Episode 71 — Herbert Hoover: Engineer of Plenty, President in Scarcity

pplpod Episode 71 traces Herbert Hoover’s uncommon arc—from orphaned Iowa kid to globe-trotting mining engineer, then the humanitarian who fed millions in wartime Europe. We follow his rise as Commerce Secretary modernizing air travel, standards, and data; his command performance leading relief during the 1927 Mississippi Flood; and the 1928 landslide that sent a problem-solver to the Oval Office just as the floor gave way. In the crash and its long aftermath, we unpack Hoover’s cautious-but-active playbook—public works (Boulder/Hoover Dam), the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, bank holidays, and pleas for voluntary cooperation—alongside policies that backfired (Smoot–Hawley) and the standoff with the Bonus Army that hardened public judgment. Then the long second act: post-WWII hunger relief with Truman, the bipartisan Hoover Commissions, and  ...