As the 2004 Legislative session winds down amid behind-the-scenes negotiations over education spending, there’s a public flap over a portrait of Iowa native Herbert Hoover. Herbert Hoover, our nation’s 31st president, was born in West Branch and his portrait hung in former Republican Governor Terry Branstad’s office. That portrait was recently discovered by reporters — sitting in a closet. Matt Paul, a spokesman for Democrat Governor Tom Vilsack, says the picture’s been damaged and it was taken down for repair. Senator David Johnson, a republican from Ocheyedon, says Hoover’s known as one of the world’s greatest humanitarians because he led the effort to feed a starving Europe after World War One. Johnson says he’s concerned Hoover’s portrait wound up in a closet. Johnson says if Vilsack has a preference for another picture, that’s fine, but the portrait of the only Iowan ever elected president “deserves a prominent place in the capitol.”
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