Introduction to Herbert Hoover and Harry S. Truman
After
the power of the presidency was turned over to President
Eisenhower, former President Truman headed home to
Independence, Missouri. As Truman left the inaugural
events, he greeted former President Herbert Hoover.
Hoover said, "I think we ought to organize a
former Presidents' club". At this point, Hoover
was the only person alive who could understand what
it was like to be the President of the United States.
This bond helped to fuel a friendship that lasted
over twenty years. While both men disagreed on many
political issues, their commonalties in life experience
were the basis of their friendship. Both men were
brought up in humble beginnings in the Midwest. Hoover
was an orphan by the age of 10 and Truman grew up
on a farm. As adults, both men did quite well. Hoover
became wealthy as an engineer in China, and Truman
became a judge in Independence, Missouri.
Prior
to becoming president Herbert Hoover, helped the people
of Belgium get back on their feet after World War
I. He was responsible for organizing the food effort
in order to keep the people from starving. The work
he did in Belgium helped jump-start his political
career, and game him a platform to stand on for the
bid of presidency.
Herbert
Hoover became president in 1929, just months before
the stock market crashed, and the U.S. was flung into
an economic depression. President Hoover quickly became
the scapegoat for the Great Depression. The Democratic
Party took every opportunity to blame President Hoover
for the economic conditions of the United States during
the 1930s. When he left the White House in 1932, Hoover
was ostracized from the political arena by FDR. Even
when the United States entered into World War II,
Roosevelt refused Herbert Hoover's offers to lend
a hand in the crisis.
Harry
S. Truman became president on April 12, 1945 after
the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Former
President Hoover wrote to Truman offering support
and help if needed. To Hoover's surprise, President
Truman took him up on his offer. Europe was suffering
a famine as a result of the war and millions of people
were likely to starve. Former President Hoover was
just the man to help out with this situation. It was
a job he had already succeeded at, and Truman felt
that he needed Hoover's expertise. Although, they
did not always agree on how to solve domestic problems
or how to deal with foreign affairs; Truman and Hoover
were willing to work together for the common good.
In
February 1946, Truman asked the American people to
conserve as much food as possible, so that the United
States could help prevent mass starvation in Europe.
After the war, the United States had plenty of food
to feed not only U.S. citizens, but also people around
the world. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation
Administration was failing to adequately reach all
of Europe. Once again, Truman called Hoover for help.
Truman asked Hoover to travel around the world to
evaluate the "hunger problem firsthand".
Hoover, the new honorary chairman of the Famine Emergency
Committee, estimated the world's immediate needs at
eleven million tons of cereals and three million tons
of fats. As Hoover toured the world, he met with leaders
of different countries asking them to help support
Europe by donating as much food as possible. Hoover
persuaded the dictator of Argentina to donate 1.6
million tons of food. In the end, Truman expressed
his appreciation to Hoover in the form of a letter.
Even
after working so closely on a project as big as helping
to feed Europe, both Truman and Hoover continued to
disagree on politics. Hoover was very critical of
Truman's use of Roosevelt's "totalitarian economic
philosophy". However, Truman once again sent
Hoover to Europe for another relief mission. This
time it was Germany who needed help rebuilding their
industrial economy.
In
a very public gesture of respect, Truman restored
Hoover's name to the dam on the Colorado River on
April 30, 1947 (Roosevelt had changed the name to
Boulder Dam). Ten days later at the Gridiron Dinner
Hoover publicly complimented Truman on his "efforts
and strength after the war".
As
the election of 1948 grew nearer, Truman disagreed
with the Republican controlled congress about reorganizing
government. This created "an executive-congressional
standoff". However, both sides agreed that Hoover
should chair the new organization; thus creating the
Hoover Commission. Hoover hoped to do away with many
of the New Deal policies. The purpose of the Hoover
Commission was to "make every government activity
that now exists work efficiently…". With
the election nearing, Hoover believed that President
Truman would lose to Republican candidate Thomas Dewey.
During
the campaign of 1948, Truman continually attacked
Hoover, and once again blamed Hoover for the Great
Depression. Hoover was the most recent Republican
president, and the Hoover administration was not successful
in dealing with the economic troubles of the times.
This was a very easy way to attack the Republican
Party and their "inability to run the country".
However, if Hoover wanted to continue his position
in politics he had no choice but to say nothing in
return.
When
Truman won the election, Hoover worried that the recommendations
of his commission would be ignored. However, Truman
adopted about seventy percent of the commissions programs.
These programs helped the government save billions
of dollars.
As
tensions increased with the Soviet Union, Truman called
on Hoover to help with the controversy of "alleged
infiltration of Communist into the U.S. government".
Truman wanted to appoint Hoover to a bipartisan investigation
commission. Hoover was "greatly troubled"
and expressed his doubt that there were communists
in government, and then went on to attack the foreign
policies of the New Deal as damaging the U.S. government.
On
December 20, 1950, Hoover publicly opposed Truman's
plans to send U.S soldiers to aid the security efforts
of NATO. He questioned whether or not the United Nations
would be victorious in the Korean War. Hoover proposed
several alternatives and said that there "would
be an economic collapse at home if the United States
took on the defense burdens of a selfish, self-centered
Europe". Hoover felt that the United States needed
to deal with the "real enemy": Moscow. While
Hoover spoke of isolationism, Truman was going to
war with Korea
In
1952, Hoover helped with the Robert Taft campaign,
but when Taft lost to Dwight D. Eisenhower; Truman
and Hoover found themselves on the same side once
again. They both greatly disliked President Eisenhower.
Throughout Eisenhower's administration, Hoover found
himself disagreeing with his fellow Republican. He
also realized that he was able to work better with
Truman, the Democrat. It is not until Truman left
office, that the true friendship started to develop.
This is evident from the last letters they sent each
other. Hoover thanked Truman for inviting him to the
White House just months after Truman took the office.
Truman was touched so much by the letter that he had
it framed and hung it on the wall in his office.
The
Hoover-Truman educational activities were created
by Lindsay Peacock as part of the Truman
Library internship program.
