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Herbert Hoover

Herbert Clark Hoover was born on August 10, 1874, in West Branch IA. He grew up in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) and Oregon. He graduated from Stanford University in 1895 with a degree in engineering. He became wealthy while managing mines in Australia, Asia, Europe, and Africa. He gained attention as a humanitarian by heading the American Relief Committee in London during World War I and later serving as American Relief Administrator. He served in the administrations of both Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge as Secretary of Commerce.

In 1928, running as a Republican, he easily defeated Alfred E. Smith for President. In 1929, the stock market crashed. The ensuing Great Depression was beyond Hoover's capacity to respond. He was overwhelmed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1932 election. The tragedy of his life was that the successes which made him famous in the 1920's were all but forgotten by his failure to cope with the Depression. Hoover died in [ny:newyork] on October 20, 1964.