Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10; 1874 - October 20; 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st President of the United States from 1929 to 1933. A Republican; as Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s he introduced Progressive Era themes of efficiency in the business community and provided government support for standardization; efficiency and international trade.

As president from 1929 to 1933; his ambitious programs were overwhelmed by the Great Depression; that seemed to get worse every year despite the increasingly large-scale interventions he made in the economy.

He was defeated in a landslide in 1932 by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt; and spent the rest of his life as a conservative denouncing big government; liberalism and federal intervention in economic affairs