Herbert Hoover had a long and distinguished career in public service and private business. He was a self-made man (one who becomes successful through hard work without the financial help of others). Becoming a millionaire as a mining engineer, Hoover was a world traveler by the time he was thirty and had a narrow escape during a rebellion in China in 1900. When World War I (1914-18) broke out, he used some of his own money to help Americans stranded in Europe. His public service with several war relief agencies earned him a place on a list of "the ten greatest living Americans" published by the New York Times shortly after the war.

After serving with distinction as secretary of commerce for presidents Warren G. Harding (1865-1923; see entry in volume 4) and Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933; see entry in volume 4) during the 1920s, Hoover was elected president in...