Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover’s presidential reputation is not one that smacks of wonderment as it has been presented to us in our modern time. In point of fact, there seems to be little to admire in the man if he is not forgotten altogether, according to the way he is referred to by many historians.

I guess you might say his own words came back to bite him, as happens all too often in the public eye. Hoover had been an entrepreneur and multimillionaire by the start of World War I. One quote that came back to haunt him during his failing presidency was “If a man has not made a million dollars by the time he is forty, he is not worth much.”

Well, as the Roaring Twenties devolved into the Great Depression, Hoover had this and many other such statements thrown in his face.

One book I am currently taking in is The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. Steinbeck made his name writing about the Okies and the hardships of the fictitious Joad family in the dust bowl era. Egan has meticulously researched journals, diaries, newspaper accounts to assemble a retrospective look at the real people who endured this disastrous experience. Egan catalogues the false hopes of those who settled there and the shattered dreams of these same who were destroyed by what can only be called a national travesty.

There are numerous references to President Hoover, resident of the White House during the onset of the Thirties decade. There’s little in this book to alter the image I’ve always believed reflected who he was. But when I sought to find the quotes referenced by Egan in The Worst Hard Time, I came across a collection of other quotes from Hoover’s lips and pen that seem to fill pieces of a picture which has been heretofore incomplete in my mind.

And so, whatever your take on this rich dead Republican, put it aside and enjoy these few snippets of wit and candid observation.

After Losing the Election of ’32

“You will expect me to discuss the late election. Well, as nearly as I can learn, we did not have enough votes on our side.

America
“My country owes me nothing. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor. In no other land could a boy from a country village, without inheritance or influential friends, look forward with unbounded hope."

On Being President
"Many years ago, I concluded that a few hair shirts were part of the mental wardrobe of every man. The president differs from other men in that he has a more extensive wardrobe."

Privacy

"There are only two occasions when Americans respect privacy, especially in Presidents. Those are prayer and fishing."

On Children

"Children are our most valuable natural resource."

Politicos
"When we are sick, we want an uncommon doctor; when we have a construction job to do, we want an uncommon engineer, and when we are at war, we want an uncommon general. It is only when we get into politics that we are satisfied with the common man."

How Capitalism Works

"Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to progress. Herbert Hoover Depression I'm the only person of distinction who has ever had a depression named for him."

The Wry Humorist

"Once upon a time my political opponents honored me as possessing the fabulous intellectual and economic power by which I created a worldwide depression all by myself."

The Realist

"About the time we can make the ends meet, somebody moves the ends."

The Realist II

"All men are equal before fish."

An Observation
"It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own."

The Knife Cuts Both Ways
"Honor is not the exclusive property of any political party."

Fish Stink from the Head Down

"When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned."

With Impeccably Bad Timing

"In America today, we are nearer a final triumph over poverty than is any other land."

And Again

"We have not yet reached the goal but.. we shall soon, with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty shall be banished from this nation."

Still True Today

"No public man can be just a little crooked."

Clever

"A good many things go around in the dark besides Santa Claus."

Global Warning

"Every collectivist revolution rides in on a Trojan horse of 'emergency'. It was the tactic of Lenin, Hitler, and Mussolini. In the collectivist sweep over a dozen minor countries of Europe, it was the cry of men striving to get on horseback. And 'emergency' became the justification of the subsequent steps. This technique of creating emergency is the greatest achievement that demagoguery attains."

On War

"Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die."

Sad, But True

"Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt."