Autographs
President Herbert Hoover Invites New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt to Join a White House Conference
HERBERT HOOVER (1874-1964). Thirty-First President of the United States (1929–1933).
October 21, 1930-Dated, Outstanding Typed Letter Signed, “Herbert Hoover” as President, 1 page, measuring 10.5” x 7.5”, upon official “The White House - Washington” Stationery, Choice Extremely Fine. Written to the Governor of New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would later succeed Hoover as President, just a little over two years later. Here, Herbert Hoover writes, in full:

“My dear Governor: ---

In July, 1929, I called together a preliminary committee to lay out the work for a nation-wide inquiry into Child Health and Protection. This committee has secured the assistance of more than 1200 national and state officials together with experts in every field, and has gathered facts and compiled data for a nation-wide consideration of the whole subject.

I have called a national conference for this consideration to be held at the White House in Washington, November 19th to 22nd. I am most desirous that every state should participate in the determination of conclusions and recommendations upon this subject.

I would deeply appreciate it, therefore, if you would appoint delegates from your various official Departments who will represent their respective fields in this connection at the conference. The subject is one that I feel will appeal to you. The conference is not called for the purpose of advancing legislation. Its maximum value can be obtained from advancement of thought and interest in the subject, the exchange of experience and the establishment of standards and methods for the future. --- Yours faithfully, -- (Signed) Herbert Hoover”.

In 1920, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, praised Hoover with these ringing words: "He is certainly a wonder and I wish we could make him President of the United States. There could not be a better one." But only twelve years later, when Hoover had indeed risen to the highest office in the land, Roosevelt found himself running against the man he had formerly praised. Roosevelt made the following charge at a political rally: "I accuse the present administration of being the greatest spending administration in peacetime in all our history. It is an administration that has piled bureau on bureau, commission on commission, and has failed to anticipate the dire needs of and the reduced earning power of the people."

Ironically, it would be FDR who would expand the power and scope of the Federal bureaucracy, and was seen as the great President of social services; this despite the present letter from Hoover attesting to his diligent work on domestic issues.

This is an excellent Letter from Hoover to the man who would become his successor just two years later. Hoover’s boldly penned, huge prominent signature measures 3.5” long.
Herbert Hoover was the 31st President of the U.S. (1929-1933) and the first President born west of the Mississippi. He was appointed Secretary of Commerce (1921-28) by Warren G. Harding, and was in office at the time of the stock market crash (Black Thursday - October 24, 1929) and the subsequent Great Depression. He was defeated in bid for re-election by Franklin D. Roosevelt.