done! It reminds me of how the perspective on Harry S Truman has evolved over the years - from being the “strange little man” to being honored (way too late) as a great president and humanitarian.
You do realize that it is P.O.S.'s like Truman that allowed J. Edgar Hoover to invade the privacy of U.S. Citizens right? Truman was just as much a failure as T.D.R.; who could have prevented WWII if he hadn't been a Spineless Coward.
In my opinion It was not only Genl MacArthur involved in the Bonus Army incident. Maj. George S. Patton was in charge of the cavalry. I still think it lead to years of animosity between them afterwards. This incident was tragic and a indication of how those 2 officers understood situations on the ground. It was nearly repeated on 10 June 2020, only difference is the USA had better trained military officers on the ground with a understanding of the word "Empathy"
People talk about how Coolidge was a good president because he kept to himself and minded his own business. But blame Hoover for doing the same thing. Coolidge set the stage for the Depression with his inaction, Hoover was left to deal with the fallout, the fact that he handled it in the worst way possible notwithstanding.
Herbert Hoover "the great engineer". He was a humanitarian who, as fortune would have it, became president at exactly the wrong time. He did make some policy mistakes raising taxes because he was concerned about the nation's debt. And the Smoot Hawley tariffs were a disaster setting off a world wide trade war. These measures did contribute to the severity of the Great Depression. But the severity of the crash would have overwhelmed any president.
President Harding was, despite his moral failings, highly underrated. He did stop the Wilson Recession in its tracks by introducing the Budget. Under Harding, there was prosperity. [See The Incredible Era by S. H. Adams and America's Great Depression by M. Rothbard.] Hoover overlooked a resource to combat the Great Depression. It was under his nose when Lionel Edie published in a collection of Economic Papers of which Herbert Hoover and Irving Fisher made contributions to, Had Hoover paid attention to Fisher's paper and learned more about Fisher's Quantity Theory, it is arguable that Hoover would have been more competent to take on The Great Depression.
I used to live near the house where he grew up. I told my friend one day as we were driving by that was where Herbert Hoover lived and he said "oh, the vacuum cleaner guy?". LOL!
He made some major blunders. That being said FDR may well have made things much worse with his policies. What really got us out of the great depression, was trade with Great Britain because of ww2.
1:10 - Chapter 1 - The orphan 4:15 - Chapter 2 - The businessman 8:00 - Chapter 3 - The great humanitarian 12:05 - Chapter 4 - When the levee breaks 15:25 - Chapter 5 - The president 19:00 - Chapter 6 - The failure
Hoover was a failure as president but successful at being a humanitarian. Those four years should not completely define the man. His work saved millions of lives.
Hoover has the mind of an administrator, required to think on the present, but he was no leader who is required to think in the long term, not just the short.
Hoover may not have been a great president, but this video left out a lot of his accomplishments. In 1928, he and Al Smith worked to eradicate the Ku Klux Klan from the organizations of the two major parties - a monumental feat. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation, massive infrastructure projects, the international naval conference, and his work leading to the repeal of Prohibition were all incredible feats. He worked with Congress to authorize money the states could use for direct relief to the unemployed, and New York was one state that did not take advantage of it. When FDR made rude and unfair comments about Hoover during the 1932 election, Hoover didn't retaliate and never mentioned FDR's health problems. Hoover in 1932 ran a campaign based on policy and logic.
They say that people get promoted to one position above their competency, Hoover is the epitome of that. Also, a video on the "Gentlemen of Cali", the heads of the Cali Cartel would be amazing
Hoover's strength as a leader was his administrative skills. He used his engineering background to help others him in public service. One example, he is remembered for his positive work in Belgium after WWI by saving the population from starvation. However, a significant weakness was his lack of charisma. His perceived lack of caring about the needs of Americans came through the words in his policies when he was reluctant to use government intervention. As a result, some Americans felt disconnected from Hoover, which led him to lose the 1932 election. FYI- his great daughter named Margaret currently host a program on PBS.
A quintessential example of just because you are a good businessman, or even a humanitarian, does not mean you are able or capable of good governance. Even so, as the phrase goes, "man doesn't make history, history makes the man."
Hey Simon! I don't know if you will see this, but the volume on this video is SUUUPER low, even when I have my computer at max. I've noticed that with a few of yours (I binged like 10 biographics on Sunday so I'm right up on it!) I don' know what's up with some of your newer (I would say the last year) vids but sometimes they are so quiet and it's across a few of your channels. Anyway, love your content. I Blaze, I do the projects and the 'graphics, and my fave is the Casual Criminalist- which always has the best sound!
We must remember that he and the American Relief Administration saved millions of people from the famine of 1921-1923 (including my ancestors) in the Volga region, Bashkortostan in particular. I will never forget, I am immensely grateful for your kindness and humanity. When our own Soviet power took away the last, ARA saved our people.
"a good manager does not make a good leader." Hoover was amazing with working the situation and trying to help as many as the resources would allow, but when it came time to be the architect of the situations, his skill set didn't translate.
Hoover and a vacuum have one thing in common: sucking up, MacArthur would have had a “field day” in January 2021. My father-in-law was twelve years old when the Great Depression hit, and hated Hoover because he saw what his parents, and neighbors went through. Like many presidents, he didn’t want to rile the rich.
One small but admirable fact about hoover. During the 1928 election he refused to criticise Smith on the basis of his religion(He was the first Catholic to run for president). This is significant because smith's campaign was tarnished due to anti-Catholic views and lies that were believed by many US citizens at the time and hoover could have easily taken advantage of this but he didn't.
I think some people may have seen it as a continuation or another continuation of the noble experiment
Republican restraint is turned against us often, thus the one way ratchet of leftward drift.
@@tomfrazier1103have you been following the Republican Party? That restraint hasn’t existed for a long time, buddy.
As an American my general knowledge of Hoover was limited to a nearly blank index card that read "Hoovervilles." "Great Depression." "Vacuum cleaner name." Thanks for this!
And they promised us the world...
Not to mention the Hoover Dam
Ironically, he isn't related to the Hoovers who started the vacuum brand, at least to anyone's knowledge.
Same
He was a potential great president who was the wrong one for the time.
The most interesting thing about Hoover is that on paper he sounds like the perfect guy to be president during something like the great depression, yet in reality he struggled greatly to handle the situation like anyone else would.
I'm British and think what Hoover achieved needs to be taught in schools! We are often simply told that the American/British relationship is special, that we are like the older brother to America without really knowing why. The fact that so many Americans cut down on food to ensure we didn't starve is amazing!
All I can truly say is 'thank you' because I have no doubt my ancestors and the ancestors of my friends and family would have benefited from this in some way, shape or form.
🇺🇸🫱🏼🫲🏻🇬🇧
did'nt we pay for it or did america sell it to us cheap ?
@@billfurlong5954 a bit of both along with donations
"The second smart thing Harding did...was dying"
That caught me off guard🤣🤣🤣
It certainly was a timely death.
Best thing Hitler did was kill Hitler.
About as appetizing as drinking a bowl of dog vomit
It's true lol
Really that IS the only thing Harding was good for. I still think his wife killed him, though.
This man has a stunning talent for producing genuinely well researched subjects and presenting them in a riveting, gripping way. One of the greats on RUclips.
“Freedom is open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.”
Herbert Hoover
I remember the documentary series, The Presidents, started the segment on Hoover thus:
"Before the Great Depression turned Herbert Hoover’s name into a synonym for Presidential failure, he was actually one of the most respected men in America. After the outbreak of WW1, Hoover had organised a relief effort that saved millions from starvation in war torn Belgium. He was later Food Administrator under Woodrow Wilson and Secretary of Commerce for both Harding and Coolidge.
"History has badly blighted his reputation because he had the huge misfortune of being in office during the Depression. Hoover was elected President in 1928 because he widely acknowledged as the most important public figure of the ensuing decade,"
It wasn't just because of the Depression its how he handled the crash of 29. He could have adverted all of it.
No, Hoover was a an abject failure; just like every other Socialist.
@@ligmasack9038 look up Hoover’s background, indeed, watch this video. He was no Socialist, he didn't believe in direct Government intervention to ward off the depression, instead relying on voluntarism, asking employers to voluntarily improve working conditions and wages
@@ligmasack9038 This is the most smooth-brained comment I've seen in a while
I suspect, in hindsight, Donald Trump might be looked on as being thoroughly average president (except for being a boorish ass) who, similarly, was the unfortunate victim of circumstance in 2020.
As an American I really appreciate your balanced and nuanced presentation of our history, or anyone's for that matter. You and your team are great about that.
Cheers
me too
Ditto
It is interesting to note that Truman during the marshal plan sought the advice of Hoover to help with it
To be fair, he was the international star of humanitarian aid and its logistics.
@@jcsv12345 I know;it makes sense he was best for job
They were also the best of friends. I read a book that discussed the friendships of presidents and apparently Hoover cried when Truman called him for advice on how to help feed Europe post-WW2 because Hoover spent over a decade being slammed by Roosevelt and he really did love helping people.
When he called him in he said "No one knows more about feeding people than you"
Both he, and Nixon, would go on to advise future presidents. Nixon was sought after for advice by all the others after him, including Clinton.
_The Great Depression was a Behemoth of such destructive force, that there was no president that could’ve survived it’s wrath._
Alas, as undeniable it may be the fact that perhaps Herbert Hoover as a president might’ve handled things somewhat better, it’s highly debatable that any other president it his place would’ve been able to do any better.
If it were possible it would be interesting to see what other strategies other presidents would've come up with but I doubt any of them would do much better given the times.
What we should also remember his that the POTUS is but one man. One man with a lot of power but still only one man. The economy is about what millions of men and women do or fail to do.
That's probably true, especially considering what an unprecedented event the Great Depression was. Sure, there had been other economic depressions before (both in the US and elsewhere), but none as severe or long-lasting, nor as international in scale. It was literally impossible for anyone to know how to respond. Literally anybody who was president when it started would've been doomed, and Hoover simply had the bad luck of being that man. If FDR had been president in 1929 and attempted the New Deal at that point, then by 1932 Americans would have been begging for someone like Hoover.
Just like Covid.
Biden would have had a plan. (LOL!)
The mentality during that point is that government only oversees and recuperate the components of the economy not to regulate and to interfere at all
“Hoover deserves not to be remembered as a failed president but a man that saved millions.” You nailed it with that quote!
It seems like Hoover was a victim of the Peter Principle, people assumed that his great skill in coordinating humanitarian relief would translate into being a competent president.
There should be a variant of the Peter principle where the talents you falsified don't translate well to the job of president. Call it the Orange Rule.
He'd have been a fantastic postmaster general or secretary of state.
I agree! The coordinating got food to the needy, but the coordinating did not actually produce the produce, or gave birth to more livestock. Hoover could’ve moved a bale of hay for a cow, but he couldn’t give birth to a cow to feed the people.
His skill of organizing aid was to a limited area in Europe where we, in the USA & other parts world, could pitch in & help.
The Great Depression was worldwide issue which all countries where affected so there was no real help from outside so his personal experience thought one “lift themselves” out out of pit but everyone was in the pit of the Great Depression so couldn’t seen past that. Roosevelt saw that & used programs WPA & other programs to get the economy started & unfortunately with WWII get it fully running.
Anyone from that era remember the war bonds to fund the war & so with the limited money that people got from WPA & other programs we couldn’t have funded the war too.
If there is anything that forgives less than the Peter Principle I do not know what it is.
It is interesting because when I learned about Hoover in high school American history that our teacher actually portrayed him very positively as a president who just got caught up in a really bad situation at the wrong time. (The same history teacher also told us that he felt that Richard Nixon had been pretty much railroaded and failed by his staff during Watergate.)
The one thing that I think this video exposes about Hoover is that he was really good when a crisis was blowing up around him but he really could not see the possibility of other problems occurring in the future. He was just one of those people who did well in the present when in the thick of things
I have always thought that if Nixon had been a Democrat, the Washington Post would have left him alone. LBJ did some illegal things and got away with them.
Nixon's private fears of failure deluded his judgment, leading to sketchy activity.
Well your teacher has 50% correctness
My partner, who is a political consultant, was interested in the first part of this, which covered Hoover's childhood and early efforts. I know less about any President than he does, so I was interested in the whole thing. Thank you for sharing your vast information!
Wow, this has to be one off the most interesting Biographics I've watched. What a crappy President but an absolutely amazing man. As an Australian all I learnt about him was his time in office, which honestly is an absolute blight on an otherwise massively inspirational life.
This goes to show how fast your reputation can crash and burn
My grandmother lived right next door to the Hoover Minthorn House that's a museum in Newberg Oregon. Where Hoover went to as a child when he became a orphan. My brothers and I gone to the museum a lot. I learned a lot about him then. Hoover park across the street... Sloppy hill with a small creek running through it. And I been told by my mother that the house is where she met my father.
A fair analysis of the man! Thanks Simon and company!
Interestingly, my great great grandfather Albert Abbott actually met with Hoover during World War One. The two met as part of a program meant to help the US set up patriotic fund raising groups after they entered the war in 1917. Albert had been working for the Red Cross and Ontario government as an organizer of such groups since 1915, so he was sent as part of a group of experts to meet with Hoover.
you should do Calvin Coolidge the most underrated president
Trash
One of top ten.
Calvin Coolidge was a good friend of mine
The best president.
@@NoahBrown69 you thinking of Calvin Cambridge... that’s like Mike
You forgot other major things he did after his presidency. Hoover was brought in by Harry Truman to organize food relief in Europe after World War 2, due to the past experience you described. It was very successful. Under Truman the Hoover Commission was also created, to reorganize government. The reorganization continued under Hoover into the Eisenhower Presidency where the final implementation was the creation of the department of Health. But a HUGE thing that Hoover did for Truman was when Truman asked him to work out how many casualties America would have in the invasion of Japan. Hoover told him 500k to a million American deaths. Pretty big incentive for Truman to drop Atomic bombs.
Well, Archie and Edith seemed to like him, since they could use a man like Herbert Hoover again
Herbert Hoover is one of those guys who never gets credit for the good he did and gets regularly blamed for things beyond his control. While the late 1920's economy probably could have benefited from more regulation in retrospect, Hoover couldn't have known that at the time. His early presidency enjoyed a massive economic boom, and he was probably perfectly comfortable letting things be. The start of the Great Depression would have destroyed the career and made a fool of any president who had been in office at the time--Hoover was just the guy who got handed the hot potato last.
Or….. ya know…… do something
@@lordrayden3045 While that's easy to say in retrospect, it's pretty clear that nobody in the Hoover administration realized just how bad things were going to get. He had bad advisors and was way too insulated from what the public was experiencing. We take the influence of the modern media on the actions of politicians for granted, but 1929 was a very different time.
@@generalkenobi5533
Of it was a recession I’d tend to agree
However, it was a depression, look at the stats brought up in the video, this wasn’t a passing thing.
This wasn’t going to go away
In a similar fashion the 2008 crash killed New Labour despite their rather doomed enthusiasm for the free market, from which the party still hasn't recovered today. Brown got the hot potato then Ed then Jezza then Keeves.
@@lordrayden3045 That was part of the problem - it wasn't immediately clear how bad the situation was. You're still looking at the situation with the benefit of hindsight, but keep in mind that when the crash happened, many economists thought it would blow over more easily. And once again, Hoover clearly had bad advisors. It's so easy to backseat drive on decisions made 92 years ago, but they didn't have real-time economic data available. You're assuming that Hoover knew how bad the situation was and didn't respond, but the rapid availability of information wasn't there.
Brilliant. I’ve always been a Hoover fan. JFK actually brought Hoover in for consultation whilst designing the Peace Corps.
Honestly, I like Herbert Hoover, and the Herbert Hoover National site is one of my favorite historical parks because it’s so quaint. Right off I-80 10 miles east of Iowa City. More people should visit; it’s humbling to visit.
I just wanted to thank you for saying this, and I agree. My grandfather was the President of the Hoover Birthplace Foundation, and, as a very young child, I got to watch a lot of the Library being built. The main thing I remember is that there were these baby blue tiles I thought were really pretty, and my Garndpa gave me one (which, of course, is long lost)-LOL! I also was at Hoover's burial, and I remember the 21 gun salute, and my Grandfather holding his hat over his heart, with tears streaming down his face. You've brought back some wonderful and powerful memories, and I'm grateful to you for that, and for recognizing the beauty of the Hoover Library, birthplace, and park.💖
No mention of all of the relief work he did after WWII. He did the same as he did after WWI. Roosevelt called him into service before his death.
Roosevelt hated Hoover, and went out of his way to see that Hoover played no role in WWII, even when his advisors urged him to take advantage of Hoover's great administrative skills. It was Truman who brought Hoover back into service.
Roosevelt despised Hoover even getting the Hoover Dam named the Boulder Dam. It was Truman that called Hoover into service to administer the Marshall Plan.
Really eye opening video. Like most, I only knew the negative side of his life. Thank you.
Please do a MegaProjects on the Holodomor and Stalin's agrarian reforms in the Ukraine.
Hell hath no fury like a government bureaucrat with a 5 year plan....
Or a biography on Gareth Jones, the only reporter to accurately report the famine. Or a biography on Walter Duranty, the ignominious reporter for the New York Times who lied and denied it all, while working in Moscow.
Simon already did a video about the first five year plan.
Pal, 5 years plans are what made China what it is today.
@@Laura-S196 The Holodomor needs it's own presentation. Not enough people are aware of it.
@@bobfg3130 Well I guess there's always on in every box......
T hank you isn't enough- my grandfather founded the Hoover Library and was a personal friend of Hoover's. So many people only associate him with negative things. You've done a great service to his legacy.💕
Man, we learned almost nothing about this guy in school (and I went to high school in 3 different states including both coasts). I really wish we had because he was clearly a fascinating man who was, if anything, a very good man who couldn’t lead his country out of a very tough situation.
We’ll presented. Never thought I’d admire Hoover
Thank you for discussing Jimmy Carter as a great man, but an ineffectual President! President Carter was so revered in my childhood as a great example that great humanitarians are normally horribly politicians.
Poor guy failed to recognize that he was not an average person. His humility caused him to let people fend for themselves when they needed help the most. A tragedy
Hoover: The depression will fix itself
The depression: *Hold my stock*
It actually would if you waited 10 years and did nothing.
@@claytonbenignus4688 Exactly
Rich guy, a self-made man more or less, who just couldn’t understand the vast breadth and depth of The Depression as it rolled out under his watch.
Well it certainly won’t fix itself if you pass smoot Hawley idiot
@@claytonbenignus4688 well wait 10 years for world War 2 and capitalized on US weapon manufacturers and pull economy out of depression.
As always, great script, great research, and a great presenter!!
Thank you for this, as an American citizen- you're not taught this amount of detail in US History class. You're flung the basics, and then it's up to you to hope you can find enough unbiased sources to give you something of a round picture. Listening and watching your works is always a delight, because while you DO have your own bias- you always present the facts as well as you're able and let people decide how they want to think.
This sort of content is the reason I subscribe and watch with interest.
Hoover was a great man and a caring and competent man. He just didn't understand politics.
FDR had the ability to give people hope in his fireside chats even if their circumstances were not improving that much. My grandfather practically worshipped FDR. FDR did understand politics and people.
As an American, I can vouch that context like this is surely missing in our education. Following up on this, everything is true. It's sad that noon Americans know more about our history than us
You could have also mentioned President Truman's bringing President Hoover back into public life, appointing to chair a commission that studied and made recommendations for the reorganization of the Federal government, most of whose recommendations were implemented. So, while Hoover had a disastrous presidency, he was still willing to re-enter public service.
I enjoyed this way more than I expected to and learned so much. This is why I always watch even when the subject doesn't grab me at first!
1930: Hoover says the worst is over
The Great Depression continues for an extra 10 years
Try learning history. Fascist FDR was much worse. He prolonged The Great Depression by 8 years. You can read the Stanford studies.
An extra 10 years thanks to Roosevelt and his Keynesian economic policies.
@@ThorfinnSkullsplitter-fz7ff Its not FDR's fault. He slowly helped end the depression. You cant just expect a crisis to end quickly. And no he was not using policies from Kenya and was not a facist
@@Snowboi1963 It's not Kenya...It's Keynes. John Maynard Keynes.
@@ThorfinnSkullsplitter-fz7ff Oh sorry. Who is that
I've heard one economist say something along the lines that policies implemented by Hoover were beginning to see an upward trend in the economy, and that the Great Depression would have ended much sooner had FDR not implemented policies that extended it.
When it comes to US Presidents, now Simon has to cover, in order: Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, McKinley, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Carter, Clinton, Obama and Biden.
Arthur should be interesting (machine political boss turned ultra-reformer) and McKinley as well.
As someone who does takes the very same approach in researching historical figures/events - I appreciate the "to be fair" mindset in doing these videos. It is the way history should be taught.
The mistake was to believe that operation excellence would automatically translate to strategic excellence. There is always this mustaken belief that someone who is good at one thing would necessarily be good at everything else. Someone who has sufficient insight into their personal strengths and weaknesses would not make that kind of mistake.
do you mean "mistaken"? Maybe work on basic Grammar before you make a non-sensical statement? LMFAO
Peter Principle. Unforgiving.
I remember my tenth grade American History teacher saying a quote from Albert E. Smith about how, looking back, he felt about the election in 1928. Smith said something to the effect of “I feel like the person who missed his train that later derailed.” Not sure exactly when he said that, but it meant that at first, he was upset about losing the Presidency, but once the Depression hit, he was like “Well, maybe it was a good thing I didn’t win.”
"Dodged that bullet..."
The U.S. Herbert Hoover was born it was way different by the time he died.
Thank you for this. As a person who grew up in Iowa it was disheartening to know that the only president from Iowa was a failure. Thank you for showing he was not a failure but a great humanitarian. It was unfortunate that the end of his term brought him only disrespect because of events out of his control and an inability to see the big picture.
Hoover is the epitome of "respect the man but pan the president." Unfortunately, there are many people who come from nothing who can't understand why some people are simply unlucky even if they did everything right. It makes total sense, since Hoover's mindset and aptitude was exactly what gave him his success, but often these people cannot possibly fathom why others cannot do the same and thus make poor national leaders unless they're also aware.
Great video (again) thank you. Who is 'Jimmy Cater' ?
Very well done! It reminds me of how the perspective on Harry S Truman has evolved over the years - from being the “strange little man” to being honored (way too late) as a great president and humanitarian.
You do realize that it is P.O.S.'s like Truman that allowed J. Edgar Hoover to invade the privacy of U.S. Citizens right? Truman was just as much a failure as T.D.R.; who could have prevented WWII if he hadn't been a Spineless Coward.
Truman took Hoover's skills and used them post WW2 in the Marshall plan.
Please do a biographics video on John C. Fremont, Andrew Jackson or Woodrow Wilson
In my opinion
It was not only Genl MacArthur involved in the Bonus Army incident. Maj. George S. Patton was in charge of the cavalry. I still think it lead to years of animosity between them afterwards.
This incident was tragic and a indication of how those 2 officers understood situations on the ground.
It was nearly repeated on 10 June 2020, only difference is the USA had better trained military officers on the ground with a understanding of the word "Empathy"
That was interesting. Thanks. I knew almost nothing about him. He deserves to be remembered.
People talk about how Coolidge was a good president because he kept to himself and minded his own business. But blame Hoover for doing the same thing.
Coolidge set the stage for the Depression with his inaction, Hoover was left to deal with the fallout, the fact that he handled it in the worst way possible notwithstanding.
There were warning signs, that no one seemed to have noticed.
Hoover is so…..smooth on that thumbnail
Just barely caught it at first, but you spelled Jimmy Carter's last name as Cater there at the end.
Maybe you should do a Biographics on me
11:30 Hey that’s me
Or even me !!!
Seriously. Coolidge is long overdue
I think you will be next.
Herbert Hoover "the great engineer". He was a humanitarian who, as fortune would have it, became president at exactly the wrong time. He did make some policy mistakes raising taxes because he was concerned about the nation's debt. And the Smoot Hawley tariffs were a disaster setting off a world wide trade war. These measures did contribute to the severity of the Great Depression. But the severity of the crash would have overwhelmed any president.
Thank you Simon. Can I expect to see one about myself in the near future? Keep up the excellent work!
Give us, emperor aurelian!
@@pajeirussaurio1405 ROMA VICTOR!
*R E S T I T V T O R O R B I S*
"Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community"
- Andrew Carnegie
President Harding was, despite his moral failings, highly underrated. He did stop the Wilson Recession in its tracks by introducing the Budget. Under Harding, there was prosperity. [See The Incredible Era by S. H. Adams and America's Great Depression by M. Rothbard.]
Hoover overlooked a resource to combat the Great Depression. It was under his nose when Lionel Edie published in a collection of Economic Papers of which Herbert Hoover and Irving Fisher made contributions to, Had Hoover paid attention to Fisher's paper and learned more about Fisher's Quantity Theory, it is arguable that Hoover would have been more competent to take on The Great Depression.
I used to live near the house where he grew up. I told my friend one day as we were driving by that was where Herbert Hoover lived and he said "oh, the vacuum cleaner guy?". LOL!
He made some major blunders. That being said FDR may well have made things much worse with his policies. What really got us out of the great depression, was trade with Great Britain because of ww2.
Lol, FDR actively copied Hoover's policies.....which is why the Depression lasted so long.
1:10 - Chapter 1 - The orphan
4:15 - Chapter 2 - The businessman
8:00 - Chapter 3 - The great humanitarian
12:05 - Chapter 4 - When the levee breaks
15:25 - Chapter 5 - The president
19:00 - Chapter 6 - The failure
Hoover was a failure as president but successful at being a humanitarian. Those four years should not completely define the man. His work saved millions of lives.
@9:04 now if you tried to have meatless Wednesday in today’s society you would have Karen’s asking for the manager and be called a racist lol
Could you please do a bio on Ip Man? Thank you :)
hahaha there are 4 movies you can watch......i kid of course
🤣😭😭 And then Pootie Tang
When I hear hoover I was thinking about the vacuum cleaner 😂😂
We love you, Simon.
Biographies could you do an episode on Jon Morrissey. He was the first American mob boss, and a Very interesting character.
No
@@lemao366 why not
@@theguyishere249 I just felt like going against the norm. Nothing personal but if you feel strongly about it then yes. Thank you son
Hoover has the mind of an administrator, required to think on the present, but he was no leader who is required to think in the long term, not just the short.
Fun fact: Hoovers wife was a weapon collecting fanatic who loved to collect different kinds of weapons while in china. She was definitely badass.
Hoover may not have been a great president, but this video left out a lot of his accomplishments. In 1928, he and Al Smith worked to eradicate the Ku Klux Klan from the organizations of the two major parties - a monumental feat. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation, massive infrastructure projects, the international naval conference, and his work leading to the repeal of Prohibition were all incredible feats. He worked with Congress to authorize money the states could use for direct relief to the unemployed, and New York was one state that did not take advantage of it. When FDR made rude and unfair comments about Hoover during the 1932 election, Hoover didn't retaliate and never mentioned FDR's health problems. Hoover in 1932 ran a campaign based on policy and logic.
This is the main type of videos that are great keep up the presidential biographics will their ever be a biographics on the 2007/8 recession
I grew up and went too school in West Branch Iowa.
I firmly believe this channel will eventually have an episode for every human being who ever lived. I’m waiting for MY episode to come out
Jimmy Cater? Lol 22:51
They say that people get promoted to one position above their competency, Hoover is the epitome of that.
Also, a video on the "Gentlemen of Cali", the heads of the Cali Cartel would be amazing
Jimmy Carter not Cater. Otherwise I found the video fascinating. Thank you. How about a video about his wife.
Hoover's strength as a leader was his administrative skills. He used his engineering background to help others him in public service. One example, he is remembered for his positive work in Belgium after WWI by saving the population from starvation. However, a significant weakness was his lack of charisma. His perceived lack of caring about the needs of Americans came through the words in his policies when he was reluctant to use government intervention. As a result, some Americans felt disconnected from Hoover, which led him to lose the 1932 election.
FYI- his great daughter named Margaret currently host a program on PBS.
After watching this video;
Me: Hoover Daaaaaaaammmmmmnnnnn!
You should have gone into his friendship and work with Truman. He did his magic again to save many more people in famine relief again after WW2
Come on mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.
Excellent video Whistler. I had never took much interest in Hoover, so this is one of my favorites.
He really should have embraced emergency management, instead of getting into politics. I think it was just more than he could handle.
Great video! Informative and balanced fairly. Thank you!
A quintessential example of just because you are a good businessman, or even a humanitarian, does not mean you are able or capable of good governance.
Even so, as the phrase goes, "man doesn't make history, history makes the man."
I mean Tiberius was good for a decade too...
Hey Simon! I don't know if you will see this, but the volume on this video is SUUUPER low, even when I have my computer at max. I've noticed that with a few of yours (I binged like 10 biographics on Sunday so I'm right up on it!) I don' know what's up with some of your newer (I would say the last year) vids but sometimes they are so quiet and it's across a few of your channels.
Anyway, love your content. I Blaze, I do the projects and the 'graphics, and my fave is the Casual Criminalist- which always has the best sound!
Hoover is one of the most disastrous cases of the Peter principle
We must remember that he and the American Relief Administration saved millions of people from the famine of 1921-1923 (including my ancestors) in the Volga region, Bashkortostan in particular. I will never forget, I am immensely grateful for your kindness and humanity. When our own Soviet power took away the last, ARA saved our people.
Hoover died in 1964? Damn what a life.
I was in school then and the general reaction was: Who? You mean he was still alive? They did at least fly the flags at half-mast for a while.
"a good manager does not make a good leader." Hoover was amazing with working the situation and trying to help as many as the resources would allow, but when it came time to be the architect of the situations, his skill set didn't translate.
If Hoover had been the darkhorse president of 1920, we would remember him quite fondly
_What in the name of the heavens what’s that even supposed to mean?_
@@alexanderveritas A darkhorse candidate is a surprise candidate, someone few would predict coming in.
Hoover and a vacuum have one thing in common: sucking up, MacArthur would have had a “field day” in January 2021. My father-in-law was twelve years old when the Great Depression hit, and hated Hoover because he saw what his parents, and neighbors went through. Like many presidents, he didn’t want to rile the rich.
"Little did those *watching* the Hoover inauguration on *sound reels* ..." 🤔 [14:57]
What I don't know once more pointed out by you. Thankfully.😍
Another wonderful and fair accounting of a great man.