Herbert Hoover: American Quaker (review)

Book Reviews115 The coming generation are not going to see things as we have seen them, that is very clear . . . But this does not trouble me . . . this coming generation is inspired with very high ideals and is filled with a generous impulse for the uplifting of humanity that is far ahead of what was known when we were young . . . our great concern . . . was to save our own souls, while the great concern of the coming generation now is to save the souls of others. At whatever personal sacrifice, she entered gaily into all the fun of her children and grandchildren, going with them on arduous camping trips in the Adirondacks and in the Rocky Mountains. The inimitable descriptions of her physical agonies and hardships are riotous, and bring tears of laughter to any reader who has suffered on such so-called pleasure trips. Forced to ride an old pack horse named Foxy, she says: "The trails were often so steep, and the gullies we had to cross so deep and abrupt, and the saddle so slippery that it was only by sheer force of character I could keep on at all. Moreover, the moment that knowing animal lost sight of his pack train he would presume on my innocence, and begin a series of the most harrowing manoeuvres that baffled me utterly." That her grandchildren adored her is evident from a bit of conversation she records when she was assuring them that their mother would buy as many nice things for them as she did. "Nobody could do things like you; there could not be anybody like you in all the world." "Why not?" I asked. "Oh because you are different," replied Ray. "Anybody can see you are different by just looking at you." "Yes," chimed in Karin, "the corners of your mouth are always turned up in a smile ; and even your nose turns up in a smiling way." "Yes," added Ray, "and even your wrinkles have a smiling turn at their ends." Could flattery rise higher? But I think if one can make one's wrinkles smile for little children, the secret of a happy old age is on the fair way to discovery. Another delightful thing Ray said once to her grandmother : "Now Grandma, please don't make any moral remarks. We have plenty of morals at home, and we come in here for sprees." If these tiny glimpses into the penetrating and witty letters of this independent, frank, and utterly lovable woman invite you to read the book for yourselves, you will gain a revealing and true picture of the Quaker culture of your grandmothers or great-grandmothers. Germantown, PennsylvaniaMargaret M. Car? Herbert Hoover: American Quaker. By David Hinshaw. New York: Farrar, Straus and Company. 1950. xx, 469 pages. $5.00. Herbert Hoover is a great American. This has been demonstrated by his faith in the fundamental ideals upon which a sound society must be founded and his unselfish devotion to these ideals. He was far more interested in solving problems than in dramatizing himself and his 116Bulletin of Friends Historical Association program before the public. As a result of this the campaign of vilification , planned and executed according to the most effective propaganda techniques, caused him to be considered as a weak and ineffective president by a large section of the American public. Even some historians who are supposed to be objective in their opinions joined in the general chorus of condemnation. President Hoover made mistakes, as have all men in high places, but viewed in perspective these mistakes have been neither as many nor as disastrous as his critics would have us believe. David Hinshaw has written a sympathetic biography of his friend, using his own personal contacts, a selected list of secondary materials and certain available official documents as his sources. In this biography the author notes the early influences in the life of Herbert Hoover, reviews his activities as Relief Administrator in Europe and as Food Administrator in the United States during World War I, brings into perspective his constructive leadership as Secretary of Commerce during the Harding and Coolidge administrations, describes the difficulties faced as President of the United States and...