Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover was born on August 10, 1874 in West Branch, Iowa. His family were devout Quakers. At age eight, Hoover was orphaned and was sent to live with relatives. They showed him little affection, but taught him the importance of hard work and industry. In 1891, Hoover entered Stanford University's School of Engineering, graduating in 1895. Four years later, he married his wife, Lou Henry and they had two sons, Herbert Jr. and Allan. From an early age, Hoover showed a prodigious talent for engineering and was hired by the engineering firm Bewick and Moering, working in Australia and then in China. He was in China when the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 broke out and he coordinated the barricades of Americans trapped in China. At age forty, his engineering career was so successful that he was a millionaire. 1914 saw the outbreak of World War I in Europe. That was when he left his engineering career and entered public service. He organized a relief effort to feed starving Belgians, known a