We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover

Just like the song from Annie, Herbert Hoover is a much maligned President. He was a scapegoat who took the blame for the 1929 Stock Market crash and the Great Depression. Today we visited the Hoover Presidential Museum and Library and came away with a very different view of this man. I was amazed to learn about Herbert Hoover and the successes of his work career and dedication to public service and people in particular. I did not know about his personal, self made wealth, feeding Europe during WWI and becoming US Food Administrator for President Wilson. Later he headed American relief in Europe, founded the Hoover Institute of war at Stanford and became Secretary of Commerce for Presidents Harding and Coolidge. He served one term as President and then retired to do more public service and became an author. Hoover was Chairman of the Boys Clubs of America from 1936 to 1964 and headed the Hoover Commission for Presidents Truman and Eisenhower.

Later we visited the graves of Hoover and his wife Lou and his boyhood home in West Branch, Iowa. Second photo is a display of Hoover working as a geologist in Australia after college at Stanford. I'm standing by a display of appliances used during his early adult years. Last photo is his boyhood home.

Jeff and I have now visited many Presidential Museums and Libraries.We still have to see two in Texas, Johnson and the senior Bush, and Carter and Nixon. Each one we have visited has been so interesting and well worth the time and effort to get there.