Locator: 50638TRUMP.
It's too bad there are no journalists smart enough to engage in an intelligent conversation with President Trump with regard to what's going on in the Mideast and how it ties in with his Monroe Doctrine and his overall strategy to make America great again.
If one wants to get an idea of what is happening, what Trump is thinking, how Trump is advancing his agenda, one should read Chapter 2.3, "Hooverville," in the 2023 book by Malcolm Harris, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World.
Every US president and every great leader since World War II has supported the anti-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the liberal press has led the charge. Now, all of a sudden, it appears the liberal, progressive press is upset that we finally have an administration that is not willing to kick this can down the road again. A dozen American lives; three months of war; and, somewhat higher gasoline prices. That alone is mind-boggling.
AI query:
Capitalism. US exceptionalism. The first half of the 20th century. I am blown away by how incredibly good "Palo Alto" by Malcolm Harris is. Right now I'm reading about Herbert Hoover, chapter 2.3, "Hooverville." I. had no idea how Herbert Hoover built northern California, then southern California, and from that the modern industrial US state. Is there any similar biography or book on Hoover that covers this individual as well as Malcolm Harris has?
The reply (abbreviated):
What you’re reacting to in Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World is not just biography—it’s synthesis.
Harris is doing something closer to intellectual + economic history, where Herbert Hoover becomes a node in a much larger system (Stanford, mining capital, war mobilization, technocracy, etc.). That’s why it feels so revelatory. The short answer: there are excellent Hoover biographies—but almost none frame him quite the way Harris does. The best ones tend to fall into two camps:
1. The closest match to Harris’s “systems-level Hoover”:
- Herbert Hoover: A Life — Glen Jeansonne
- This is probably the closest single-volume biography that captures Hoover as more than “the Depression president.”
- Emphasizes Hoover as:
- global mining engineer
- organizer of international food relief during and after World War I
- architect of a new kind of technocratic, business-government coordination
- Shows how his “associationalism” (voluntary coordination among firms) shaped U.S. policy before the New Deal
Gives you the sense—similar to Harris—that Hoover helped prototype the modern administrative-capitalist state.Where it differs from Harris: it’s more sympathetic, less structural/critical, and less focused on California as the seedbed.2. The definitive deep-dive (but more traditional):
- Herbert Hoover — George H. Nash
- This is the gold standard—massive, multi-volume, and deeply researched.
- Covers:
- Hoover’s rise from orphan to global mining magnate
- his worldwide network (China, Australia, Europe)
- his role as “Great Humanitarian” before politics
- Explains how he built organizational systems that later scaled into government
- But:
- It’s not interpretive in the Harris sense
- It won’t explicitly connect Hoover to Silicon Valley, racial capitalism, or the long arc of U.S. industrial policy the way Palo Alto does
Think of Nash as giving you the raw material Harris is reframing.3. Hoover-as-system-builder (very relevant to your reaction):
- Herbert Hoover and the Crisis of American Capitalism, Ellis Hawley
- this is a sleeper recommendation—and intellectually the closest to Harris.
- focuses on Hoover’s role in reshaping capitalism itself
- explains his belief that the state should:
- coordinate industry
- stabilize markets
- support (not replace) private enterprise
Essentially lays out the blueprint Harris later interprets as “Palo Alto capitalism” If you’re intrigued by Hoover as a foundational architect rather than just a failed president, this is extremely strong.4. A broader contextual companion (pairs very well with Harris):
- Freedom from Fear, David Kennedy,
- not a Hoover biography per se, but a sweeping history of the Depression and New Deal
- gives:
- the world Hoover inherited
- why Hoovervilles emerged
- how Franklin D. Roosevelt diverged from Hoover’s model
This helps you see how much of the modern state is actually a continuation or mutation of Hoover’s framework, not a clean break.5. Why Harris feels so different (and why it’s rare): Harris is doing three unusual things simultaneously:
- geographic anchoring (Stanford / Palo Alto as origin point)
- ideological through-line (anti-egalitarian capitalism across decades)
- recasting Hoover as central, not peripheral
Most historians don’t center Hoover this way—even though, as you’re noticing, he:built global logistics systems;
- shaped early 20th-century industrial coordination;
- influenced housing, finance, and corporate-state relations for decades.
Bottom line If you want “more Hoover like Harris,” I’d read in this order:
- Jeansonne → best narrative match;
- Hawley → best conceptual match;
- Nash → deepest factual foundation
If you want, I can go one level deeper—there’s a fascinating argument that Hoover is actually a bridge figure between 19th-century laissez-faire capitalism and the 20th-century managed economy, which would connect directly to your earlier questions about AI, infrastructure, and the modern industrial state.
Where I would go next is to compare Herbert Hoover with John Maynard Keynes.
But enough for now.
