A Republican from northwest Iowa used today’s “President’s Day” holiday as the time to deliver a brief speech in the Iowa Senate, defending the legacy of the only Iowan who has been elected president. Senator David Johnson is a Republican from Ocheyedan who has a connection to Hoover’s hometown.

“Being a native of West Branch, I grew up knowing a lot about Mr. Hoover and his family,” Johnson said. Herbert Hoover was born in West Branch, Iowa, in 1874 and elected to one term in office in 1928. “Few presidents have known more relentless criticism than Herbert Hoover. More than 75 years after his presidency, he remains to some extent a political outcast. I think this is just wrong. Herbert Hoover was a global humanitarian who saved more than a billion lives in the 20th century…mostly civilians who were the victims of war and famine,” Johnson said. “Surely, there’s a special place in the history and in our hearts for such a person.”

Hoover led humanitarian efforts to feed starving Europeans before, during and after World War I. In 1927, his organizational skills were used to respond to a crisis in this country — flooding along the Mississippi River that left a million and a half Americans homeless. According to Senator Johnson, efforts are underway to refocus attention on Hoover’s humanitarian achievements.

Hoover was president when the U.S. Stock Market crashed in 1929 and in 1932 Hoover lost his bid for reelection to Franklin D. Roosevelt.