Lou Hoover

First Lady

• Born: March 29, 1874
• Birthplace: Waterloo, Iowa
• Died: January 7, 1944
• Place of death: New York, New York

President:Herbert Hoover, 1929-1933

Overview

Although popular and well-known during her lifetime, Lou Hoover is just beginning to recover from the obscurity that followed her death in 1944. The fact that Herbert Hoover’s presidency had ended disastrously following the stock market crash and his unsuccessful reelection bid in 1932 had surprisingly little effect on her public image as a result of her role in orchestrating the enormous success of the Girl Scout movement. More likely reasons, however, may be found in her refusal to engage in acts of self-promotion and her disillusionment with the outcome of the election. A new generation of scholars is rediscovering a vivacious, intelligent, self-confident woman who was dedicated to significant acts of public service.

Early Life

Lou was the first of two daughters born to Charles Delano Henry and Florence Weed Henry. Her parents were typical of the new middle class that emerged in the years following the Civil War. Her mother had taught school, and her father had been preparing for a career in banking when the Civil War intervened. Very little is known of Charles Henry’s apprenticeship as a banker, but he had risen to the position of teller with the First National Bank of Waterloo before being asked to participate in the organization of several small banks in Iowa, Kansas, and California. He was then appointed manager of a bank in Monterey, California, in 1890.

Little is known of Lou’s childhood and teenage years except for occasional glimpses that have survived in newspaper articles, in some of her school papers, and in her letters to friends and family. She was friendly and well liked, intellectually curious, adventuresome, and a natural leader who was respected by her classmates. Many years later, friends would recall how she organized a working party to clear a vacant lot for softball games. Others remembered her firm insistence that two African American boys be included in the playgroup.

Her personality included generous portions of common sense and practicality combined with an innate friendliness and good humor. These personal attributes, coupled with a keen sense of intellectual curiosity, are evident in letters to her parents and in class writing assignments from her high school and college years. What began as a love of nature and the outdoors expanded into increasingly formal studies of zoology, geology, chemistry, and biology in high school and college.

Marriage and Family

Before the Henry family left Iowa in 1887 in search of a healthier climate for Mrs. Henry, Charles Henry introduced Lou to the joys of camping, hiking, and fishing along the banks of the Cedar River. These excursions became more frequent and far-ranging after they moved to California, first to the brand-new settlement of Whittier in 1887 and then to Monterey. The fact that Florence Henry was often in poor health and could not accompany her husband may help explain why Charles came to prize Lou’s company on those extended forays into the mountains. Certainly he could not have wanted a more enthusiastic and observant companion. Years later, having become president of the Girl Scouts of America, Lou would proudly recall that she “had been a girl scout, before the organization existed, when my father took me hunting, fishing and hiking in the mountains.”

These outdoor expeditions not only led to a pleasant and rewarding relationship with the Girl Scouts, they eventually led Lou to her life’s partner, Herbert Hoover. As did many young women of her class in the 1880’s, Lou found the opportunities before her both exciting and frustrating. It was the height of the Victorian age, and there was a definite, exhilarating sense of living on the edge of modern times. It was not, however, an open society in which everyone had an equal chance to take advantage of the new opportunities. Options for women were still limited. A college education helped, but a young woman would soon discover that her professional horizon was limited to teaching, medicine, or working in very routine clerical occupations. Lou, however, was determined to find her niche, that special place in which she could utilize her special gifts for the good of society.

No doubt influenced by her mother’s experiences as a teacher, Lou graduated from San Jose Normal School in June of 1893 but, unable to find a teaching position, took an assistant cashier’s job in her father’s bank. The following spring she was asked to substitute in the Monterey schools. Later that summer, she attended a lecture on geology by Professor John C. Branner, a popular faculty member at Stanford University. She had been fascinated by the dramatic rock formations of the rugged Sierra Nevada, and Branner was an excellent speaker. When he assured her that she could find a career in geologic research, she enrolled for the fall term at Stanford. Soon after her arrival on campus, Branner introduced her to his lab assistant, a shy senior student named Herbert Hoover.

In a letter to a friend, Herbert remarked upon the unusual development of a woman student in the geology department and added that she was “a nice one too.” A few days later, his classmates met to decide if their new classmate should join them on field trips. They agreed that if she did not prove an encumbrance, she would be allowed to go on future trips. They were completely unprepared for Lou’s athleticism and obvious familiarity with the outdoors. Herbert began to regard her in a new light, as a charming young woman who loved the outdoors and would not shrink from a life as the wife of a mining engineer. By the time he graduated from Stanford in 1895, the young couple had come to an understanding: They would marry when Herbert had proved himself and was able to support Lou.

When Hoover left Stanford in 1895, the economy was still reeling from the Panic of 1893. Jobs were scarce, especially in the mining industry, but he made the best of the situation by taking a “pick and shovel job.” This later proved to be a great advantage, for Hoover learned more in a few months in this new classroom than most engineers would learn in a lifetime about predicting a mine’s potential and how to manage men in a humane and efficient manner. Less than three years later, he was promoted to a junior partnership in a London firm and was ready to claim his bride. Returning to California by way of Suez and London, he stopped long enough to receive instructions on his new assignment in China. A few weeks later, in late January of 1899, he was back in Monterey.

After a whirlwind shopping tour of San Francisco bookstores, where they purchased every available map and book on China, Herbert and Lou Hoover were married in a simple ceremony in her parents’ house in Monterey on February 10, 1899. A few days later, Florence Henry wrote to friends that “we had been prepared not to like him,” because he was planning to take Lou off to China. Florence had to admit, though, that they had soon grown to like Herbert as much as Lou did. In commenting on the adventure that Lou was about to undertake, Mrs. Henry correctly predicted that such a life would suit her daughter very well.

Herbert and Lou arrived in China just as growing dissatisfaction with Western control and influence was about to erupt in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. Trapped in Tientsin with eight hundred Europeans and Americans by approximately forty thousand well-armed Boxer fanatics, the Hoovers’ calm fortitude became an inspiration for the international community. Later, during the presidential campaign hyperbole of 1928, Lou modestly attempted to minimize her role, though she did admit to nursing and writing letters for the wounded and managing the settlement’s small dairy herd. She failed to mention standing watch during the early morning hours so the men could rest and how, on one of her errands of mercy, the tire of her bicycle was shot out from under her. After the first, small international relief force arrived, Herbert insisted that she leave with the other women and children. She flatly refused; it was the only time she is known to have defied her husband.

In many respects, the siege of Tientsin was the forge in which the partnership of their marriage was tempered. Although there is no evidence that she helped Herbert prepare some of his later field surveys or consulting reports, it is quite likely that she did. She did have a degree in geology and had conducted research for Professor Branner in the British Museum. In China she had accompanied Herbert on field trips and had astonished superstitious miners by going down into several mines. In succeeding years she would follow her husband around the globe five times to such far-flung locales as Egypt, Siam, China, Australia, Japan, Siberia, New Zealand, and India. When her sons Herbert Jr. and Allan were born, she waited only a few weeks before joining her husband. This tested her ability to care for her family and helps to explain how she could later remain absolutely unflappable in the face of minor White House “emergencies” that seemed to unnerve everyone but the First Lady.

Another result of this globe-trotting lifestyle was to make the Hoovers a close-knit family. Lou took a very intense interest in everything her husband and sons did, even when her terms as Girl Scout president required that she travel to address conferences from Spokane, Washington, to Miami, Florida. Unfortunately, Herbert and Lou’s surviving personal papers reveal few of the intimate details that biographers and historians rely on to assess motives and explain behavior. The information that has survived, largely in Lou’s correspondence with family and friends, reveals a remarkably “normal” family trying to remain unaffected by life in the goldfish bowl of public life. When the Hoover family could get away together, they went on family camping and fishing trips. Lou’s letters reveal an intense interest in every aspect of her sons’ education. She understood the importance of masculine role models for her sons and refused to have them taught by her women teacher friends, regarding them as impractical and overindulgent.

Presidency and First Ladyship

Presidential couples have demonstrated varying degrees of interest in the presidency. Some have pursued it with unseemly ambition, and others have regarded it as an opportunity to serve their country. The Hoovers approached it as both an opportunity for public service and as a sacred duty that they felt honor-bound to accept. To say that Herbert Hoover lacked political ambitions is a considerable understatement. His effort to secure the Republican nomination in 1920 failed in part because his friends were not able to persuade him to run a year earlier. For the next three years, he explored the possibility of becoming a part owner of a major newspaper, hoping to turn it into a potent, honest force in the political education of the general public. When this failed to develop as planned, he began to heed the entreaties of his friends.

Although she always respected his wishes, he listened to her and valued her opinions. Although they were very correct in public, their regard and affection for each other was nevertheless obvious to their friends. Lou was devoted to her husband, going out of her way to provide a comfortable environment in which he could relax and escape the pressures of work. During the years when he was commerce secretary, this meant having friends and other stimulating guests as dinner companions almost every evening. There was no letup during the presidency. Although Lou was not enthusiastic about politics or campaigning, she did not shirk her political obligations or any opportunities to assist with the campaign.

Once the election was over, the society page editors were beside themselves. The prospect of an experienced international hostess as First Lady—writers H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, and Rudyard Kipling had been her guests when the Hoovers were in London—was almost too much for them. Lou did not disappoint the papers and took her ceremonial duties quite seriously. Her White House staff was especially impressed with her ability to make newcomers feel welcome, even in sophisticated White House society. White House musicales featured only American artists, and the list of those who performed would later read like a Who’s Who of emerging operatic superstars. Lou’s duties as First Lady limited her Girl Scout activities, but she used her position to promote Girl Scouting.

Legacy

Frequently in the news in her dual role as First Lady and Girl Scout president, Lou Hoover was also the first presidential wife to speak on radio, both during the campaign of 1928 and several times during her husband’s administration. She used these occasions to promote the efforts of volunteer relief agencies rather than direct federal doles. The most notable of these radio talks, on March 23, 1931, included an appeal to Girls Scouts everywhere to take an active role in relieving the suffering of families devastated by the Depression. Between 1930 and 1933, she became the first First Lady to conduct a large scale, private relief agency from the White House. When the appeals became too numerous for her staff to handle, she hired another secretary, with her own funds, to direct the relief work. Typically, she insisted that this personal program be kept confidential.

Although the Girl Scouts remained number one in her affection, the former First Lady found many new outlets for her wisdom and energy during the post-presidency. Her patronage of the arts expanded to include ballet, opera, and a variety of concert series in San Francisco and Palo Alto, California. Her involvement in the activities of the Salvation Army led naturally to her role in organizing and promoting a 1940 clothing drive on behalf of British War Relief. Her good deeds ended abruptly on January 7, 1944, while on a visit in New York. Lou had attended an afternoon concert with one of her former secretaries and suggested that they walk back to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Feeling fatigued after a few blocks, she hailed a cab. Back at their apartment, she told her husband that she was going to rest before dinner. When he checked on her later, it was too late for the house doctor to save her. She had suffered a heart attack.

Lou Hoover set a high standard for the First Ladies who followed her. Her rich legacy includes a zest for living, genuine friendliness, intelligence, dedication to her family, and a host of public service endeavors. Although a product of Victorian times, her attitudes and wide range of public service activities clearly mark her as the first of the modern First Ladies.

Bibliography

Allen, Anne Beiser. An Independent Woman:The Life of Lou Henry Hoover. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000.

Mayer, Dale C. Lou Henry Hoover: A Prototype for First Ladies. New York: Nova History, 2004.

Mayer, Dale C. “An Uncommon Woman: The Quiet Leadership Style of Lou Henry Hoover.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 20 (Fall, 1990): 685-698.

Mayer, Dale C, ed. Lou Henry Hoover: Essays on a Busy Life. Worland, Wyo.: High Plains Press, 1994.

Nash, George. The Life of Herbert Hoover. 3 vols. New York: W. W. Norton, 1983.

Pryor, Helen. Lou Henry Hoover: Gallant First Lady. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1969.