Franki’s Graveyard

Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover with President Warren Harding on the 1923 Alaskan trip.

By Matthew Schaefer  | Hoover Heads

Herbert Hoover was head of the United States Food Administration (USFA)when he first met Warren Harding.  As Hoover tells the tale, Senator Harding came into his office late one evening and said: “I am here to serve and to help.’  This kind of voluntarism resonated, and Hoover took accepted his offer.  On December 4, 1917, they each made presentations at the First Presbyterian Church in DC to more than 500 Ohio farm youths exhorting them to continue their good work for the USFA.

Hoover supported Harding in his 1920 run for President.  After being elected, Harding offered Hoover his choice from three Cabinet positions: Agriculture, Commerce and Interior. Hoover chose the Commerce position.