WIST

The only trouble with capitalism is capitalists; they’re too damn greedy.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
(Attibuted)
Remark to columnist Mark Sullivan (c. 1929).  Spencer Howard, an archivist at the Hoover Presidential Library, says Sullivan's son recalled Hoover saying this to his father at least once in the early 1930s.

When the outcome of a meeting is to have another meeting, it has been a lousy meeting.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
(Attributed)

Many years ago, I concluded that a few hair shirts were part of the mental wardrobe of every man. The president differs from other men in that he has a more extensive wardrobe.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
(Attributed)
Quoted in the New York Times (17 Oct 1964)

 

Address, Des Moines, Iowa (30 Aug 1951)

Dishonor in public life has a double poison.  When people are dishonorble in private business, they injure only those with whom they deal or their own chances in the net world.

Dishonor in public life has a double poison.  When people are dishonorble in private business, they injure only those with whom they deal or their own chances in the net world. When there is a lack of honor in Government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
Address, Des Moines, Iowa (30 Aug 1951)
Full text.

No public man can be just a little crooked.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
Comment (1951)
In Louis Lochner, "Herbert Hoover in His Own Words," New York Times Magazine (9 Aug 1964)

In no nation are the fruits of accomplishment more secure. … I have no fears for the future of our country. It is bright with hope.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
Inaugural Address (4 Mar 1929)
Seven months before the stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression.

You convey too great a compliment when you say that I have earned the right to the presidential nomination. No man can establish such an obligation upon any part of the American people. My country owes me no debt. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor. In no other land could a boy from a country village, without inheritance or influential friends, look forward with unbounded hope. My whole life has taught me what America means. I am indebted to my country beyond any human power to repay.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
Letter to Sen. George H. Moses (14 Jun. 1928)
On learning of his nomination to the presidency

It is just as important that business keep out of government as that government keep out of business.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
Speech (22 Oct 1928)

It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
Speech, Colby College (8 Nov 1937)
Full text.

Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die. And it is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
Speech, Republican National Convention, Chicago (27 Jun 1944)

Ours is a practical people, to whom ideals furnish the theory of political action, upon which they want not only firm assurance, but also effective practice. They want programmes, but they want action to flow from them. They want constructive common sense. They want the development of the common will, not the views of a single individual. They are beginning to realize that words without action are the assassins of idealism.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
Statement to the New York Tribune (29 Apr 1920)

On the 1920 Presidential campaign.