Iowan Republican Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) was the 31st president of the United States, holding office from 1929-33 as the country entered the Great Depression. His presidential race in 1928 against Democrat Alfred E. Smith, a Catholic from New York, was one of the most controversial in U.S. history for the mix of party loyalties, views on Prohibition and religion, and rural versus urban tensions.
