History UsefulNotes / HerbertHoover

He's also the only president born in and native to Iowa, although when elected he legally resided in California (making him the first of three Californian Presidents, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon--a Southern California boy born and raised--and UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan[[note]]Born in Illinois[[/note]] being the other two; of the three, he is the only one whose connections were to Northern California—his mining firm's offices were in San Francisco). Either way, he was the first president born in and elected from a state west of the Mississippi River. Also, "The Star-Spangled Banner" officially became the country's national anthem during his term, and the Empire State Building was completed in 1931.

Ironically enough, prior to his Presidency Hoover was known as something of a miracle man, especially with his humanitarian aid. Originally a mining engineer, he rose up the corporate ranks at a British mining firm in Australia, Russia[[note]]Decades after his work there, [[https://books.google.com/books?id=hAwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false the CIA used his personal maps and records of the Kyshtym area to pinpoint a major Soviet plutonium plant]][[/note]], and China. While in China -- inspired in part by his Quaker faith -- he began to take up humanitarian causes, trying to improve the lot of his workers and the Chinese in general. (He and his wife Lou Henry also learned Mandarin; they would later use it to keep from being spied on in the White House.) He eventually started his own mining consulting firm; by his 40th birthday in 1914, Hoover had investments in every continent but Antarctica, offices in six cities around the world, and a personal fortune of $4 million (that's about $97 million in 2016 dollars). At the same time, he lectured and wrote about mining and--with Lou Henry (a noted Latinist and geologist in her own right)--translated and annotated the massive 16th-century mining guide ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_re_metallica De re metallica]]'' from Latin (the first time ever into English and still highly regarded; it remains in print as the authoritative English translation, and influenced translations into other languages).

* In the movie version of ''Film/TheyShootHorsesDontThey'', the emcee Rocky quotes Hoover's "Prosperity is just around the corner" during his spiel at the start of the dance marathon.

He served during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI to help make sure the United States was able to send food to where it was needed, such as America's war allies. And his humanitarianism was such that it was reported a letter addressed to 'Miracle Man, Washington DC' was delivered straight to him. He served as the Secretary of Commerce under UsefulNotes/WarrenHarding and UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge, further increasing his popularity with the public. Due to the economic prosperity of the time, he won the election of 1928 rather easily. He's the last person to be elected President after having been a Cabinet member, and one of only three men to ascend to the White House without either having been a general or ever getting elected to public office before (the other two being UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft and UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump[[note]]UsefulNotes/ZacharyTaylor, UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant, and UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower hadn't been elected to anything before, either, but they were famous generals, rather than civil servants like Taft or Hoover[[/note]]). By the way, his equivalent [[CanadaEh up north]] was R. B. Bennett, who is equally known for his incompetence in his dealings with the Great Depression.

He served during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI to help make sure the United States was able to send food to where it was needed, such as America's war allies. And his humanitarianism was such that it was reported a letter addressed to 'Miracle Man, Washington DC' was delivered straight to him. He served as the Secretary of Commerce under UsefulNotes/WarrenHarding and UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge, further increasing his popularity with the public. Due to the economic prosperity of the time, he won the election of 1928 rather easily. He's the last person to date to be elected President after having been a Cabinet member, and one of only three men to ascend to the White House without either having been a general or ever getting elected to public office before (the other two being UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft and UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump[[note]]UsefulNotes/ZacharyTaylor, UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant, and UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower hadn't been elected to anything before, either, but they were famous generals, rather than civil servants like Taft or Hoover[[/note]]). By the way, his equivalent [[CanadaEh up north]] was R. B. Bennett, who is equally known for his incompetence in his dealings with the Great Depression.

He served during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI to help make sure the United States was able to send food to where it was needed, such as America's war allies. And his humanitarianism was such that it was reported a letter addressed to 'Miracle Man, Washington DC' was delivered straight to him. He served as the Secretary of Commerce under UsefulNotes/WarrenHarding and UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge, further increasing his popularity with the public. Due to the economic prosperity of the time, he won the election of 1928 rather easily. He's the last member of the Cabinet to be elected President, and one of only three men to ascend to the White House without either having been a general or ever getting elected to public office before (the other two being UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft and UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump[[note]]UsefulNotes/ZacharyTaylor, UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant, and UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower hadn't been elected to anything before, either, but they were famous generals, rather than civil servants like Taft or Hoover[[/note]]). By the way, his equivalent [[CanadaEh up north]] was R. B. Bennett, who is equally known for his incompetence in his dealings with the Great Depression.

He served during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI to help make sure the United States was able to send food to where it was needed, such as America's war allies. And his humanitarianism was such that it was reported a letter addressed to 'Miracle Man, Washington DC' was delivered straight to him. He served as the Secretary of Commerce under UsefulNotes/WarrenHarding and UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge, further increasing his popularity with the public. Due to the economic prosperity of the time, he won the election of 1928 rather easily. He's the last member of the Cabinet to be elected President, and one of only three men to ascend to the office without having been a general or ever getting elected to public office before (the other two being UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft and UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump[[note]]UsefulNotes/ZacharyTaylor, UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant, and UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower hadn't been elected to anything before, either, but they were famous generals, rather than civil servants like Taft or Hoover[[/note]]). By the way, his equivalent [[CanadaEh up north]] was R. B. Bennett, who is equally known for his incompetence in his dealings with the Great Depression.

He served during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI to help make sure the United States was able to send food to where it was needed, such as America's war allies. And his humanitarianism was such that it was reported a letter addressed to 'Miracle Man, Washington DC' was delivered straight to him. He served as the Secretary of Commerce under UsefulNotes/WarrenHarding and UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge, further increasing his popularity with the public. Due to the economic prosperity of the time, he won the election of 1928 rather easily. He's the last member of the Cabinet to be elected president, and one of only three who men won without being a general or ever getting elected to public office before (the other two being UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft and UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump[[note]]UsefulNotes/ZacharyTaylor, UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant, and UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower hadn't been elected to anything before, either, but they were famous generals, rather than civil servants like Taft or Hoover[[/note]]). By the way, his equivalent [[CanadaEh up north]] was R. B. Bennett, who is equally known for his incompetence in his dealings with the Great Depression.

Ironically enough, prior to his Presidency Hoover was known as something of a miracle man, especially with his humanitarian aid. Originally a mining engineer, he rose up the corporate ranks at a British mining firm in Australia, Russia[[note]]Decades after his work there, [[https://books.google.com/books?id=hAwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false the CIA used his personal maps and records of the Kyshtym area to pinpoint a major Soviet plutonium plant]][[/note]], and China. While in China -- inspired in part by his Quaker faith -- he began to take up humanitarian causes, trying to improve the lot of his workers and the Chinese in general. (He and his wife Lou Henry also learned Mandarin; they would later use it to keep from being spied on in the White House.) He eventually started his own mining consulting firm; by his 40th birthday in 1914, he had investments in every continent but Antarctica, offices in six cities around the world, and a personal fortune of $4 million (that's about $97 million in 2016 dollars). At the same time, he lectured and wrote about mining and--with Lou Henry (a noted Latinist and geologist in her own right)--translated and annotated the massive 16th-century mining guide ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_re_metallica De re metallica]]'' from Latin (the first time ever into English and still highly regarded; it remains in print as the authoritative English translation, and influenced translations into other languages).

Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st President of the United States ([[TheRoaringTwenties 1929]]–33), after UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge and before [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt FDR]], and the twelfth from the Republican Party. A [[NiceGuy good person]] who got caught in an unworkable situation, he had TheGreatDepression begin during his watch, but -- contrary to widespread sentiment at the time -- [[MisBlamed he didn't cause it]].

Ironically enough, prior to his Presidency Hoover was known as something of a miracle man, especially with his humanitarian aid. Originally a mining engineer, he rose up the corporate ranks at a British mining firm in Australia, Russia[[note]]Decades after his work there, [[https://books.google.com/books?id=hAwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false the CIA used his personal maps and records of the Kyshtym area to pinpoint a major Soviet plutonium plant]][[/note]], and China. While in China--inspired in part by his Quaker faith--he began to take up humanitarian causes, trying to improve the lot of his workers and the Chinese in general. (He and his wife Lou Henry also learned Mandarin; they would later use it to keep from being spied on in the White House.) He eventually started his own mining consulting firm; by his 40th birthday in 1914, he had investments in every continent but Antarctica, offices in six cities around the world, and a personal fortune of $4 million (that's about $97 million in 2016 dollars). At the same time, he lectured and wrote about mining and--with Lou Henry (a noted Latinist and geologist in her own right)--translated and annotated the massive 16th-century mining guide ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_re_metallica De re metallica]]'' from Latin (the first time ever into English and still highly regarded; it remains in print as the authoritative English translation, and influenced translations into other languages).

* In the 1990s ''Series/TheUntouchables'', the series' premiere story used the urban legend that it was UsefulNotes/AlCapone's noisy partying one night which disturbed Hoover's sleep that convinced the President to sic Eliot Ness on the gangster.

* Creator/BillBryson writes a great deal about Hoover in his book ''One Summer: America, 1927''. He focuses a lot on negative traits of the president, both before and during his time in office, though he also admits that his accomplishments during the Great War was impressive.

And, no, he and longtime FBI head J. Edgar Hoover were not related in any way.

He's also the only president born in and native to Iowa, although when elected he legally resided in California (making him the first of three Californian Presidents, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon--a Southern California boy born and raised--and UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan[[note]]Born in Illinois[[/note]] being the other two; of the three, he is the only one whose connections were to Northern California—his mining firm's offices were in San Francisco). Either way, he was the first president born in and elected from a state west of the Mississippi River.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" officially became the country's national anthem during his term, and the Empire State Building was completed in 1931.

Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st President of the United States ([[TheRoaringTwenties 1929]]–33), after UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge and before [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt FDR]], and the twelfth from the Republican Party. A [[NiceGuy good person]] who got caught in a unworkable situation, he had TheGreatDepression begin during his watch, but -- contrary to widespread sentiment at the time -- [[MisBlamed he didn't cause it]].

Ironically enough, prior to his Presidency Hoover was known as something of a miracle man, especially with his humanitarian aid. Originally a mining engineer, he rose up corporate ranks at a British mining firm in Australia, Russia[[note]]Decades after his work there, [[https://books.google.com/books?id=hAwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false the CIA used his personal maps and records of the Kyshtym area to pinpoint a major Soviet plutonium plant]][[/note]], and China. While in China--inspired in part by his Quaker faith--he began to take up humanitarian causes, trying to improve the lot of his workers and the Chinese in general. (He and his wife Lou Henry also learned Mandarin; they would later use it to keep from being spied on in the White House.) He eventually started his own mining consulting firm; by his 40th birthday in 1914, he had investments in every continent but Antarctica, offices in six cities around the world, and a personal fortune of $4 million (that's about $97 million in 2016 dollars). At the same time, he lectured and wrote about mining and--with Lou Henry (a noted Latinist and geologist in her own right)--translated and annotated the massive 16th-century mining guide ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_re_metallica De re metallica]]'' from Latin (the first time ever into English and still highly regarded; it remains in print as the authoritative English translation, and influenced translations into other languages).

Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st President of the United States ([[TheRoaringTwenties 1929]]–33), after UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge and before [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt FDR]], and the twelfth from the Republican Party. A [[NiceGuy good person]] who got caught in a unworkable situation, he had TheGreatDepression begin during his watch, [[MisBlamed but didn't cause it]].

While well known as being blamed for the Great Depression, prior to his presidency he was known as something of a miracle man, especially with his humanitarian aid. Originally a mining engineer, he rose up corporate ranks at a British mining firm in Australia, Russia[[note]]Decades after his work there, [[https://books.google.com/books?id=hAwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false the CIA used his personal maps and records of the Kyshtym area to pinpoint a major Soviet plutonium plant]][[/note]], and China. While in China--inspired in part by his Quaker faith--he began to take up humanitarian causes, trying to improve the lot of his workers and the Chinese in general. (He and his wife Lou Henry also learned Mandarin; they would later use it to keep from being spied on in the White House.) He eventually started his own mining consulting firm; by his 40th birthday in 1914, he had investments in every continent but Antarctica, offices in six cities around the world, and a personal fortune of $4 million (that's about $97 million in 2016 dollars). At the same time, he lectured and wrote about mining and--with Lou Henry (a noted Latinist and geologist in her own right)--translated and annotated the massive 16th-century mining guide ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_re_metallica De re metallica]]'' from Latin (the first time ever into English and still highly regarded; it remains in print as the authoritative English translation, and influenced translations into other languages).

Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st President of the United States ([[TheRoaringTwenties 1929]]–33), right after UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge and before [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt FDR]], and the twelfth from the Republican Party. A [[NiceGuy good person]] who got caught in a unworkable situation, he had TheGreatDepression begin during his watch, [[MisBlamed but didn't cause it]].

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/herbert-hoover.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250: ''"What this country needs is [[HeadInTheSandManagement a great poem]]."'']]

-->--'''Herbert Hoover''' in 1928, [[FunnyAneurysmMoment one year before]] TheGreatDepression began.

'''Herbert Clark Hoover''' (August 10, 1874 -- October 20, 1964) was the 31st President of the United States ([[TheRoaringTwenties 1929]]-1933), right after UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge and before [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt FDR]], and the twelfth from the Republican Party. A [[NiceGuy good person]] who got caught in a unworkable situation, he had TheGreatDepression happen during his watch, [[MisBlamed but didn't cause it]].

He's also the only president born in and native to Iowa, although when elected he legally resided in California (making him the first of three Californian Presidents, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon--a Southern California boy born and raised--and UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan[[note]]Born in Illinois[[/note]] being the other two). Either way, he was the first president born in and elected from a state west of the Mississippi River.

During the Depression, though, all of this changed very quickly. Starting with the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the American economy chaotically saw the prosperity of the 1920's turn into the worst economic crisis in all of world history. From beginning to end, Hoover's presidency saw unemployment rise to an astounding 25% of the workforce, over 60% of the population falling into poverty, the once prosperous farms of the Great Plains becoming the desert of the Dust Bowl, and the Dow Jones losing over 88% of its value in four years.[[note]]This crash was so bad that it wasn't until 1955 that the stock market fully recovered - over twenty five years later![[/note]] America needed to blame somebody, and he was it. Not that he helped his cause with a "hands-off" approach to the economy in favor of letting it fix itself (much like [[UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge his predecessor]]), which was interpreted as callousness to the plight of working Americans. What actions that were pursued by the Hoover administration usually made it ''even worse'', like the passage of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, a 60% tariff tax that was meant to protect American businesses from foreign competition, only caused a trade war as other countries raised their tariffs in response, crippling international trade and deepening the economic crisis. In fact, ''over 1,000'' economists signed a petition begging Hoover not to sign the tariff bill. There was also some spectacular mishandling of the Federal Reserve which prevented it from doing pretty much anything it could have done to help the economy and everything it could have done to worsen it. Damn near every major sign of poverty a person could have around them was branded [[NeverLiveItDown irrevocably]] with Hoover's name -- turned-out pockets were "Hoover flags", and shanty towns set up for the influx of homeless (like a well-known example in Central Park in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity) were called "Hoovervilles." Most infamously, when 20,000 UsefulNotes/WorldWarI veterans marched on Washington demanding their pensions to be paid out early, since they couldn't get work, Hoover sent General UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur and the army to forcefully clear them out. Instead, [=MacArthur=] went further than planned and used weapons and tear gas to force them to leave, outraging the public.[[note]]Famously, then-candidate UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt sent his wife, Eleanor, with food and charitable goods, drawing a very clear line between the two men in the public's mind.[[/note]]

->''"For six years that man has given me unsolicited advice—all of it bad."''
-->--'''UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge'''

While well known as being blamed for the Great Depression, prior to his presidency he was known as something of a miracle man, especially with his humanitarian aid. Originally a mining engineer, he rose up corporate ranks at a British mining firm in Australia, Russia[[note]]Decades after his work there, [[https://books.google.com/books?id=hAwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false the CIA used his personal maps and records of the Kyshtym area to pinpoint a major Soviet plutonium plant]][[/note]], and China. While in China--inspired in part by his Quaker faith--he began to take up humanitarian causes, trying to improve the lot of his workers and the Chinese in general. (He and his wife Lou Henry also learned Mandarin; they would later use it to keep from being spied on in the White House.) He eventually started his own mining consulting firm; by his 40th birthday in 1914, he had investments in every continent but Antarctica, offices in six cities around the world, and a personal fortune of $4 million (that's about $95 million in 2013 dollars). At the same time, he lectured and wrote about mining and--with Lou Henry (a noted Latinist and geologist in her own right)--translated and annotated the massive 16th-century mining guide ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_re_metallica De re metallica]]'' from Latin (the first time ever into English and still highly regarded; it remains in print as the authoritative English translation, and influenced translations into other languages).

With no end to the Depression in sight, Hoover and the Republicans [[LandslideElection easily lost]] the election of 1932 to UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and the Democrats. However, towards the end of his term, Hoover switched positions and admitted that the economy genuinely needed the government's help. Some of the actions that he then took, such as increased corporate taxes and public works projects (most famously the Boulder Dam near UsefulNotes/LasVegas, which is now called, fittingly enough, the Hoover Dam), served as the blueprint for UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt's (comparatively) successful New Deal, though Hoover felt that Roosevelt went too far in that direction. Additionally, Hoover's treatment of Latin American nations during his presidency was an important influence on Roosevelt's "Good Neighbor" policy towards America's southern neighbors during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. It was Hoover who finally withdrew American troops from Haiti and Nicaragua after years of occupation. Hoover's nomination of Chalres Evan Hughes as [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCourts Chief Justice of the Supreme Court]] caused FDR some trouble for the rest of the 1930's because he usually opposed the more extreme New Deal legislation.

During the Depression, though, all of this changed very quickly. Starting with the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the American economy chaotically saw the prosperity of the 1920's turn into the worst economic crisis in all of world history. From beginning to end, Hoover's presidency saw unemployment rise to an astounding 25% of the workforce, over 60% of the population falling into poverty, the once prosperous farms of the Great Plains becoming the desert of the Dust Bowl, and the Dow Jones losing over 88% of its value in four years.[[note]]This crash was so bad that it wasn't until 1955 that the stock market fully recovered - over twenty five years later![[/note]] America needed to blame somebody, and he was it. Not that he helped his cause with a "hands-off" approach to the economy in favor of letting it fix itself (much like [[UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge his predecessor]]), which was interpreted as callousness to the plight of working Americans. What actions that were pursued by the Hoover administration usually made it ''even worse'', like the passage of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, a 60% tariff tax that was meant to protect American businesses from foreign competition, only caused a trade war as other countries raised their tariffs in response, crippling international trade and deepening the economic crisis. In fact, ''over 1,000'' economists signed a petition begging Hoover not to sign the tariff bill. There was also some spectacular mishandling of the Federal Reserve which prevented it from doing pretty much anything it could have done to help the economy and everything it could have done to worsen it. Damn near every major sign of poverty a person could have around them was branded [[NeverLiveItDown irrevocably]] with Hoover's name -- turned-out pockets were "Hoover flags", and shanty towns set up for the influx of homeless (like a well-known example in Central Park in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity) were called "Hoovervilles." Most infamously, when 20,000 UsefulNotes/WorldWarI veterans marched on Washington demanding their pensions to be paid out early, since they couldn't get work, Hoover sent General UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur and the army to forcefully clear them out. Instead, [=MacArthur=] went further than planned and used weapons and tear gas to force them to leave, outraging the public.[[note]]Famously, then-candidate FranklinDRoosevelt sent his wife, Eleanor, with food and charitable goods, drawing a very clear line between the two men in the public's mind.[[/note]]

He served during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI to help make sure the United States was able to send food to where it was needed, such as America's war allies. And his humanitarianism was such that it was reported a letter addressed to 'Miracle Man, Washington DC' was delivered straight to him. He served as the Secretary of Commerce under UsefulNotes/WarrenHarding and UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge, further increasing his popularity with the public. Due to the economic prosperity of the time, he won the election of 1928 rather easily. He's the last member of the Cabinet to be elected president, and one of only two who men won without being a general or ever getting elected to public office before (the other being UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft[[note]]UsefulNotes/ZacharyTaylor, UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant, and UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower hadn't been elected to anything before, either, but they were famous generals, rather than civil servants like Taft or Hoover[[/note]]). By the way, his equivalent [[CanadaEh up north]] was R. B. Bennett, who is equally known for his incompetence in his dealings with the Great Depression.

After his presidency, Hoover rehabilitated this reputation through further charity work (both in poor Third World countries and in Germany after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII), his work with the Boy Scouts of America, and by publicly denouncing the draconian Morgenthau Plan. He also worked with two of his successors, UsefulNotes/HarryTruman and UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower, as leader of a board that advised the president on how to make the federal government more efficient. By the time of his death he was once again one of the most admired men in America, but [[AccentuateTheNegative nobody seems to remember this today]]. He lived a very long time; Hoover had the longest retirement of any former president until he was surpassed in 2012 by UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter (who, coincidentally, is also far more acclaimed for his non-presidential career than for his time in the Oval Office). Additionally, he didn't just outlive [[UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft his two]] [[UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge predecessors]]; he also outlived [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt two of]] [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy his successors]], dying 32 years after his term was over in late 1964. (Conspiracy theorists who whisper about the Presidential Guard rehearsing a funeral just before Kennedy's assassination forget that the Guard was actually rehearsing for Hoover, whose death had been expected. As it turned out he held on for a year.)

* BillBryson writes a great deal about Hoover in his book ''One Summer: America, 1927''. He focuses a lot on negative traits of the president, both before and during his time in office, though he also admits that his accomplishments during the Great War was impressive.