Visiting Herbert Hoover National Historic Site/Presidential Library & Museum West Branch IA (Part Two)

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Herbert Hoover was the first in the presidential library system. The visit begins with a 20 minute biographical movie which is quite informative because at this point, one knows little about the man. His Quaker upbringing was stern in teaching him hard work and discipline, helping others and seeking peace and those lessons fueled both personal and public service success. Hoover graduated from Stanford University with a geology degree and proved a mining engineer with a golden touch. He and his family lived for years overseas in Australia, China and other places. Once his fortune was made, Hoover turned his attentions toward good works. He became an international figure spearheading Belgium relief (1914), heading United States Food Administration (1917), Director General of American Relief Administration (1918-19) and served as Secretary of Commerce (1921-28). His popularity with the people secured him the Republican nomination and election to the presidency. The museum is excellent in detailing the sections of his life illustrated by a vast array of memorabilia. Incredible they should possess his grandmother’s wicker chair, his pressed glass baby cup, toy train he played with and 1883 school autograph signed by an 8-year-old Hoover. There are pieces from wife Lou’s Chinese porcelain collection. Each phase of his public career is thoroughly covered building to his presidential campaign. Hoover ranks among the most maligned presidents in history due to the Wall Street crash triggering the depression being falsely blamed on him. The museum illustrates his forgotten achievements including Hoover Dam providing employment, creating the Federal Farm Board and Veterans Administration, instituting Good Neighbor Policy to Latin America and widely expanding National Parks and Forests. Displayed is the first telephone to sit on a president’s desk and usual White House memorabilia. First Lady Lou Hoover has her own gallery and she was quite an accomplished person in her own right. There are items pertaining to their children. His failed 1932 re-election bid is covered. How did an incumbent president lose to wealthy elitist Franklin Delano Roosevelt? Hoover was a political outsider despised by the Democrats and his own Republican party for his great popularity with the people due to all his good works and generosity. They used the media of the day to tarnish him as the symbol of the depression. Hoover would emerge once again during World War II as a great statesman working tirelessly for good who was held in high esteem at his 1964 death. His final years as a widower are represented by a recreation of his New York office complete with original furnishings. The visit concludes concludes by visiting the graves of Hoover and his wife which are in a direct sightline to the cottage where he was born.