Heroes: The Humanitarian

Of all the moments of Herbert Clark Hoover's long and illustrious life, the one best remembered was the worst.

There he was, a stolid figure in the rear of an open car, his eyes downcast, a study in dejection. He rode in dour silence to the Capitol while Presidentelect Franklin Roosevelt, sitting beside him, smiled that famous smile and waved to the cheering throngs.

This was Saturday, March 4, 1933, F.D.R.'s Inauguration Day-and the day after Hoover had stubbornly rejected urgent demands that he close all of the nation's banks. Only four years before,...