Herbert Hoover’s Life Beyond His Presidency
“Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. ”
As an Iowan, when I think of Herbert Hoover, I think of the Middle School my daughter attended in Waterloo. Some of you had family members who attended Hoover High School in Des Moines. In other parts of the country, Herbert Hoover is often viewed with disdain as the President who stood by as the country slid into the Great Depression. Mo Rocca wrote an interesting book, Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving, and shares Hoover’s story. He quotes his great-granddaughter and political commentator Margaret Hoover, “This man lived for ninety years, and he is judged for four of them.”
Rocca describes his life leading up to his presidency. His childhood was difficult. Born in West Branch, Iowa, he was orphaned at the age of nine and carted off to Oregon, where he was treated terribly by harsh relatives. Yet, he was smart, and at the age of 17, he became part of the first class of Stanford University. He was a geology student and was offered an expedition opportunity. Hoover was too poor for the stagecoach ride, so he walked 80 miles in three days to meet up with the others.
After graduation, he took a position with a British mining firm that placed him in Australia. He was so successful that he quickly became a junior partner. By his 30’s, he bought into a profitable silver mine in Burma and became extremely wealthy. Shortly after, World War I began, and Belgium had its food supply cut off by the Germans. The US was still not in the battle and wanted to remain neutral. No one wanted to take the responsibility, so Hoover said, “I’ll feed them. Let me through.” If he did nothing more with his life, he would have been honored.
Far too often, we judge someone’s entire life based on a few episodes in time. We humans, in an attempt to make the complex simple, wrap up a multifaceted life into a simple framework of the uncomplicated. Herbert Hoover is an example of someone whose life was multifaceted and imperfect. We relate to Hoover because we also struggle with flaws. We are imperfect, broken, kind, loving people who, at times, are placed in impossible situations. God loves us in our imperfect brokenness, and like Herbert Hoover, we are also redeemed, blessed, and caring. May we never judge ourselves or others simplistically, but as complex, multifaceted beings created by God.
