Late in the 1928 election, incumbent President Calvin Coolidge acknowledged to a friend that ‘they’re going to elect that superman Hoover.’ Now, the outgoing President was pretty annoyed throughout the entire campaign and used the descriptive phrase somewhat derisively. However, for much of the country, Herbert Hoover was, in fact, Superman – a miracle worker who had selflessly tossed aside his successful career to come to the aid of the starving citizens of Belgium during the German occupation of World War I. He rose even further in the minds of his countrymen when he became the U.S. Food Administrator after the Americans entered the war in 1917, patriotically rallying the entire citizenry around the call that ‘Food Will Win the War.’ These services extended into post-war occupied territories, eventually leading to millions of lives being saved thanks to his leadership, administrative proficiency, commitment to the sanctity of life, and flat-out personal bravery. Leading up to the presidential election of 1928, Herbert Hoover represented compassion, excellence, and extreme competence in the most challenging situations. He was, in fact, Superman.

That image is hardly the one that history has attached to the memory of Herbert Hoover. Less than eight months into his single presidential term, the stock market crashed, corresponding with a sequence of events that brought on the Great Depression. Hoover’s presidency was one of misery, for the citizenry as well as the man in the White House who struggled to deliver a positive turn of meaningful economic relief despite non-stop efforts of trying. Hoover’s traditional comprehension of American federalism and the role of individualism in U.S. culture had served him extremely well throughout his lengthy career in public service, but these ideals came attached with constraints that were ill-equipped for dealing with such an unprecedented economic catastrophe. These events finally culminated in bringing his tenure to an abrupt close after just one term.

Hoover spent the last three decades of his long life trying to correct the record and regain his favored status in the eyes of the American people. He doggedly assailed Franklin Roosevelt and his collectivist New Deal as an un-American venture into fascism that was robbing citizens of their individual liberty. And while much of the public eventually re-embraced Hoover as a valued elder statesman, the concept of the so-called “Hoover Depression” remains the primary image that dominates the popular recollection of the nation’s 31st President – much more Lex Luthor than Superman.

Hoover’s greatest failure was as a politician. His driving personality led him to accomplish great things, but his inability to “play politics” in any traditional sense led him to become the national scapegoat for the troubled times of the 1930s. But his life was certainly far more than that – not Superman, but a principled leader who stayed true to his vision of what being an American was all about. His ultimate legacy is one that should far exceed the calamitous reputation that typically goes with his name.