The Medical College - Page 34
Passage VIII (Questions 52–58)
Herbert Hoover, engineer, self-made man, and
great
humanitarian hero of the First World War, went
on to
serve as food czar of the United States during
its active
war years, and returned to the international
rescue busi-
ness with the cessation of hostilities. As
secretary of
commerce during the prosperous 1920s, Hoover
con-
tinued his commendable record of public
service.
The 1930s, however, were less kind to his
reputation.
Elected president in 1928, he enjoyed a scant
eight
months in office before the collapse of the
stock market
created a catalyst for the onslaught of the
Great
Depression. The appearance of failure in
combatting
that economic and human tragedy, made worse by
the
Democrats' smear campaign, blighted his
name.
Despite his assertions that the Depression had
been
beaten by the summer of 1932, the voting public
repu-
diated him in the presidential election of that
year.
Out of office, he remained silent for a time
and then
took the offensive, first criticizing the New
Deal and
eventually even attacking President Franklin D.
Roo-
sevelt. An unsuccessful seeker of the
Republican nomi-
nation in 1936 and 1940, Hoover struggled to
make his
voice heard as a critic of what he called
unliberal poli-
cies. When war broke out in Europe in 1939, he
assumed
the dual role of passionate opponent of active
United
States involvement in the conflict and advocate
of
humanitarian relief to those caught behind
enemy lines.
Poland, Finland, Belgium, Holland, and
Norway
solicited Hoover's assistance almost
immediately. He
quickly established organizations to aid each
of them
with money, food, and other forms of
nonmilitary sup-
port. But even in 1939, his efforts encountered
obstacles,
both real and propagandistic--in particular a
nasty set of
rumors about competition with the Red Cross. In
1940,
the Hoover relief machine ran up against even
more for-
midable opponents when Winston Churchill
and
Franklin Roosevelt assumed the posture that
relief to
these nations would lighten the burden that
ought to fall
upon their Nazi conquerors. Besides, said
Churchill, the
Germans would only steal whatever relief
supplies were
sent to those suffering under
occupation.
For the first half of 1940, Hoover combined
these
relief efforts with a quiet campaign to get the
Republican
presidential nomination. Although he and his
partisans
would deny it in 1940 and later, Hoover engaged
in a vig-
orous and carefully orchestrated program,
directed
toward bringing him a draft. But he would see
himself as
the victim of deliberate sabotage at the
convention when
the coveted nomination went to Wendell Willkie.
Virtu-
ally ignored during the campaign, Hoover
returned pas-
sionately to the cause of relief, offering the
"Hoover
Plan" for experimental feeding, which could be
stopped
instantly in the event of Nazi interference.
But the official
United States position remained negative. By
the end of
1940, Hoover formed the National Committee on
Food
for the Small Democracies as a propaganda and
lobbying
organization to press for relief via the Hoover
Plan.
Meanwhile, Hoover became increasingly alarmed
at
the growing danger that the United States might
be
drawn into an active role in the fighting. He
continued
to believe, as he had from the outbreak of
hostilities,
that Britain could not be defeated, that
Germany could
not win, and that a negotiated peace was
possible. He
concluded, therefore, that there was no need
for Ameri-
can entry. But he distrusted Roosevelt's
policies.
Although Hoover 's active opposition to war
was
nowhere near so vehement as it would become in
1941,
that theme interweaves with his desire for
office and
his commitment to relief to present a highly
complex
scenario of his activities and motivations in
1940, and
with it, a commentary on the state of the
nation from
the viewpoint of a still-influential
citizen.
52.
An appropriate title for this passage could
be:
A.
Herbert Hoover the statesman.
B.
Dirty Politics.
C.
Herbert Hoover the Humanitarian.
D.
Herbert Hoover--Relief, Politics, and
War.
53.
Which of the following statements is NOT
sup-
ported nor contradicted by the
passage?
A.
Hoover was a genius as an
organizer.
B.
Hoover was a humanitarian.
C.
The Democrats ran an honest campaign
in
1932.
D.
Hoover felt that once being president
was
enough.
54.
The passage pictures Roosevelt as:
A.
a clean politician.
B.
a humanitarian.
C.
a self-made man.
D.
not sympathetic to Hoover's
efforts.
55.
Which statement is contradicted by the
passage?
A.
Despite the ups and downs of his
career,
Hoover's name remained
unblemished.
B.
Hoover was part of the political scene for
a
long time.
C.
Hoover did not have party support in
his
quest for reelection.
D.
Other nations sought Hoover's
help.
We gratefully acknowledge the help of Dr. Susan
Esterbrook Kennedy,
Professor of History and Geography, Virginia
Commonwealth Uni-
versity, 1990.
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