What do you think?
Rate this book
The Life of Herbert Hoover #1
The Life of Herbert Hoover, Volume 1: The Engineer, 1874-1914
This volume launches what will be the definitive biography of one of the most accomplished yet elusive and misunderstood figures in American history. Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) was a man of remarkable achievements and a succession of careers who spent over fifty years in public service. Yet, to this day, he is one of America's least known leaders, a man stigmatized because he served as president during the grim early years of the Great Depression.
In this volume George Nash explores Hoover pre-public career, his "forgotten years." An orphaned son of Iowa pioneers, Hoover rose to become a mining engineer and businessman whose far-flung enterprises touched six continents before 1914. It is an account of his accomplishments in forbidding detail, of his struggles in the Boxer Rebellion, and of his rise to wealth and power as a consulting engineer and expert on mine finance. From 1908 to 1914, Hoover turned from engineering to a yearning for public service. The volume ends with Hoover in London at the outbreak of the First World War, ready to help 100,000 stranded American tourists return home—an act that put him, as he said, "on the slippery road of public life."
In this volume George Nash explores Hoover pre-public career, his "forgotten years." An orphaned son of Iowa pioneers, Hoover rose to become a mining engineer and businessman whose far-flung enterprises touched six continents before 1914. It is an account of his accomplishments in forbidding detail, of his struggles in the Boxer Rebellion, and of his rise to wealth and power as a consulting engineer and expert on mine finance. From 1908 to 1914, Hoover turned from engineering to a yearning for public service. The volume ends with Hoover in London at the outbreak of the First World War, ready to help 100,000 stranded American tourists return home—an act that put him, as he said, "on the slippery road of public life."
768 pages, Hardcover
First published April 3, 1983
1 person is currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
George H. Nash
18 books22 followersGeorge H. Nash is an American historian and interpreter of American conservatism. He is a biographer of Herbert Hoover. He is best known for The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945, which first appeared in 1976 and has been twice revised and expanded.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 25, 2024
Herbert Hoover is regarded today as the greatest presidential failure of the twentieth century. Though scholars rate some of his counterparts as worse presidents, none of them are more indelibly associated in the popular imagination with the ineffectual response to a national crisis. To this day, the very labels given to the symbols of the Great Depression – the shantytowns of the unhoused, the use of newspapers as coverings against the weather, the outturned pockets of unemployed people who had nothing to put in them – remain prefixed with his name, symbolizing the contemporary public’s connection of their suffering to his administration’s inadequate efforts to address it.
That failure is even more glaring when measured against the abilities of the man himself. When Hoover was elected to the White House in 1928, he brought with him a reputation for a formidable work ethic and an unmatched record as an administrator who had achieved remarkable success in every endeavor to which he set himself. This was true as far back as his early years as an engineer and a businessman, which are the subject of the first volume of George H. Nash’s multivolume “official” biography of the 31st president of the United States. In it he chronicles the first four decades of Hoover’s life, during which he built an international reputation as a mining engineer and, through it, a personal fortune by the time he was in his 30s.
Such success was difficult to imagine during Hoover’s early years. The son of an Iowa blacksmith and farm implement store owner, the young Hoover was orphaned at of 10 after the successive deaths of his parents. Separated from his siblings, Hoover was sent to Oregon to live with an uncle. From an early age he demonstrated both considerable aptitude and a taciturn earnestness, both of which would become hallmarks of his later public persona. Yet Hoover appreciated that hard work alone was not enough to succeed, that an education was necessary as well. Quickly exhausting the opportunities immediately available for him, he won admittance to the newly-established Stanford University, where he became a member of their inaugural class of students.
Despite being one of the youngest students at the university, Hoover was involved heavily in its nascent student life, serving in student government and playing an important role in organizing team sports. Summers were spent in the field work for his chosen major, geology, which confirmed his decision to become a mining engineer. Graduating amidst the economic depression of the 1890s, Hoover initially struggled to find work before gaining employment with Louis Janin, one of the nation’s most prominent mining engineers. This began Hoover’s meteoric rise within his chosen profession. Work as a mining scout for Janin was soon followed by employment by Bewick, Moring, and Company, a British firm with mining operations throughout the world. By the age of 24, Hoover was already managing gold mines in Australia, which his administrative talents ensured were operated to enormous profit.
Hoover quickly became an invaluable member of Bewick, Moering. Nash’s description of Hoover’s twelve years with the firm takes up roughly half of the book, as he chronicles his subject’s activities in painstaking detail. During this time Hoover lived and traveled across the globe, supervising mining operations and establishing new ventures in a variety of locations. Accompanying him on many of his journeys was his wife Lou, a fellow Stanford graduate and a woman every bit her husband’s equal in talent and ability. Together they lived in the Australian outback, survived the Boxer Rebellion, and explored the English countryside while raising their two sons. While Hoover learned much from his travels and developed Progressive ideals, exposure to different civilizations and practices only confirmed his convictions that the American way in practically everything was the best way imaginable – so much so that his acquaintances joked that the initials of his first and middle name, H.C., stood for “Hail Columbia.”
In 1908, Hoover ended his partnership with Bewick, Moering and struck out on his own as a financier and consultant. This period as a troubleshooter only burnished Hoover’s professional reputation and added to his fortune. Yet as he approached the end of his fourth decade Hoover hungered for new challenges. Though widely respected as a mining engineer and, with his and his wife’s translation of Georgius Agricola’s De Re Metallica into English, a scholar of his field, he sought to exercise his talents in a wider arena. Encouraged by his friends, he sought an appointment in the Taft administration, and contemplated becoming a newspaper publisher before the outbreak of war in Europe gave him a new outlet for his abilities and a rise to fame as a humanitarian and public servant.
Thoroughly researched and meticulously recounted, Nash’s book offers its readers a comprehensive overview of Hoover’s business and professional activities. At times the level of detail can be overwhelming, yet Nash has a gift for making the complex transactions comprehensible, and his writing is surprisingly engaging because of this. Yet while Nash never loses sight of his subject, his focus on Hoover’s role in mining operations and business transactions outweighs his consideration of Hoover’s personal life and his developing views on politics, society, and the economy. Perseverance is required to wade through the sheer amount of detail contained within the text, but the reward is an understanding of the development of one of the most misunderstood public figures in American history. Though others may write about Hoover with greater concision and insight into his personality, thanks to the comprehensiveness of its coverage Nash’s book is unlikely ever to be surpassed as an account of Hoover’s pre-political professional career.
That failure is even more glaring when measured against the abilities of the man himself. When Hoover was elected to the White House in 1928, he brought with him a reputation for a formidable work ethic and an unmatched record as an administrator who had achieved remarkable success in every endeavor to which he set himself. This was true as far back as his early years as an engineer and a businessman, which are the subject of the first volume of George H. Nash’s multivolume “official” biography of the 31st president of the United States. In it he chronicles the first four decades of Hoover’s life, during which he built an international reputation as a mining engineer and, through it, a personal fortune by the time he was in his 30s.
Such success was difficult to imagine during Hoover’s early years. The son of an Iowa blacksmith and farm implement store owner, the young Hoover was orphaned at of 10 after the successive deaths of his parents. Separated from his siblings, Hoover was sent to Oregon to live with an uncle. From an early age he demonstrated both considerable aptitude and a taciturn earnestness, both of which would become hallmarks of his later public persona. Yet Hoover appreciated that hard work alone was not enough to succeed, that an education was necessary as well. Quickly exhausting the opportunities immediately available for him, he won admittance to the newly-established Stanford University, where he became a member of their inaugural class of students.
Despite being one of the youngest students at the university, Hoover was involved heavily in its nascent student life, serving in student government and playing an important role in organizing team sports. Summers were spent in the field work for his chosen major, geology, which confirmed his decision to become a mining engineer. Graduating amidst the economic depression of the 1890s, Hoover initially struggled to find work before gaining employment with Louis Janin, one of the nation’s most prominent mining engineers. This began Hoover’s meteoric rise within his chosen profession. Work as a mining scout for Janin was soon followed by employment by Bewick, Moring, and Company, a British firm with mining operations throughout the world. By the age of 24, Hoover was already managing gold mines in Australia, which his administrative talents ensured were operated to enormous profit.
Hoover quickly became an invaluable member of Bewick, Moering. Nash’s description of Hoover’s twelve years with the firm takes up roughly half of the book, as he chronicles his subject’s activities in painstaking detail. During this time Hoover lived and traveled across the globe, supervising mining operations and establishing new ventures in a variety of locations. Accompanying him on many of his journeys was his wife Lou, a fellow Stanford graduate and a woman every bit her husband’s equal in talent and ability. Together they lived in the Australian outback, survived the Boxer Rebellion, and explored the English countryside while raising their two sons. While Hoover learned much from his travels and developed Progressive ideals, exposure to different civilizations and practices only confirmed his convictions that the American way in practically everything was the best way imaginable – so much so that his acquaintances joked that the initials of his first and middle name, H.C., stood for “Hail Columbia.”
In 1908, Hoover ended his partnership with Bewick, Moering and struck out on his own as a financier and consultant. This period as a troubleshooter only burnished Hoover’s professional reputation and added to his fortune. Yet as he approached the end of his fourth decade Hoover hungered for new challenges. Though widely respected as a mining engineer and, with his and his wife’s translation of Georgius Agricola’s De Re Metallica into English, a scholar of his field, he sought to exercise his talents in a wider arena. Encouraged by his friends, he sought an appointment in the Taft administration, and contemplated becoming a newspaper publisher before the outbreak of war in Europe gave him a new outlet for his abilities and a rise to fame as a humanitarian and public servant.
Thoroughly researched and meticulously recounted, Nash’s book offers its readers a comprehensive overview of Hoover’s business and professional activities. At times the level of detail can be overwhelming, yet Nash has a gift for making the complex transactions comprehensible, and his writing is surprisingly engaging because of this. Yet while Nash never loses sight of his subject, his focus on Hoover’s role in mining operations and business transactions outweighs his consideration of Hoover’s personal life and his developing views on politics, society, and the economy. Perseverance is required to wade through the sheer amount of detail contained within the text, but the reward is an understanding of the development of one of the most misunderstood public figures in American history. Though others may write about Hoover with greater concision and insight into his personality, thanks to the comprehensiveness of its coverage Nash’s book is unlikely ever to be surpassed as an account of Hoover’s pre-political professional career.
August 19, 2014
The first volume of Nash's extensive biography is a thoroughly researched portrait of Hoover's life before he came a public figure - a private life that is no less interesting than the later "public" years, as he was one of the leading international business figures of the time. With endeavors reaching across Australia, Burma, China, and North America, Hoover's extensive travels and experience in the mining industry are also a fascinating means by which to get a glimpse of global society and politics at the very beginning of the 20th century. The subject of later allegations and much political controversy, Hoover's many early adventures in mining and finance are examined in great detail and with a carefully tuned sense of historical judgment. Nash focuses in particular on Hoover's misadventures and outright failures, presumably in response to specific historical and political allegations, almost to the exclusion of his positive accomplishments. Nonetheless, one comes away from this book not only greatly enlightened on the subject of Hoover's character, but with a surprising amount of knowledge on the business of mining and international finance in the early 20th century.
February 18, 2020
I learned a little about Herbert Hoover, but I learned a TON about early 20th century mining. If those tow facts were reversed, I would have been far more pleased with this book. I came into this trying to get some background on Hoover, prior to his days in public office. While I did get some information, and I look forward to examining his presidency, the amount of information on the mining industry from the late 1800s to the 1910s was just plain sleep inducing. In what I can only term insomnia curing detail, Nash makes sure the reader knows every dollar invested, spent, and lost in a myriad of mining projects from Australia to China to Africa. Just not a great ready, but I have to respect the detail that it contains.
February 6, 2024
DNF - Very well written and researched but with my limited reading time I think I’ll just find a one volume bio for Hoover, or wait until I’m retired and just sitting in my study reading full time, if the retirement system hasn’t collapsed by then.
You have to hand it to Nash for his attention to detail. The first few chapters about Hoover’s early life were certainly intriguing but the legal and financial minutiae of his business life, though providing incremental insights into his developing character as an engineer, manager, and businessman, are “not handsome enough to tempt me” to continue (thanks Darcy for weighing in).
You have to hand it to Nash for his attention to detail. The first few chapters about Hoover’s early life were certainly intriguing but the legal and financial minutiae of his business life, though providing incremental insights into his developing character as an engineer, manager, and businessman, are “not handsome enough to tempt me” to continue (thanks Darcy for weighing in).
Read
November 27, 2024HH had to be the most boring, colorless, humorless person in the whole world. I found, however, his early life -- orphaned, getting into the first class at the new Leland Stanford University, and his career as a geologist in godforsaken places to be very interesting. I believe he is the richest person, in today's dollars, to ever be president - certain the wealthiest self-made person to occupy that office. The museum in West Branch, Iowa is a pretty interesting one, especially dwelling on his role of food relief for the civilians of Europe after World War I.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews