Givers

When the fighting in Iraq has ended, there remains the next and equally vital part of that conflict—rebuilding Iraq. Certainly, the United States and countries around the world will commit substantial governmental resources to that important endeavor, but one can be assured that American citizens will also exhibit a stellar record of humanitarian support and expand on a charitable tradition Herbert Hoover cultivated long before he became our 31st president. 

Growing up in a Quaker home in Iowa, Hoover lost both parents by the age of ten. He gained admission to Stanford University's first class in 1891, at a time when tuition was free, and earned a degree in geology in 1895. Over the next two decades, Hoover established himself as a highly successful mining engineer and orchestrated business ventures around the globe.

When World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, 40-year-old Herbert Hoover yearned to serve others. With his Quaker religion and Stanford education reinforcing the belief that "Just making money was not enough," he spearheaded a volunteer group called the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB). It remained in existence from 1914 to 1919 and provided food to millions of Belgian and French victims of the war.

By 1917, Hoover's early humanitarian work caused President Woodrow Wilson to appoint him U.S. Food Administrator. But after the war, Hoover achieved even greater public acclaim by guiding a major effort to resurrect war-torn Europe. As the voluntary head of the American Relief Administration European Children's Fund, a private charity, Hoover initiated a fundraising campaign across America that achieved amazing results. In a struggling post-war economy, Hoover raised more than $30 million—roughly $255 million today. With his superb management of this and other relief efforts, biographer George H. Nash argues, Hoover was "responsible for saving more lives than any other person in history."

While Hoover's actions made him a national hero—ultimately putting him in the White House—they also reshaped this country's philanthropic tradition. In the 19th century, American school children read their copies of McGuffey's Readers, which instructed them to focus their charitable actions locally, telling them that trying to address far-flung international problems represented "false philanthropy." Although such advice made sense in the nascent American republic, Hoover's humanitarian efforts set Americans on another path and epitomized one reason why the 20th century has been called the "American century."

As we turn to erecting a brighter future for Iraq, Americans' generosity will again show the world why philanthropy is a pillar of democracy.

Photo courtesy of Herbert Hoover Presidential Library/Museum