The 31st President Herbert Hoover Was An Iowa Native Who Had The Misfortune To Be In The White House When The Stock Market Crashed In 1929 He Presided Over The Great Depressions Early Years Before Losing His Reelection Bid To Fdr In 1932 An Engineer By Profession Hoover Directed Wwiera Humanitarian Aid To Europe And Served As Secretary Of Commerce Under Presidents Harding And Coolidge