Herbert Hoover

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Herbert Hoover was born in Cedar County, Iowa in 1874. Hoover was raised in the Quaker religion. From when Hoover was a child he realized that it was necessary to be self-reliant and a hard worker. At the age of seven Hoover lost his father and at age eleven he was orphaned after the death of his mother. After the death of his parents Hoover moved from Iowa to Oregon to live with his uncle. Hoover first got into politics when he attended Stanford University and held the office of Treasurer. Hoover was able to wipe out the $2000 debt of the student government during his time in office.

With a degree in engineering Hoover went on to make a great deal of money. However, it did not appear that Hoover cared a great deal about the money. In 1914 Hoover gave up his occupation and source of income to start up the Commission for the Relief of Belgium. Hoover refused to accept payment for the help he gave to the Commission. Through Hoover's efforts while working with the Commission 10 million lives were saved. In fact through Hoover's humanitarian efforts a New York Times poll ranked him one of the greatest living Americans. Ironically, in 1920 Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) said of Hoover, "He is certainly a wonder, and I wish we could make him President of the United States. There could not be a better one".

Hoover went on to pursue a political career through his service under both Coolidge and Harding. While he served as Secretary of Commerce under the two administrations he turned the Commerce department around. One example of what Hoover did as Secretary of Commerce is the improvement of Chesapeake Bay. Hoover convinced fishermen and oilmen to come together to work on a plan to make the bay a better place for all. Hoover then went on to establish the Railway Labor Mediation Board, raise a million dollars for scientific research, insisted that all airport runways have landing lights and radio beams, and he wrote the nation's first uniform highway safety code. With all of Hoover's successes throughout his time in the Commerce Department there is no doubt how he became so popular.

There have been a plethora of reports, some with considerable substantiation, that along with his personal and public agenda, Hoover was beset by a number of demons.

• He has been alleged a transvestite and a closet homosexual.
• There were reports that he was obsessed with fear that rumored African-American ancestry might be made public.

Sad to say, such revelations would have certainly undermined, if not completely finished, his career had they been substantiated early on. Did they play a role in his efforts at leaving his stamp on America? That question may be unanswerable. However, without doubt, J. Edgar Hoover was a man of many parts: a person who, for good or ill, left the nation with a law enforcement body of unequaled reach and capability in the democratic world--a reach that extends to just about every citizen, for better or for worse.