Politically unaffiliated throughout the early 1920’s, both Republicans and Democrats eyed Herbert Hoover as a potential candidate for president. At the time of his landslide victory in 1928 as a Republican Hoover was, by many accounts, the most respected man in America. But just months after Hoover took office, he found himself in the middle of one of America’s greatest economic crises: the stock market crash of 1929, massive unemployment, and the beginning of the Great Depression. With expert scholarly analysis, Hoover’s story unfolds here in dramatic fashion as the film examines the strengths and weaknesses of a man destined to both win and lose the presidency of the United States in an election landslide. An Iowa orphan, Hoover was a self-made millionaire at an early age with a vast expertise in leadership, crisis management, and humanitarian work. His two terms as Secretary of Commerce have been hailed as extraordinary, leaving a legacy that continues to impact Americans way of life. Yet his policy decisions as president around employment and monetary and fiscal policy continue to provoke strong criticism from politicians and leaders today.
