Mandarin Mashup May 31, 2012
Hoover besieged in the Chinese city of Tientsin, June 1, 1900 - Politico
On this day in 1900, 25-year-old mining engineer Herbert Hoover and his wife, Lou Henry, were besieged in the Chinese city of Tientsin by xenophobic rebels calling themselves the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, known to foreigners as the Boxers.
In 1899, Hoover, who went on to become the nation’s 31st president, had returned to Monterey, Calif., from the gold fields of western Australia to marry Henry, his Stanford University sweetheart. From there, they took a honeymoon cruise to China, where Hoover worked for Bewick, Moreing & Co., a London-based global mining firm.
An allied force drawn from eight nations, including the United States, responded to put down the Boxer Rebellion. On July 14, after a day of hard fighting, Tientsin was recaptured by troops under the command of a Japanese colonel. During the battle, Hoover guided U.S. Marines around the city, using his knowledge of the local terrain.After the Boxers surrounded some 800 Westerners in Tientsin, Hoover played a leading role during the siege in building barricades around residential areas while Henry volunteered at the hospital.
While they lived in China, Hoover and his wife learned Mandarin Chinese, which they utilized to speak privately in the executive mansion. Having made a fortune during his mining career, Hoover donated his entire presidential salary to charity.
When Wall Street crashed in 1929 less than eight months after he took office, Hoover sought to combat the ensuing Great Depression by stepping up volunteer efforts, launching large-scale public works projects and increasing the top federal income tax bracket from 25 to 63 percent. When these initiatives failed to produce an economic recovery by 1932, Hoover lost his bid for a second term to Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt.
SOURCE: WWW.HISTORY.COM
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