Glen Jeansonne is a Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is the author of several biographies, including The Life of Herbert Hoover: Fighting Quaker, 1928-1933 and Messiah of the Masses: Huey P. Long and the Great Depression. His book, Gerald L. K. Smith: Minister of Hate, won the Gustavus Myers Award and the Wisconsin Writers Award for the Best Non-Fiction Book.
“Herbert Hoover is usually ranked near the bottom of American
presidents. Glen Jeansonne’s biography of the man who was chief
executive from 1929 to 1933 is a cri de coeur over what the author
sees as a grievous injustice. True, Hoover did preside over the
worst economic catastrophe in our nation’s history. But in Herbert
Hoover: A Life, he is a fascinating and accomplished individual—the
‘most versatile American since Benjamin Franklin’—and an
idealistic, dynamic president who deserves a better
reputation.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Jeansonne portrays a president more centrist than extreme, a
leader who might have succeeded in a second term....
Strong—well-written and well-researched.”—Amity Shlaes, Wall
Street Journal
“Historian Glen Jeansonne’s fine biography, the first to treat
[Herbert Hoover’s] entire life…has given us an exhaustively
researched, balanced, and thorough treatment of an American life
very much worth knowing about.”—The American Spectator
“In Herbert Hoover: A Life…Glen Jeansonne has produced an
elegant, concise, and insightful full-dress biography of the former
president. It will likely remain the definitive single-volume
account for some time.”—The Washington Free Beacon
“At last, a biography of Herbert Hoover that captures the man in
full, from frontier orphan to accomplished engineer, acclaimed
public servant, doomed President of the United States at the
calamitous onset of the Great Depression, and principled but often
curmudgeonly elder statesman in his twilight years. Glen
Jeansonne’s account is often penetrating and unfailingly
balanced—sympathetic but not sycophantic, critical when it needs to
be, but never dismissive or contemptuous. He has splendidly
illuminated the arc of one of the most extraordinary lives of the
twentieth century.”—David M. Kennedy, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author
of Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War,
1929–1945
“Glen Jeansonne shines a bright new spotlight on arguably America's
most qualified, yet most misunderstood and vilified, president.
Herbert Hoover's lifetime accomplishments are unbounded, his
contributions to the nation and world invaluable. This is a timely
biography, with lessons as relevant today as they were in
1929.”—Richard D. White, Jr., Author of Kingfish: The Reign of Huey
P. Long
“A new generation needs this single-volume account of Herbert
Hoover's uncommon life. Glen Jeansonne tells the very American
story of this Iowa orphan turned self-made international
businessman, pioneer of global humanitarian relief and President of
the United States. It is an epic life of a modest man who believed
character was the architect of achievement.”—Margaret Hoover,
Author of American Individualism: How a New Generation of
Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party
“For too long, there existed the need for an accessible one-volume
biography of Herbert Hoover. Glen Jeansonne's Herbert Hoover: A
Life admirably fills the void. Written with verve and wit, it
is a satisfying portrait on many levels.”—Jerry Fleagle, Executive
Director, Hoover Presidential Foundation
“President Herbert Hoover was a most remarkable American whom few
truly know. Historian Glen Jeansonne reintroduces us to this
fascinating, ill-understood man, and in the process rescues him and
his amazing achievements from obscurity. If you could only read one
biography this season, let it be this one.”—James W. Cortada,
Author of All the Facts: A History of Information in the United
States Since 1870
“Drawing deeply on Hoover’s archives and previous biographies,
Jeansonne...energetically paints a colorful, revisionist portrait
of America’s oft-maligned 31st president....Jeansonne’s detailed
account presents a novel vision of Hoover and his place in American
life.”—Publishers Weekly
“Jeansonne judiciously and luminously succeeds in making Hoover’s
beliefs in efficiency, individualism, nationalism, volunteerism,
and intervention overseas better known today, rescuing him from the
erroneous image of an indifferent, static public figure.”—Library
Journal
“Finally, a biography that captures [Hoover’s] life in full. . . .
What Jeansonne's biography does most effectively is provide a
window into Hoover's fine qualities as a human being, while at the
same time highlighting how he became a classic example of the right
man elected to high office at precisely the wrong time.”—Newsmax
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