Herbert Hoover New Deal-era warnings offer key wisdom today, too

“My idea of a conservative is one who desires to retain the wisdom and experience of the past and who is prepared to apply the best of that wisdom and experience to meet the changes which are inevitable in every new generation,” wrote Herbert Hoover in defining conservatism.

Hoover’s definition of conservatism reflected the philosophy of Edmund Burke. Aug. 10, 2024, marks the sesquicentennial birthday of President Herbert Hoover. Honoring President Hoover on his 150th birthday is an opportunity to reflect on both his legacy and his wisdom.

Richard Norton Smith, a biographer of Hoover, wrote that one of the most important contributions of Hoover was his “role as a philosopher of modern conservative thought.” Russell Kirk in "The Conservative Mind" wrote that Hoover was “the last American president to do his own thinking.”

It is often forgotten, but Hoover was a political philosopher. He first outlined his political philosophy in 1922 in "American Individualism." In 1934, in response to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, Hoover wrote "The Challenge to Liberty."

Both "American Individualism" and "The Challenge to Liberty" were a defense of what Hoover called the “American System,” or constitutionalism. In "American Individualism," Hoover hailed the principle of equality of opportunity or the “fair chance of Abraham Lincoln,” which reflected his own life story. Hoover argued that it was the American system of liberty that allowed an individual to advance. Orphaned at an early age, Hoover just as Lincoln had done, had advanced in life on his own initiative.

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This is the direct opposite of today’s progressive philosophy of equality of outcomes. Hoover’s equality of opportunity is often associated with “rugged individualism” or laissez-faire, but he rejected this libertarian philosophy. "American Individualism" and "The Challenge to Liberty" were also both written over the concern of rising ideologies that posed a threat to constitutionalism.

Hoover described the Constitution the “Ark of the Covenant” of liberty. When the Republican Party was in full retreat during the New Deal, Hoover became the leading conservative voice to respond to the New Deal.

Hoover argued that the New Deal not only failed to bring about economic recovery through its massive government spending, but it resulted in the centralization of government. As the New Deal unfolded, Hoover argued that there were “nests of constitutional termites at work.” One example was Roosevelt’s Court Reform plan.

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The United States Supreme Court had declared several New Deal programs unconstitutional. The Court Reform plan was Roosevelt’s response. In reality it was not reform, but rather a plan to “pack” the Court with progressives. Hoover argued that this was a direct threat to an independent judiciary.

“If Mr. Roosevelt can change the Constitution to suit his purposes by adding to the members of the Court, any succeeding President can do it to suit his purposes,” argued Hoover.

In the aftermath of the New Deal, Hoover continued to warn against the continual rise of “big government” and the associated economic threats of deficit spending, high taxes, and inflation. In foreign policy he was a realist and warned against military adventurism and the threat of communism. Far from being an isolationist, Hoover argued that the United States must be “armed to the teeth” in terms of its defense capabilities. The United States, he argued was the “Gibraltar of Western Civilization.” He was even critical of NATO members for “doing nothing of consequence toward their own defense,” while the United States continued to subsidize their defense.

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During the 1950s, Hoover was concerned with continual tariff reductions and their impact on American industries and communities. “Thousands of villages and towns would be deprived of their employment. Their schools, churches and skills would be greatly decimated,” argued a prophetic Hoover as the nation embraced further globalization.

On his 150th birthday, “the Chief,” as he was known by his friends, continues to offer much-needed wisdom in how to address the numerous serious domestic and foreign policy challenges that confront our nation today.

John Hendrickson serves as policy director at Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Herbert Hoover 150th birthday is a good time to review his wisdom