in 1905
Early years, 1903–1928 Herbert Charles Hoover was born in London on August 4, 1903. He was the elder son of President
Herbert Clark Hoover (1874–1964) and First Lady
Lou Henry (1874–1944). He was named for his father, Herbert, and his maternal grandfather, Charles Delano Henry, but throughout his life was known as Herbert Hoover Jr. His father, an engineer, was in London working for Bewick, Moreing & Co. By the age of two, Herbert Jr. had been round the world twice. One of his earliest memories was riding a wagon piled high with gold with his father in Australia. The family lived near
Stanford University while he was growing up, and he took great pride in serving as
water boy for the
Stanford Indians football team. During the
1918 flu pandemic, Hoover contracted
influenza, which left him with a
hearing impairment that affected him for the rest of his life. Hoover began taking an interest in radio sets at age 14. He attended his father's alma mater,
Stanford University, graduating with a degree in general engineering in 1925. He later studied at the
Harvard Business School and was awarded a
Master of Business Administration with distinction before winning a fellowship from the
Daniel Guggenheim Fund to study aviation economics. His work focused on the economics of radio in the aviation sector. He founded United Geophysical, headquartered in
Pasadena, California, in 1935 and by 1939 he had 200 employees working in five labs perfecting the art of exploring for oil by seismological means. Hoover's
hearing impairment made him ineligible to serve in the
United States armed forces during
World War II. At the time, the only oil company operating in Iran was the
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, operating under the terms of the
D'Arcy Concession, as renegotiated in 1933. After the
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran,
Standard Oil, the
Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, the
Sinclair Oil Corporation,
Royal Dutch Shell, and the
Soviet Union all sought access to the Iranian oil fields. He ultimately worked out a deal whereby, in August 1954, the
National Iranian Oil Company became a consortium owned 40% by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company; 40% to be divided equally (8% each) among the five major American companies;
British Petroleum to have a 40% share;
Royal Dutch Shell to have 14%; and the
Compagnie Française des Pétroles, a French Company, to receive 6%. Iran got now 25% of the profits compared to 20% of the original treaty with the AIOC. Officials at the
United States Department of State praised Hoover's conduct during these negotiations as the greatest one-man performance since
John Foster Dulles' work during the negotiations over the
Treaty of San Francisco. Eisenhower now asked Hoover to become
Under Secretary of State. Hoover agreed and, after
Senate confirmation, he would serve as Under Secretary of State from October 4, 1954 until February 5, 1957. Hoover was initially criticized for his performance, in particular because his hearing impairment led to the perception he was gruff and his insistence on perfection led to the perception he was indecisive. Owing to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles' frequent illnesses, Hoover was often Acting Secretary of State, and in this capacity made two decisions widely regarded as missteps: (1) he rejected a Chinese overture in April 1955 to negotiate agreements that could prevent war between the two countries; and (2) indecision as to whether to ship 18 tanks to
Saudi Arabia in winter 1955 over the objections of Israel. ==Family==