The Challenge to Liberty

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Very Good. 7x5x1. First edition (A and Scribner colophon on copyright page, $1.75 jacket price). Jacket toned with 1/2 inch closed tear and shallow 1/4 inch chip along top edge, book club insert laid in. 1934 Hard Cover. 212 pp. Red cloth, gilt titles, Statue of Liberty on jacket. An examination of how the expansion of bureaucracy and government regulations can endanger the rights and freedoms of individuals. A keystone work in the literature of American conservative thought, written shortly after Hoover's tenure as president. "Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the thirty-first President of the United States (1929–1933). Besides his political career, Hoover was a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted government intervention under the rubric 'economic modernization'. In the presidential election of 1928 Hoover easily won the Republican nomination. The nation was prosperous and optimistic, leading to a landslide for Hoover over the Democrat Al Smith. Hoover deeply believed in the Efficiency Movement (a major component of the Progressive Era), arguing that a technical solution existed for every social and economic problem. That position was challenged by the Great Depression, which began in 1929, the first year of his presidency. Hoover tried to combat the Depression with volunteer efforts and government action, none of which produced economic recovery during his term. The consensus among historians is that Hoover's defeat in the 1932 election was caused primarily by failure to end the downward spiral into deep Depression, compounded by popular opposition to prohibition. Other electoral liabilities were Hoover's lack of charisma in relating to voters, and his poor skills in working with politicians.