Recently, I've had the privilege of writing the Hoover Institution's new Centennial Secrets Channel in honor of the Institution's 100 year anniversary. My first article was published today. Here's an excerpt:
In 1919, Europe was in recovery from the devastation of World War I, the Russian Civil War was raging, the Versailles peace negotiations had begun, Adolph Hitler gave his first speech to the German Workers Party, and the world was awash in change. Herbert Hoover had witnessed firsthand the devastating aftermath of the war as Chairman of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, where he led the relief effort for the food crisis that Belgium faced after the German invasion. He recognized that history was being forged around him and in 1919 he sent $50,000 to his alma mater, Stanford University, to be used to archive materials from the “Great War” for future generations. Thus, the Hoover War Library was born, later re-dedicated the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, a library, archive and public policy research center dedicated to understanding the causes of war and revolution and promoting peace.
Read the full article on Hoover.org here.