This post was written by guest blogger Peter Hoehnle, PhD, Park Guide at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site.

Although his name is no longer the household word that it once was, Herbert Hoover has made several appearances in popular culture through films, songs, and even comic books. Here are some examples.

Visitors to the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site comment on one of two songs in which Herbert Hoover is mentioned. The first is the ballad “We’d Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover” from the musical “Annie,” in which a group of down and out people blame Hoover for the Great Depression and their misfortune. The other song is the theme from the popular situation comedy, “All in the Family” in which Archie and Edith Bunker sing the line, “mister, we could use a fellow like Herbert Hoover again” while reminiscing about their youth.

Closer to Hoover’s time in office, his name was mentioned in a popular song by Irving Berlin, “Let’s Have Another Cup of Coffee.”

Hoover has made a few appearances in film, although all the “made for T.V.” variety. In 1979, he and Lou were portrayed in the film “Backstairs at the White House.” Hoover, played by Franklin Cover, also makes a brief appearance in “The Day the Bubble Burst,” which is a dramatization of the events surrounding the stock market crash of 1929.

Hoover’s major appearance on the small screen is in “The Angel of Pennsylvania Avenue,” an almost completely fictionalized account of the story of three Detroit children who travel to Washington to try and convince him to have their father released from prison. Very, very loosely based on a true story, the film aired in 1996 with Robert Urich as the father. Thomas Peacocke played Hoover during the roughly 13 minutes that the President was on screen.

A 55-minute 2005 film biography, “Hoover’s Gold,” about Hoover’s time as a young mining engineer in Australia, features dramatic recreations of Hoover in action.

Perhaps the most unusual appearance of Hoover in popular culture is in the “Transformers” series. Actually, both Lou and Bert are featured in the comic book franchise. As the long story goes, the Hoovers are trapped in China by the Boxer Rebellion, during which they serve as intelligence operatives, in the process rescuing Theodore Joseph Wells, who works with the Hoovers.

A copy of a Transformers comic book featuring Herbert Hoover on the cover.

In 1902 word reaches them that Wells’ organization has found a mysterious metal cube in the Colorado River. The Hoovers and Wells return to the U.S. where he hopes that Hoover’s mining background and Lou’s skill in metallurgy will be useful in analyzing this find. Hoover diverts the river to permit excavation of the cube, a process that takes nearly a decade.

In the meantime, Jetfire foils the initial extraction of the mysterious cube leading to the release of its energy. This energy brings several nearby machines to life. The Hoovers defeat these monsters by opening the river floodgates and drowning them.

As the story goes, Hoover then enters a political career where he uses his position as Secretary of Commerce to organize the Wells group which is now called Sector Seven. As President, Hoover orchestrates the construction of the Hoover Dam to enclose the cube. Did you get all of that?

In short, the Hoovers are part of the backstory of the Transformers – machines that are brought to life by the power of the cube they had helped analyze.