The Life of Herbert Hoover: The humanitarian, 1914-1917

This latest volume in the definitive six-volume biography of Herbert Hoover tracks Hoover's life and career from 1918 to 1928---a period defined largely by his role as United States Secretary of Commerce and leading directly of Commerce and leading directly to his landslide election as the thirty-first President of the United States. In rich detail, Clements chronicles Hoover's ascent through the political ranks to become one of the most high-profile men in government, earning himself the informal distinction "the Secretary of Commerce and undersecretary of everything else." Clements traces Hoover's evolution from an engineering progressive to a relief and war manager and shows how he developed a public philosophy for dealing with a wide array of challenges, from infrastructure and the environment to disaster relief and children's rights. The book also considers Hoover alongside the large intellectual trends, social developments, and political events of the period, interweaving --