Synopses & Reviews
This latest volume in the definitive six-volume biography of Herbert Hoover tracks Hoovers life and career from 1918 to 1928—a period defined largely by his role as United States Secretary of Commerce and leading directly to his election as the thirty-first President of the United States. It tells the story of how Hoover the engineering progressive turned relief and war manager developed a public philosophy for dealing with a wide array of problems. It also fits Hoover into the larger thought, action, and developmental patterns of the period, interweaving his family matters, business affairs, and other projects with the larger historical context.
Review
Praise for previous volumes: "Mr. Nash is able to bring a dimension to Hoover's private life that is missing in previous accounts." --Joan Hoff-Wilson, The New York Times "Dr. Nash has combed the most important governmental archives and personal manuscript collections, and of course the Hoover and CRB papers. Only the German Foreign Office and army archives and official Belgian sources are mission in his bibliography. Nash tells a good story in fast-moving, felicitous prose. His errors are so few in number as to be startling when one runs across one. In fact, he makes all other books on Hoover during this period obsolete, most particularly Hoover's own accounts (the first volume of his Memoirs and An American Epic, heretofore our main published sources), which must now be discarded for most purposes on account of their incaccuracy. This, then, is the definitive biography of Hoover for the period of 1914-1917." --Arthur S. Link, The Washington Post "Thanks to Mr. Nash's immense skill as a scholar-biographer, we can at last begin to see Herbert Hoover whole. Succeeding volumes will surely make this one of the great biographies in American political history." --Karl O'Lessker, The Wall Street Journal "To have the record put straight at the ouset is of crucial importance. Dr. Nash has made that record comprehensible by putting it in its setting of a certain stage in the development of international finance and, no less, of a certain point in the evolution of British and American society. This volume makes it clear why, on returning to his native land at the moment when prewar Europe blows up in his face, Hovver will address himself to the very different opportunities and challenges which lead him to become a public figure both at home and abroad." --The Economist "It's a wonderfully detailed history, put together by a man who has obviously dedicated large chunks of his life to reading more than just the entire contents of the Hoover collections at West Branch, Iowa, and Stanford University. It will certainly prove a valuable addition to those academic halls." --Michael Parfit, Los Angeles Times "The Hoover Presidential Library conceived a grand, perhaps even audacious, undertaking, that of engaging an historian to write the "definitive" Hoover biography. For the task, it made a happy choice - George Nash." --Forrest McDonald, National Review "Nash's book is clearly a milestone in Hoover scholarship and seems likely to become the authority on Hoover's once "forgotten years." ... Throughout, the quality of the scholarship, the sifting and use of evidence, the imaginative reconstruction of relevant historical contexts, and the ability to communicate all deserve high marks. The author merits commendation for a fine piece of research and writing, and the Hoover Library Association praise for making its production possible." --Ellis W. Hawley, The American Historical Review "The breadth and depth of coverage here is startlingly new. The care, precision, attention to detail, and thoroughness in tracking down even the most obscure references makes this first volume of the definitive biography of Hoover an excellent reference work as well as a mine of information for those wishing to become familiar with the details of his life." --Susan Estabrook Kennedy, The Journal of American History "It is an immense contribution to scholarshi on Hoover and is more a document of sources on a phase of Hoover's life than an interpretive narrative of the same period." --Martin L. Fousold, The American Historical Review
Review
“Kendrick A. Clementss
The Life of Herbert Hoover, the fourth in the multivolume work on the life of Herbert Hoover, stands as one of the most well-researched and well-written books on the former secretary of commerce and president. Clementss narrative shows the complexity and challenges of the period, and his analysis of Hoovers years as secretary of commerce is one of the best in recent decades. Clementss research is impeccable and will aid those with an interest in Hoover for many years to come. A must read.”—
The Journal of American History “Examining the years between the end of WWI to Hoovers election to the presidency in 1928, Clements skillfully intersperses 4 chapters on his subjects private family life along with 18 chapters dedicated to Hoovers public career. Recommended.”—
CHOICE “Herbert Hoover is one of the few figures in American history who truly requires a multivolume biography, and in the installment at hand, Clements helps us understand why. This is a richly informative and illuminating study of an oft-neglected (and too often caricatured) leader as he neared the pinnacle of a remarkable career. Professor Clements has written a discerning and necessary book.”-- George H. Nash, author of the first three volumes of
The Life of Herbert Hoover"Clements' compendious, deeply researched, and highly sophisticated study of Herbert Hoover during the Paris Peace Conference and the Commerce years will serve as an important building block for a new understanding of the 1920s."--Stephen A. Schuker, William W Corcoran Professor of History, University of Virginia
“In this thoughtfully crafted volume, Clements details and analyzes both a crucial decade in Hoover's life and the ongoing whirlwinds of political and associational activity generated by his initiatives. Solidly grounded in primary evidence, it stands as the best account yet of the era's ‘great administrator and the complex set of successes and frustrations that eventually helped to make him president.”--Ellis W. Hawley, University of IowaPraise for previous volumes: “Able to bring a dimension to Hoover's private life that is missing in previous accounts.” --The New York Times
“A good story in fast-moving, felicitous prose . . . makes all other books on Hoover during this period obsolete.” --The Washington Post
“A wonderfully detailed history.” --Los Angeles Times“A milestone in Hoover scholarship . . . Throughout, the quality of the scholarship, the sifting and use of evidence, the imaginative reconstruction of relevant historical contexts, and the ability to communicate all deserve high marks.”—The American Historical Review
“The breadth and depth of coverage here is startlingly new. The care, precision, attention to detail, and thoroughness in tracking down even the most obscure references makes this first volume of the definitive biography of Hoover an excellent reference work as well as a mine of information for those wishing to become familiar with the details of his life.” --Susan Estabrook Kennedy, The Journal of American History
About the Author
Kendrick A. Clements is a Professor of History at the University of South Carolina. He is the author of numerous books, including Woodrow Wilson: World Statesman (1987); The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson (1992); Hoover, Conservation, and Consumerism: Engineering the Good Life (2000); and Woodrow Wilson (co-authored with Eric A. Cheezum, 2003).
Table of Contents
Feeding Europe, 1918-1919 * Family Affairs, 1918-1920 * An Economic Program for the Consumer Society * The Election of 1920 * The European Relief Program, September 1919-1920 * Family and Business, 1921 * The Commerce Department, 1921 * The 1921 Unemployment Conference * The Russian Famine, 1921-1923 * The American Child Health Association * Family, 1922-1923 * Hoovers Economic Idealism * The Commerce Department, 1922 * The Commerce Department, 1923 * Alaska and Washington, 1923-1924 * The Commerce Department, 1924 * The Commerce Department, 1925 * Family and Public Service, 1925-1928 * The Commerce Department, 1926-1928 * The Mississippi River and New England Floods of 1927 * The Election of 1928 * Imperfect Visionary