Last updated: March 20, 2021
Person
Allan Henry Hoover
National Archives & Records Administration
Quick Facts
Significance:
Son of President Herbert Hoover
Place of Birth:
London, United Kingdom
Date of Birth:
July 17, 1907
Place of Death:
Portola Valley, California
Date of Death:
November 4, 1993
Place of Burial:
West Branch, Iowa
Cemetery Name:
West Branch Municipal Cemetery
Allan Henry Hoover, the second of Herbert and Lou Hoover’s two sons, was born in London on July 17, 1907. As a boy he traveled the world with his parents and his brother Herbert Jr., seldom staying in the same school for more than a few months at a time.
London
At the age of eight during the First World War, the Allan traveled with his family back to the city of his birth as his father dedicated himself to providing food relief for Belgian people. In his memoirs, Herbert Hoover would remember “furiously” searching the house for his two sons during a Zeppelin raid on the British capital, eventually finding Allan and Herbert Jr. on the roof calmly watching the air battle being fought above the city.
California
Returning to the United States in 1917 and graduating from Palo Alto High School in 1924, Allan Hoover enrolled at his parents’ alma mater, Stanford University. While still a student, he was the only member of the Hoover family present for Herbert’s nomination for presidency at the 1928 Republican convention. After the election, he accompanied his parents on the president-elect’s tour of Latin America, before returning to Stanford to finish his degree. After a stint at Harvard Business School, he headed back to California to found a successful agribusiness enterprise in the San Joaquin Valley.
West Branch
Allan Hoover played an important role in preserving his father’s story for future generations. In 1935, he purchased the birthplace cottage. With his mother, Allan oversaw its restoration for its opening to the public in 1940. He served on the board of Hoover Foundation and the Boys’ Clubs of America, an organization near and dear to his father’s heart. He has been credited with convincing his father to be buried in West Branch and with the idea of an unobstructed view from the cottage to his gravesite. In 1937, Allan married Margaret Copley. The couple had three children, Allan Jr., Andrew, and Lou Henry. Though making his home in California, Allan never forgot his West Branch roots. When he passed away in 1993, he was buried in West Branch Public Cemetery.