Democracy is the Outgrowth of Religious Conviction

American Minute from William J. Federer

He coordinated relief to millions when the Mississippi River levees broke during the 1927 flood and he organized feeding 300 million in 21 countries of Europe and Russia following World War I. In 1928, he was elected the 31st U.S. President in a landslide victory. His entire life he refused to receive any payment for public service. This was Herbert Hoover, who died OCTOBER 20, 1964.

Born in 1874, his Quaker mother taught Sunday School and spoke at Friend's meetings before dying when he was ten.

Hoover lived on an Indian Reservation in Oklahoma before moving to Oregon. He worked his way through Stanford University doing laundry, delivering papers and working for the U.S. Geological Survey. Herbert Hoover served under Presidents Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Truman and Eisenhower.

During World War II, in a joint-statement with the widows of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Coolidge, Taft, Harrison and Cleveland, Herbert Hoover stated: "We must seek revival of our strength in the spiritual foundations which are the bedrock of our republic. Democracy is the outgrowth of the religious conviction of the sacredness of every human life. On the religious side, its highest embodiment is the Bible; on the political side, the Constitution."

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.