“All you have got to do is stay alive until election day.”
Franklin Roosevelt’s nomination for President by the Democratic Convention in Chicago in July 1932 led to one of the momentous campaigns in American political history.
Saddled with responsibility for the Depression, President Hoover would have been vulnerable to almost any opponent in 1932. FDR’s advisors were unanimous in urging him to play it safe and wage a front porch campaign; his running mate, John Nance Garner of Texas, told him, “All you have got to do is stay alive until election day.” Read More
Source: fdrlibrary.wordpress.com
Laying the cornerstone of the new Supreme Court
A letter from Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes inviting President Hoover to participate in the laying of the cornerstone for the new Supreme Court building. September 27, 1932.
-from the Presidential Timeline
Source: presidentialtimeline.org
It’s time to play Hooverball! Hooverball was played each morning on the White House lawn during President Hoover’s administration.
The game was created by Hoover’s doctor to help the President slim down and keep fit.
“It is more strenuous than either boxing, wrestling or football,” wrote Will Irwin, a friend of Hoover’s, in a 1931 article “The President Watches His Waistline” in Physical Culture magazine. “It has the virtue of getting at nearly every muscle in the body.”
Every year, eager Hooverball enthusiasts compete in a tournament during Hoover’s Hometown Days. This year is the 25th Annual National Hoover-Ball Championships.
Learn more about the history of Hooverball on the Hoover Presidential Library web page.
Who wants to start a Hooverball league?
Source: go.usa.gov
American Relief Administration Food Distribution, Poland. Circa 1919
On July 12, 1919, Herbert Hoover founded the American Relief Administration which fed 350 million people in 21 countries in the aftermath of the Wold War I.
-from the Hoover Library
Source: hoover.archives.gov
Charles Lindbergh captured the world’s imagination when he flew non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean by himself. Others had flown the distance as teams, but “Lucky Lindy” was the first pilot to do it alone. It took him 33 1/2 hours, between May 20-21, 1927.
Lindbergh was greeted with a hero’s return when he traveled back to the United States. In Washington D.C., President Coolidge welcomed his ship through the Chesapeake and the Potomac rivers with a grand entourage of warships and aircraft.
At the time, Herbert Hoover was the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. This photo shows Hoover meeting Lindbergh in Washington D.C. after the trans-Atlantic flight.
-from the Hoover Library
Source: charleslindbergh.com
Fifty three years ago…
Groundbreaking ceremony for the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum. The little house in the background is Hoover’s birthplace cottage. West Branch, Iowa. 5/4/1959
-from the Hoover Library
“A garden for every child, every child in a garden.”
On May 5, 1917, Herbert Hoover was appointed by President Wilson to be the United States Food Administrator.
The U.S. had just entered World War I, and Hoover mobilized Americans to produce and conserve food supplies. Among the kitchen war efforts were Meatless Mondays and Wheatless Wednesdays.
Across the country, a movement to grow food in school gardens also took off. Children, women, and other civilians tended and harvested gardens to feed WWI troops.
What are you growing in your school garden?
Source: hoover.archives.gov
102 Floors, 6,500 Windows, 73 Elevators, 410 Days to Complete - The Glorious Empire State Building
President Hoover dedicated the Empire State Building on this day, May 1, 1931.
Herbert Hoover’s dedication was delivered from the White House where a ceremonial switch had been set up. The President touched the switch and an operator in New York was cued to turn on the Empire State Building lights.
Photographer Lewis Hine documented incredible aerial scenes of workers constructing the Empire State Building. Here’s one of Hine’s photos of a workman on the framework of the skyscraper.
Source: research.archives.gov
135 years ago, J. Sterling Morton, a pioneer in Nebraska established a tree planting holiday called Arbor Day.
To celebrate Arbor Day today, here’s a photo of President Hoover planting a tree on the White House Lawn with the American Tree Association. More on the event from the Hoover Library. 4/21/31
Happy Arbor Day!
