I.

Introduction

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), 31st president of the United States (1929-1933). Hoover was a highly successful mining engineer and a relief administrator in war-ravaged countries. His election in 1928 as president won the overwhelming approval of the American people, yet within two years Hoover was condemned by most as a reactionary unable or unwilling to soften the effects of the Great Depression. In fact Hoover was the first president to use the federal government to fight the effects of a depression, even though he was not successful, which helped prepare the country for the government intervention of the New Deal policies of President Franklin Roosevelt when he succeeded Hoover in 1933.