Herbert Hoover saved millions of people’s lives yet was one of the most HATED presidents ever.
Why?
Let’s dive into history, learn from it, and apply it to our lives today.
Why Do Haters Hate? Perhaps you’ve heard of President Hoover—but it’s been a while since he was in office.
Hoover was first and foremost a BUSINESSMAN who happened to serve as the 31st president of the USA from 1929 to 1933.
He held office during the beginning of the Great Depression.
But before we get to that, it’s important to note how he got there.
This was an orphaned kid in the 1880s to become the leader of the entire nation…
How did he go from broke to the White House?
Money and Business.
After Hoover finished University, he spent 20 years in the mining industry, doing deals, arranging financing and managing mining corporations.
He was a self-made multi-millionaire by the time World War 1 started in 1914, and a million dollars back then was worth much more than a million dollars now.
In fact, his $4 million back then was worth equivalent to over $100 million in 2020.
That’s when he told a friend, “Just making money isn’t enough.”
So…he started using his money to HELP others.
World War I had created a global food crisis that jacked up prices and caused food riots and starvation in many countries in Europe.
Hoover’s organization was at one point feeding over 10 million people a day, primarily leading the relief in Belgium.
Over time, he did such an excellent job that the President of the United States noticed his work.
President Warren Harding appointed Hoover Secretary of Commerce, and his new job became to promote economic growth and job creation.
Hoover then built support for a presidential bid throughout the 1920s, and on taking office in 1929, said that “We shall soon with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation.”
All good intention, right?
Who would hate this guy, an orphan who made it big in business, then looked to feed the hungry and even end poverty?
Well, just a few short years later, almost the entire nation hated him.
In late October 1929, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression started.
As the economy got worse, everyone started attacking Hoover as the cause of all the trouble and even for being indifferent to the suffering of millions.
The biggest humanitarian President in history was now the most hated, getting the most hostile crowds ever seen by a sitting president.
- His train and motorcades were pelted with eggs and rotten fruit
- He was heckled while speaking
- Citizens living in shantytowns were so angry they called them “Hoovervilles”
The haters were out in full force, and FDR won in a landslide in the 1932 election.
He couldn’t stop the financial meltdown, and even though Hoover was a great businessman and humanitarian, he is mostly remembered as the President during the worst economy in American history.
Haters will hate.
In fact, remember that there has NEVER been a successful person who wasn’t criticized, hated on, or underestimated.
Here are 4 things to remember about haters.
- Haters are usually quitters. The people who tell you that you suck are mad because they know they have responsibility and failures of their own. Haters are saying, “I’m not what I should be and I hope you too fail to reach your potential because it will make sense of why I quit.” In other words, the hater isn’t talking to you. They are talking about themselves and what they don’t or can’t do.
- Haters are spectators. Players don’t take feedback or criticism from spectators. Spectators rarely have success in their own lives because they are too busy spectating on the lives of the successful. If you have any success, any opinion at all, people will hate you.
- Haters are emotional. Stay rational when you are getting “hated” on by the haters and critics. Avoid getting emotional. It messes with your productivity. Just remember that Haters end up promoting the person they are envious of. It’s free promotion for you. Which brings me to point #4…
- Never waste a hater. Haters should not be wished away but used as fuel to take you to the next level. There are so many people that have talked about how they used haters to inspire their success.
“One week they like me, the next week they hate me, both weeks I get paid.”
I’ve never improved my situation in life by critiquing another, so I have made it a policy to leave that to others. I can’t make the world better by making another wrong so I simply refuse to do it.
I don’t have time to criticize you and I wonder how you find time to criticize me.
When I’m critical of others I am never being productive. Throughout my life, I‘ve found it impossible to be productive and critical at the same time. When I invest time in criticizing another I am no longer using my time in the most productive way I could be.
Be positive. Be productive. Leave the criticizing to those that choose to invest their time in looking after you rather than looking after themselves.
Despite the haters, Herbert Hoover lived a successful life—he made a bunch of money and he used his wealth to help a bunch of people.
He went from being an orphan as a kid to building a business as a young man, using that business to get rich, then using his wealth to helping those in need…and launching that into a political career for even more influence.
Am I foreshadowing something?
Let the haters hate—just keep making money and helping people!
Be Great,
Grant
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