Contributions

• Founded the American Relief Administration and overseas hunger relief. His relief efforts in Belgium and post-war Europe are said to have saved more lives than Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin together had put to death.
• Presided over the 1929 Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression
• Promoted public works efforts such as the Hoover Dam
• Advocated strong labor regulation laws, including the enactment of the Bacon-Davis Act requiring a maximum eight-hour day on construction of public buildings and the payment of at least the “prevailing wage” in the locality
• Expanded civil service coverage of Federal positions
• Canceled private oil leases on government lands
• Instructed the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service to pursue gangsters for tax evasion
• Signed the Norris–La Guardia Act to limit judicial intervention in labor disputes
• Required air mail carriers to adopt stricter safety measures and improve service
• Issued the Hoover-Stimson doctrine refusing to recognize the Japanese conquest of Manchuria