A Pair Of Letters Relating To Herbert Hoover’s Election As America’s First Quaker President

HERBERT HOOVER (1874-1964). Hoover was the Thirty-First President of the United States. He was the first Quaker to be President. A pair of letters written in January 1929, just before Herbert Hoover’s 1929 Presidential Inaugural. A Washington D.C.-based minister named Moses R. Lovell wrote a lengthy missive to Hoover on the subject of Hoover’s becoming America’s first Quaker President. Lovell, who was not a Quaker, gave Hoover advice about how and where to worship during his Presidency. Hoover responded with a brief thank you. Both letters are in very good condition. a) TLS. 1pg. January 27, 1929. Miami, Florida. A typed letter signed “Herbert Hoover” as President-elect. “My dear Dr. Lovell: I have your kind letter of January 19th. I deeply appreciate the suggestion you make. Yours faithfully, Herbert Hoover”. b) TLS. 2pgs. N.d. [January 19, 1929]. Washington D.C. A lengthy, typed letter signed “Moses R. Lovell” on letterhead of the Mount Pleasant Congregational Church in Washington D.C. “Honored Sir: Allow me to express my sincerest congratulations on your election to the Presidency of our country and my earnest wish that all the bright hopes promised by your wise and constructive leadership may be achieved to the great benefit of our country and the world. I realize how manifold must be the concerns pressing upon your time and thought for immediate consideration in these pre-administration days. Yet, as a clergyman in the city of Washington, having at heart the best interests of religion for our community and the nation at large, I would submit for your careful attention the following suggestions that seem to me both exceedingly pertinent and timely. I believe that all of us rejoice to see, for the first time in history, the elevation of a Quaker to the chief office of the land, knowing that so much that is inherent in Quaker philosophy and character can greatly benefit our day and generation by being brought into prominence. I would surely regret to have anything done in the course of the next four years that would minimize in any way your connection with the religious faith that is yours and that of your family’s tradition. But in the light of the following facts—desiring above all else not to seem to intrude in any way upon the sacred preserves of a man’s own spiritual life—I would modestly suggest the following for your consideration: Whereas the Quaker churches of our capital city are but two in number and the seating of both most limited; And since the very essence of the Quaker service is the spirit of quiet worship, reverent meditation and uninterrupted devotion; And since wherever the President attends service has always been the mecca for great crowds of curiosity seekers and idlers, furthest in spirit from the essential mood and temper of worship which would be most detrimental to the atmosphere in which Quakerism thrives; Allow me humbly to suggest that such being the case, it might be most in accord with the best interests of your own church, the true advance of your own religious philosophy and the best spiritual interests of the country at large, if during your Presidency you should find it possible to adopt relative to church attendance the following suggestions: (1) Never to announce previously what place of worship you will attend on Sunday. (2) More frequently than anywhere else to attend one of the two Quaker churches in Washington. (3) Draw a circle one mile and a half in radius from the White House (this excludes my own church else I might be accused of selfishness in the matter) and on any given Sunday attend one of the various denominational edifices within that circumference. Thus insuring to the church of your own connection an atmosphere of worship unbroken by the presence of the merely curious. Thus establishing more fully the chief principle of Quakerism—the free and non-sectarian moving of the spirit in the hearts and minds of men. Thus giving presidential sanction to the spirit of the new day, the spirit of interdenominational and inclusive Christian fellowship. These, my dear President-elect, I submit with al humility, seeking not at all to interfere in the most private and sacred rites of a man’s own life, believing however that under the circumstances they are worthy of your consideration and of fair treatment by your always wise and discriminating judgment and convinced that favorable action upon them would serve best the spiritual well-being of our city and of the nation at large. Again let me express my sincerest congratulations, my earnest prayers for the success and high achievement of your administration, and my eager desire to assist in every way the well-being and enhancement of our common interests. Respectfully, Moses R. Lovell”.