<Ul> <Li> Mining engineer </Li> <Li> Civil engineer </Li> <Li> Businessman </Li> <Li> Humanitarian </Li> </Ul> <Tr> <Th> Signature </Th> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <P> Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874--October 20, 1964) was an American engineer, businessman and politician who served as the 31st President of the United States from 1929 to 1933 during the Great Depression . 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, which seemed to get worse every year because of the increasingly large - scale interventions he made in the economy . Hoover was defeated in a landslide in 1932 by Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt and spent the rest of his life as a conservative denouncing big government, liberalism and federal intervention in economic affairs as Democrats repeatedly used his Depression record to attack conservatism and justify more regulation of the economy . </P> <P> He became a successful mining engineer around the globe and retired in 1912 . In the First World War, Hoover built an international reputation as a humanitarian by leading relief efforts in Belgium during the war, and in Eastern Europe afterwards . He headed the U.S. Food Administration during World War I. His reputation as a progressive businessman fighting for efficiency and elimination of waste was built by his service as the Secretary of Commerce (1921--1928). Hoover was a leader in the Efficiency Movement, which held that every institution public and private was riddled with unsuspected inefficiencies . They all could be improved by experts who could identify the problems and solve them . He also believed in the importance of volunteerism and of the role of individuals in society and the economy . In the presidential election of 1928, Hoover easily won the Republican nomination, despite having no elected - office experience . Although Hoover never raised the religious issue, some of his supporters did in mobilizing anti-Catholic sentiment against his opponent Al Smith . </P>

Who became president in 1929 the year of the great crash