Bibliograph

Hoover, an extraordinary life in extraordinary times, by Kenneth Whyte

Type

Label

Hoover, an extraordinary life in extraordinary times, by Kenneth Whyte

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

resource.biographical

individual biography

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Hoover

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

266250

Responsibility statement

by Kenneth Whyte

Sub title

an extraordinary life in extraordinary times

Summary

An impoverished orphan who built a fortune. A great humanitarian. A president elected in a landslide and then resoundingly defeated four years later. Arguably the father of both New Deal liberalism and modern conservatism, Herbert Hoover lived one of the most extraordinary American lives of the twentieth century. Yet however astonishing, his accomplishments are often eclipsed by the perception that Hoover was inept and heartless in the face of the Great Depression. Now, Kenneth Whyte vividly recreates Hoover's rich and dramatic life in all its complex glory. He follows Hoover through his Iowa boyhood, his cutthroat business career, his brilliant rescue of millions of lives during World War I and the 1927 Mississippi floods, his misconstrued presidency, his defeat at the hands of a ruthless Franklin Roosevelt, his devastating years in the political wilderness, his return to grace as Truman's emissary to help European refugees after World War II, and his final vindication in the days of Kennedy's "New Frontier." Ultimately, Whyte brings to light Hoover's complexities and contradictions--his modesty and ambition, his ruthlessness and extreme generosity--as well as his profound political legacy

Table Of Contents

A pretty stiff time -- A whole jug full of experience -- I am the Devil -- The adventures of Hu-hua and Hoo loo -- The late jar rather smashed my nerves -- What lies beyond wealth -- Hard to state without becoming hysterical -- A pirate state organized for benevolence -- Make way for the Almoner of starving Belgium -- A hero in the house of truth -- Inconsolable in the hall of mirrors -- An engineer at the opera -- Meddling with God's economy -- Hoover v. a botched civilization -- Scandal, embarrassment, and the little feller -- Sleepless in good times -- The wonder boy -- Giving genius its chance -- He didn't know where the votes came from -- Nothing to fear but fear itself -- Just when we thought it was over -- It seemed like the end of the world -- The president in his fighting clothes -- A human creature desperately hurt and pained -- Through the abyss in a Buick -- Father of the new conservatism -- Reborn in a darker world -- Epilogue: I admire a lot in Hoover's career

Classification