Herbert Hoover, America’s forgotten conservative
President Herbert Hoover led a remarkable life that was based upon public service, humanitarianism, and a belief that America is an exceptional nation. Nevertheless, many conservatives today are often critical of Hoover. Some have even described President Joe Biden as the next “Herbert Hoover” because of the current state of the economy. President Hoover’s policies during the Great Depression can be debated, and they deserve more consideration, more than just the standard knee-jerk reaction often provided by many conservative and libertarian commentators. Nevertheless, Hoover deserves better from conservatives. Herbert Hoover is a forgotten conservative statesman, whose philosophy and ideas can still serve as a guide for conservatives. In reflecting on Hoover’s conservatism, Richard Norton Smith, a Hoover biographer and presidential historian, wrote that “none has more relevance to our own time than Hoover’s role as a philosopher of modern conservative thought.”