Recently, former U.S. President Hoover has been widely mentioned. So, what kind of person was Hoover? What did he do?
There are two Hoovers in the United States who are very famous, the first is Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI, who controlled the FBI for 48 years and is recognized as an American legend. The second Hoover was herbert Clark Hoover, the thirty-first president of the United States. However, he stepped down after only five years in office. The Mayor of New York, in his mouth, refers to the Hoover who is president.
Herbert Clark Hoover was born in 1874. He was orphaned at the age of 9 and was raised by his uncle. Growing up, Hoover was admitted to Stanford University with honors. After graduating in 1895, Hoover became a mining engineer. He frequently worked in mining, railway and other development work around the world, and soon became a rising star in the mining industry.
It is worth mentioning that when Hoover was 24 years old, he was sent to work in a coal mine in Tangshan, Hebei Province, China as a "white-collar worker" in the United States. He gave himself a Chinese named "Hu Hua". But the name was never retained.
By 1908, Hoover was an internationally renowned mining engineer. He was hired to lecture at Stanford University. His speech was later compiled into a book called "Principles of Mining", which was quite popular with the industry.
(Hoover)
After the outbreak of World War I, Hoover's career as an engineer was interrupted. To help Americans stranded in Europe, Hoover served as chairman of the American Relief Committee during World War I. He led by example and generously donated money, ultimately helping 120,000 impoverished Americans return to their homeland.
It was also because of his good deeds that Hoover became a prominent figure in the United States after the war. People in the United States praised him as a "great humanitarian." Soon after, Hoover was appointed director of the U.S. Food Administration and began formally entering government.
In 1921, Hoover was again appointed Secretary of Commerce. He held this position until he became president.
In March 1929, Hoover officially became the 31st President of the United States.
Under the leadership of his predecessor Coolidge, the Economic Output Value of the United States ranked first in the world, and the living standards of the people were also very high. So when Hoover first became president, the United States was a scene of economic prosperity.
However, no one expected that a huge crisis had quietly approached.
On October 24, 1929, the stock market in New York suddenly plummeted. A huge economic crisis swept through the capitalist world. The economic crisis lasted nearly five years, just throughout Hoover's tenure. The reason why the crisis will spread and continue is also related to Hoover's response.
(President Harding)
In fact, since the laziness of President Harding, the United States has always adopted the strategy of allowing the capitalists to develop freely. Coolidge later followed this strategy, and the capitalists grew larger and larger, and they were always protected by policy.
But in this way, the gap between the rich and the poor in society began to widen, and the false prosperity caused by credit consumption and stock speculation gradually emerged.
When Hoover was secretary of commerce, he happened to work under these two presidents. Hoover therefore always believed that there was no problem in adopting a "laissez-faire policy" to protect capitalists.
When the economic crisis came, Hoover insisted on a "laissez-faire policy" and basically did not make any adjustments. This puts the United States in a state of anarchy. And under such circumstances, Hoover still insisted on helping Germany regain its industrial strength and did not interfere in Japan's expansion. These "inactions" not only made the economic crisis not improve, but also laid hidden dangers for the subsequent World War II.
(The United States under the economic crisis)
Hoover wasn't completely inactive. As the economic crisis triggered mass unemployment among Americans, a riot led by unemployed workers and unemployed veterans broke out in the United States in 1932. Hoover immediately sent troops to carry out a bloody crackdown on the riots, which eventually led to the infamous "Thursday Bloody Massacre" in American history.
These absurd measures eventually led to Hoover's downfall, and he became one of the famous "inaction presidents" in American history.
(Reference: Age of Adventure: The Autobiography of U.S. President Hoover, et al.)