I stopped in West Branch, Iowa, planning to spend maybe 30 minutes at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. Two and a half hours later, I finally walked out—and I have to admit, I did not expect Herbert Hoover to become one of the most interesting stops of this trip.

Like a lot of Americans, much of what I remembered about Hoover centered on the Great Depression and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. Hoover signed the tariff into law in 1930, and economists and historians have long examined the role it played in worsening international trade during an already severe economic downturn.

That is part of Hoover’s record, and it shouldn’t be ignored. But what surprised me in West Branch was how much more there was to his life.

Long before becoming president, Hoover had become enormously successful and wealthy as a mining engineer and businessman. He could have spent the rest of his life enjoying that success. Instead, he increasingly devoted his time, talent and money to public service and humanitarian work.

During World War I, Hoover took on the enormous challenge of helping feed millions of people in Europe. There wasn’t a massive international humanitarian system already in place to handle the problem, so he helped build one. He recruited volunteers, persuaded businesses and friends to donate money and food, worked with shipping companies, negotiated with governments and figured out how to move enormous amounts of food to people who desperately needed it.

That part of his story really caught my attention because it sounds a lot like what servant leadership is supposed to look like: see a problem, bring people together and get to work. One of the themes throughout the museum is Hoover’s belief that seemingly impossible problems could be solved when people were willing to pitch in. His approach wasn’t about showmanship. It was practical, hands-on and focused on getting results.

Hoover’s service continued long after those early humanitarian efforts. Presidents of both parties called on him before and after his own presidency, including Harry Truman, who asked Hoover to help assess global food shortages after World War II. Despite their political differences, the two developed a friendship built around their shared concern for feeding people and improving government.

That may have been one of my biggest takeaways from the visit. Hoover’s life shows that public service doesn’t necessarily have to stop when elections end or when political disagreements begin. There is something powerful about people with very different political views still being willing to work together when the problem is bigger than the politics.

Several quotes throughout the museum stayed with me, but one in particular summed up Hoover’s outlook: “My country owes me no debt.”

Hoover believed the opportunities he had been given created an obligation to serve others. Another display captured that idea beautifully: our service is owed not only to our families and friends, but also to our neighbors, strangers and people who are struggling.

His concern for children was another important part of that commitment. Herbert and Lou Hoover spent decades supporting organizations serving young people, including the Boys Clubs of America and Girl Scouts. Hoover also supported efforts focused on children’s nutrition, health, education and development.

For those of us who spend our careers working with communities, there is an important question buried in all of that: What are we doing with the opportunities, influence and resources we’ve been given?

The location of the library makes the experience even more meaningful. Rather than separating Hoover’s presidential legacy from his beginnings, the site sits within the community where he was born.

You can walk through the area around his birthplace and get a sense of the small Iowa town that shaped him. The historic homes, streets, park and surrounding grounds make the experience feel less like visiting a monument to a president and more like seeing where an ordinary kid’s story began.

That was probably what stayed with me most. I went into the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library expecting a history lesson about a president associated with the Great Depression. I walked out thinking about a man who accumulated tremendous success and wealth but spent much of his life trying to use both in service to other people.

His presidency will always be debated, and it should be. But his humanitarian work and lifelong commitment to service deserve to be part of the story, too.

For those of us in public service, maybe the most important question isn’t what our communities owe us. It is what we owe the people we have the privilege of serving.

TO LEARN MORE, visit Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum:

https://hoover.archives.gov/ and the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in West Branch, Iowa: https://www.nps.gov/heho/ 

About Ron on the Road

Ron Holifield speaks to over 2,000 local government officials annually and has coffee with more than 250 local government officials each year as part of his travels. If you have a cool place you think he should visit, email Ron@CivicMarketplace.com.

NOTE: This column was written with the assistance of Melissa Valentine, senior director of operations and support at Civic Marketplace. 

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