This is a complete and accurate transcript of the tape of the oral history interview of Jesse Wilbert Hoover (CN 319, T1) in the Archives of the Billy Graham Center. No spoken words have been omitted, except for any non-English phrases which could not be understood by the transcribers. Foreign terms which are not commonly understood appear in italics. In very few cases words were too unclear to be distinguished. If the transcriber was not completely sure of having gotten what the speaker said, "[?]" was inserted after the word or phrase in question. If the speech was inaudible or indistinguishable, "[unclear]" was inserted. Grunts and verbal hesitations such as "ah" or "um" were usually omitted. The transcribers have not attempted to phonetically replicate English dialects but have instead entered the standard English word the speaker was expressing.
Readers should remember that this is a transcript of spoken English, which follows a different rhythm and rule than written English.
... Three dots indicate an interruption or break in the train of thought within the sentence on the part of the speaker.
.... Four dots indicate what the transcriber believes to be the end of an incomplete sentence.
( ) Words in parentheses are asides made by the speaker.
[ ] Words in brackets are comments by the transcriber.
This transcript was made by Evan Kuehn and Wayne D. Weber and was completed in May 2005.
Collection 319, T1. Interview of Jesse Wilbert Hoover by Paul Ericksen, October 7, 1985.
ERICKSEN: This is an interview with Jesse Wilbert Hoover by Paul Ericksen for the Missionary Sources Collection of Wheaton College. This interview took place at Reverend Hoover's home at Greenfield, Indiana on October 7, 1985 at 10:00am. Well Reverend Hoover, I'd like to start by finding out a little bit about your growing up years. You were...I understand you grew up in Ohio, and were born in Ohio. Where was that?
HOOVER: That's true. In Miami County. That's about ten to fifteen miles north of Dayton, was where I was born and where I spent most of my youth.
ERICKSEN: You...what was the name of the city, or town?
HOOVER: First at Englewood, and later at West Milton.
ERICKSEN: Okay. We were talking a little bit before we started the interview about your religious heritage. Could you talk a little bit about your religious upbringing?
HOOVER: Yes. My home atmosphere was very warm, spiritual atmosphere. We belonged to the tradition that came down from [pauses] early church history as a kind of separate stream from mainstream Christianity, often referred to as pietism and...which it had its own traditions. So far as much of it was concerned, the main thing I would say was that there was strong, consistent emphasis on the simplicity of life. Of course, we know that life back in that day was simpler all the way along, but our Christian tradition emphasized simplicity. And along with that a directness of approach to the entire concept of spiritual things. There wasn't too much of the sophisticated religious philosophy in our circles that there might be in some circles. It was a very sincere, simple approach to Christ.
ERICKSEN: Can you think of some particular way that was expressed?
HOOVER: Well, [clears throat] in our family devotions we...we simply talked to God. [pauses] There was an intimacy, and yet not an over familiarity...there was a real sense of piety, and a respect and a reverence of all...and yet an intimacy, which is a little bit hard maybe to put into words. All, of course, a part of that great historic tradition. [pauses] Due to some rather tragic circumstances, when I became a teenager I turned from that warm, spiritual background to an outspoken, blatant, blasphemous atheist. And it wasn't until my late teens that God arrested me and brought me back, through some very dramatic circumstances. And then for some years (including the year that I spent at Wheaton), I was deeply engaged in rethinking the whole basic mental structure, of reorienting my whole mental attitude. And it was a very distinctive experience, and at times almost traumatic. But I appreciated most deeply the year that I spent at Wheaton, and its contributions to helping my thinking.
ERICKSEN: Was this a conscious process that you were....
HOOVER: Oh, indeed it was conscious. Poignantly conscious. I had to come to grips with each issue separately, from the existence of God on down. Of course, in the final analysis, the really crucial turning point was when I became willing to know less than God. That sounds a little strange, maybe, but it was a very, very real experience to me. God knows a lot of things that I don't know, and I had to come to that realization the painful way.
ERICKSEN: When did you come to that realization?
HOOVER: I can't give you an exact date, but it was following my graduation from Wheaton, and a struggle that was concurrent with a physical breakdown. I never was rugged, physically, but during the year that I was at Wheaton, because of the extreme load that I was carrying in order to make up for some losses in the transfer from Messiah College, and during...being during from the Depression (I graduated in 1932 from Wheaton), and finances were extremely tight, I was (we called it then "bach'ed" it) boarded myself, and, in short, probably wasn't adequately fed, and so I broke down a few months after graduation with tuberculosis, and this long hard pull on that. During this double crisis was when I actually came out into the clear...a crystal clear consciousness, and I can't exactly describe it, but knowing, first of all of the eternal existence of God and the concept that I'd wrestled with...not alone from the mental level, but it became an actual living reality to me in the deeper resources...recesses of my spirit. And then eventually, of course, came...I was healed, definitely healed also of the tuberculosis. That in a nutshell, I guess, is....
ERICKSEN: Uh-huh. Was this process that you were thinking through, was it something that you did in isolation, or were there people who were involved in....
HOOVER: There were people involved, but I do not think that for the most part they were consciously involved. I do not think they knew the actual nature of my inward struggle. I have the highest regard for a number of people who were instrumental in helping me during those time...months. But I do not think that they, for the most part, were aware.
ERICKSEN: Going back to your religious upbringing. What...could you tell me a little bit about the Brethren Church of Christ?
HOOVER: They became an organized entity about the time of the American Revolution, when the great revival movement was sweeping the east coast. They had not been an organized group, nor did they spring from any other organized group exclusively, but were a product of that great revival movement. They first were known as River Brethren, because they originated down near the Susquehanna River. They were closely associated with the United Brethren in those earliest months. And have roots, of course, that are parallel to and very closely associated with the Church of the Brethren, the various Mennonite groups, perhaps some others. They have some...they have a lot of things in common with the Friends, or more popularly known as Quakers, which may come into the picture a bit later. Those roots, of course, do go back far into the Middle Ages, and perhaps even as far back as the time of Constantine, when some of the great "compromisers," as we conceive of them, came into the Christian church, and there was always that remnant who would not quite submit to some of the popular concepts of Christendom during those times. And this is the background from which we come. Among the other things, of course, was the distinct separation of church and state. Of course, in quite a different sense than we conceive of it in our day. They did not conceive of themselves as being a part of the state. It isn't quite so easy for us to separate it because of our democratic set-up. And along with that, of course, the strong emphasis on not having any part of the carnal conflict of the state. We took very literally (and this includes my teaching and upbringing down to the time of my childhood, all those centuries) one of the concepts was of non-participation in war. And this was, of course the background of my later work in missions.
ERICKSEN: Do you recall the feelings in the community that you grew up...the church community, during World War I?
HOOVER: Oh indeed, indeed. We...I personally, as a lad of...well, let me see, I was just six when World War I broke out. And there was fierce opposition to the whole idea of nonparticipation. I can understand, of course now from my viewpoint, the suspicions that naturally go along with that kind of position. [clears throat] But as a child [clears throat]...but as a [clears throat]...as a child I didn't quite understand. I recall one day, particularly, that a bully boy several years older than I was got me down on the school ground, sat astride me, shook his fist in my face, and cursed me and...and made me pronounce curses which were anathema to me, but which I, as a child did not dare withstand. And for the rest of that fall, perhaps longer, rather than walk home from school about a mile and a quarter, along the old national highway where we were living (just west of Englewood)...rather than following the highway, we went out through the cornfields, and out through the fields the back way home. Yes, I know what it means to face opposition to an unpopular concept.
ERICKSEN: What...can you think of any distinctives of the Brethren....
HOOVER: Distinctives?
ERICKSEN: Distinctives of the Brethren church in relation to some of the other peace churches?
HOOVER: [clears throat] Yes. I'm glad you brought that up. It's my understanding (I'm not too well versed in this, but) the original roots of Wheaton, I believe, were Free Methodist, isn't that correct? I hadn't been aware of that until more recently. And I assume that you're somewhat familiar with the Wesleyan tradition. My own church, the Brethren in Christ, is distinctive in this respect, that about two generations ago we espoused the Wesleyan position and made an attempt to integrate it with the pietistic concepts that had come down (as I have referred to) through these centuries. An interesting marriage, there. And so far as I know it's unique in history. Along with that, of course, came a more active participation in evangelism and missions, which of course is an integral part of Wesleyanism. And that was probably one of the greatest things that we derived from our espousing of the Wesleyan position, there. Up to that time [clears throat] (as I understand our history) there was probably an overemphasis on separation of...of isolation from not only what was conceived of as the "world" and its philosophies and so on, but to a great extent also from other Christian bodies, which was carried (in my estimation) rather extreme in many cases. But this began to be altered with our espousing of the Wesleyan position. In 1898 [clears throat] we had our first foreign missions established in what was then Rhodesia, Africa. A little later (I forget exactly the year) we established missions in India, and they have grown, of course, over the years, and have...we have included other mission fields as well in more recent years. [clears throat, pauses] I...I've sort of lost track of what your question was, there.
ERICKSEN: I asked about [clears throat] distinctives of the Brethren in Christ from other cousin churches.
HOOVER: This...this probably is one of the outstanding distinctives, along with some of the other separatist and pietistic groups. We, of course, traditionally were opposed to worldly ornamentation, any kind of ostentatious dressing or ornamenting of the body. We were committed to all of what we conceived to be the simple, direct teachings of the Bible in the most literal way they could possibly be applied. This included what we usually referred to as ordinances. Instead of the two, which are traditional in most of Christendom, traditionally we observed seven. Baptism, the communion of the Lord's Supper, feet washing (in connection with that communion), the holy kiss between brethren and brethren and sisters and sisters, [clears throat] the prayer veiling, or the covering of the head in worship by sisters, and divine healing. [clears throat] We conceived of all of these [clears throat] as a part of formal worship, in their own proper settings. I would say that the outstanding distinctive of our position was the simple approach, direct approach to all questions of faith and piety, and polity, direct application of the simplest interpretation, if that were logically possible. This, I think, was the outstanding characteristic of...of our faith and polity.
ERICKSEN: Do you remember any of the activities that you...that were provided for the young people in the church?
HOOVER: My earliest youth, there was very little...of course, at that time it wasn't as much needed, perhaps, because it was a very informal and warm, close, interfamily relationship that existed. For example, my mother would usually have somewhat of advanced preparations made for Sunday dinner, assuming that she might have someone coming along home. Not anything prepared, I mean no...no invitations, nor arrangements made in advance, but just natural course of things. People were very, very free in their visitations and their inter...their co-mingling socially among the Brethren families, of course. [coughs] As time went [coughs]...as time went on, there were developed of course, more distinctive activities for the youth, the young people.
ERICKSEN: What sort of image did you get of missions as a...as a child?
HOOVER: Quite romantic. It...the fact of the matter is, my uncle (after whom I was named) married my father's sister. They were some of the early pioneer missionaries to Africa, and naturally we got quite a flavor from the more personal aspect of it. I remember when they came home on their first furlough...furlough, I was just a mere lad, about four or five years old, I guess. And they're telling some of the stories of pioneer missions in "that dark continent," which was altogether different than mission work there at the present day.
ERICKSEN: Do you remember any of those stories?
HOOVER: Oh, I might with difficulty recall some of them. I doubt whether I could offhand. I hadn't thought of doing that. But they went there and lived in mud huts, very similar to the native huts at the outset. My uncle was a builder, and his primary purpose in the mission field was to build more permanent structures, more permanent housing for the mission. He was, I guess you might say the first true builder on the mission field (from our group). [pauses] I recall his telling of driving the...I think they were mules. I do not recall the number, but a great number of mules that they would hitch to a great, awkward wagon to go across the many miles of plains as they did maybe only a couple times a year for supplies that they needed, for the mission. This was another of his tasks to make that long trek by wagon. I....if I had been specifically prepared for this, I think I could give a few more details there.
ERICKSEN: That's alright. Now you mentioned your rather tumultuous abandonment of your background, and then your...your subsequent return. When did you...when did you begin thinking about going to Messiah [College]?
HOOVER: I had made more specific plans for my life a little earlier than most young people do. I had determined to go into law and politics. My father, of course, being from the background that he was was concerned about this. But my father, having a large family to support (I was one of twelve children) told us early on that he would see us through public school but that he could not see us further than this. And so I hadn't particularly consulted with him, being so estranged in my religious attitudes anyway, then I was out of school for one year working to accumulate a little bit of cash. And the summer before I was destined to start college, Father came to me in the living room of our home one summer day, and he said, "Jesse, I understand that you are planning to go to state university." "Yes," I said, "That's my plan." "Well," he said, "You know what I've said before, that we couldn't afford to send you children on further in the public schools, but," he said, "I...I'm so concerned that I'm going to make you a proposition." He said, "If you will go to Messiah," [clears throat] (I think we probably called it Grantham [Pennsylvania] in those days, by the name of the town where it was located), "our church school for one year, the first year," he said, "I'll say nothing about the further course that you take, and I will help you to the extent of my capability of helping in borrowing the funds or whatever is needed to go on through college if you'll just go to Grantham for one year." He was hoping, of course, that there'd be a turning point in my life. And thank God, there was at that point. I went back to Messiah two more years. I regret that I did not transfer to Wheaton at the end of my second year, because it was quite difficult because I lost some credits, and furthermore I did not have the opportunity in getting involved much in extracurricular social activities of Wheaton.
ERICKSEN: What did you initially think of your father's offer?
HOOVER: Well, it was too good an offer to turn down. And I took him up.
ERICKSEN: Did you see his motives behind doing that?
HOOVER: Oh, I think I did in part, but I was quite egotistical at that...that time, I didn't think that that could have any effect on me...[laughs] on my basic attitude.
ERICKSEN: What was it at Messiah that proved to be your salvation?
HOOVER: Well, of course they had regular revivals twice a year there. As I think we still do at Wheaton, is that correct? And it...it was a rather outstanding experience, actually. I have never had any other distinct experience which I would call, which I would put into the category of a vision except that time. Instead of going to the revival service, when there were large crowds and we could easily escape without being detected, some of we fellows had planned on going out for a joy ride. But as I started to think about it, I didn't like the idea, it doesn't...it just didn't seem square, and fair and upbeat. I'd always prided myself on good moral standards. So I decided that I was just going to sidestep it. I didn't want to face the rest of the fellows, and so I went into the room of one of the fellows, and I thought they would never suspect me of being there, laid down on the bed. And I was going up a mountainside, a very, very steep precipitous path, slippery. I glanced down and I saw the licking flames of eternal fires. And then a voice as distinct as though it had been physical said to me, "Jesse, this is your last chance." I was completely without emotion, there was no emotional agitation whatsoever. Just then the roommate came in, (not the roommate, the man who was...in whose room...whose room I was lying on the bed). He was a very positive Christian, and I more or less had contempt for him, of course. But this vision was so outstanding, I told him about it. I said...called him a name and said, "What would you do if it's your last chance?" He knew me well enough, he knew that he would provoke an argument if he answered that direct, so he said, "Well, what would you do?" I said, "I guess anybody with a grain of brains would take his last chance, wouldn't he." He said, "I think he would." I said, "Let's go." I would have gone down, interrupted the service only just beginning in the chapel, but he persuaded me to wait until the proper time. And as I waited there in that room in the darkness, such overwhelming conviction, emotional disturbance overtook me that I thought I couldn't bear it. That was the beginning of the turn. I had a long, long climb back, though, because I had so saturated my mind with infidelity. It was a long, painful process.
ERICKSEN: Do you recall telling your family about the change?
HOOVER: Oh yes, I...I told them. Of course, I was never much of a personal letter writer. I'm not proud of that aspect of my life. But (and I didn't write too many letters home)...but I...I think, as far as I recall I wrote rather promptly on that. And of course, my parents were overjoyed because they had...they had suffered much in agitation because of my attitudes.
ERICKSEN: What were you majoring in at Messiah?
HOOVER: Actually, I hadn't really chosen a major, and that was a tragic mistake, of course. If one could call it a major, I suppose I was more or less majoring in theology, Bible studies. And...and this was of course one of the problems that I developed when I transferred over to Wheaton, because only a certain amount of theology was permitted in the undergraduate study, and so I lost those credits. Some of them. When I registered at Wheaton, then I majored...I had two majors, practically three, at Wheaton. Majored in history and English literature, and then I had what...what amounts to practically a major also in social sciences. My purpose, of course, as more specifically developed at my matriculation at Wheaton was to prepare for the Christian ministry as it was at that time practiced by my Brethren in Christ church. Not majoring in particularly in theological studies, not emphasizing any continuing theological study. And furthermore, a ministry that was not at that time supported, we...the minister had to support himself in addition to his ministerial calling duties. And so, I prepared for teaching as an adjunct to my ministerial career. But I never got involved in the field of teaching.
ERICKSEN: When did you start thinking about attending Wheaton?
HOOVER: Beg pardon.
ERICKSEN: When did you begin thinking about attending Wheaton?
HOOVER: More specifically when Dr. C. Benton Eavey came from Messiah to Wheaton. I was so enamored of him as a teacher that I followed him to Wheaton. Of course, along with that I made some investigations and determined that Wheaton had probably as strong scholastic standing as any Christian college, and that was my main purpose in enrolling at Wheaton.
ERICKSEN: So when did Dr. Eavey visit Messiah?
HOOVER: Dr. Eavey was a professor at Messiah for the....
ERICKSEN: Oh, I see.
HOOVER: For the first two years, or maybe the three years that I was there.
ERICKSEN: And then he went to Wheaton.
HOOVER: And then he transferred to Wheaton.
ERICKSEN: Okay.
HOOVER: Yes, one of the...in my opinion one of the great teachers.
ERICKSEN: Did you have any classes with him at Wheaton?
HOOVER: Yes, I took one class in psychology. I believe it was child psychology, or educational psychology, I'm not certain. And he helped me greatly [clears throat] in the transferring of credits from Messiah to Wheaton, also.
ERICKSEN: Do you recall what your first impressions of Wheaton were?
HOOVER: Well, not too distinctly. I...as I recall, I was so more or less covered up with the task of trying to catch up. A...the...a further factor here is that [clears throat] at that time, Messiah was not fully recognized scholastically. And not only did I lose some credits, the theological credits in the transfer, but whether I would be allowed any credit from Granth...from Messiah, and whether I would be able to graduate from Wheaton, depended also on my record, personal record at Wheaton. And then, to add another almost impossible load, I was required to take full examinations over the previous three years, and then keeping in mind there was a...a year of absence between Messiah and Wheaton. And if you can imagine taking examinations over materials that you'd covered four years previously. Those exams had to be taken during the first semester. And in order to make up for the loss of credits, no only did I take full examinations over the previous three years of college work, but I had to carry twenty hours at Wheaton the first semester and twenty-one hours the second. So you see I didn't have too much time to think about anything outside.
ERICKSEN: Did you...did you find you had any difficulty in adjusting to being at Wheaton and to all the pressure that we there?
HOOVER: No, not particularly. I enjoyed my year at Wheaton. I joined literary society. I first joined the...the men's glee club but decided that I would have to drop that a little latter. Was not too active in the literary club but I did persist in my association with the debating club. And won my Phi Kappa Delta from my debating experiences at Wheaton.
ERICKSEN: How did your skills, interest, what ever in debate develop?
HOOVER: Oh, I guess that was just a natural with me...I...as far as I can tell. I had the reputation while at Messiah, they often said I would rather argue that eat. I found it a tremendous lot of mental stimulation in just discussing, debating...and in...in those days I would take the opposite side regardless of what the other side was in order to provoke an argument. Not..I don't think as I look back at it it was a, what's the word I want to use, malicious intent or anything but just the stimulation that I got from meeting other minds. It was always a great challenge to me.
ERICKSEN: Did other people appreciate that fact that you were just interested in the stimulation or did they find you ornery?
HOOVER: [laughs] I think they...I think they found me obnoxious sometimes probably. [laughs] With the years I've learned to temper that. I...I do...I do just enjoy exchanging ideas but I think I've learned to avoid the confrontational attitudes that go with it. Maybe I should add a bit of a reservation here. If it comes to an issue where I feel anything is fundamentally at stake I do not hesitate, down to the present time, with direct confrontation, but I like to avoid it if possible.
XXX
ERICKSEN: When you...when you got to Wheaton did you find yourself in theological discussions?
HOOVER: At that time, I don't know how the situation is today, but at that time direct controversy on religious issues was pretty definitely taboo. The nearest that we came to that was in one of the classes that I took under doctor, the old history professor [pauses], oh his name has slipped me, I'm ashamed of that because he was one of my heros. A class on the history of American churches where, of course, of necessity we got into this area of some of the distinctives and the differences and even the controversies that have developed between some of the segments of the Christian church. But for the most part Wheaton avoided this in their classes. I didn't find it, to a certain extent, in the church, the Wheaton church...College Church.
ERICKSEN: Is that where you attended?
HOOVER: I attended that more or less regularly. And some of the distinctives came out pretty strongly there which, of course, again was a great help in the end in my thinking through some of the fundamental issues for myself. I found that I was not overly affected by some of the ideas which were foreign to my tradition, even though I was a kid at the time.
ERICKSEN: How...how would you characterize the spiritual environment at Wheaton?
HOOVER: Oh, I greatly enjoyed it. I particularly enjoyed the student prayer meetings. I don't know what has since developed in relation to those great meetings but it seemed to me that almost the entire student body would attend those...I've forgotten what evening they were...those student prayer meetings. And there would be often a half dozen or maybe as many as a dozen young people on their feet waiting their turn for testimony, for witness. It was tremendously invigorating, stimulating, challenging, thrilling. I...I...I particularly enjoyed those great Wheaton prayer meetings.
ERICKSEN: Now for your...for your education major did you need to do any student teaching?
HOOVER: Yes, that came [clears throat] I graduated [clears throat] I didn't know until just a couple weeks before graduation whether I was going to be permitted to graduate or not because of what I formerly said. And to my amazement I grad...was graduated cum laude. But in order to qualify for public education I needed to take summer school so I stayed on following graduation for summer school. And then is when I got involved in some student teaching in the local Wheaton schools. I have done teaching, of course, throughout my life but not public school teaching in the formal sense.
ERICKSEN: Did you enjoy that....
HOOVER: Oh, I...yes, I...I enjoy teaching. Is that what you mean?
ERICKSEN: Well, I...
HOOVER: Or do you mean....
ERICKSEN: ...referring specifically to you experience in the public school?
HOOVER: In the public school. No, I can't say that I particularly enjoyed that. It was...it was something of a...of a hardship to me, I would say, in that respect. So far as subsequent teaching, particularly teaching on a more adult level, I've always enjoyed that. I...it's again...it's stimulation to me mentally to meet other ideas and examine them with people. My method of teaching, of course, is not too much of a lecture but discussion method. Since I've developed such a hearing problem I can't do that anymore but that's my favorite method.
ERICKSEN: You referred again to this problem of whether or not you were going to graduate at all, who all was involved in that from the administration in deciding your fate?
HOOVER: Well, I don't know too much about the inter workings of that. I suppose Dr. [Enoch] Dyrness, who at that time was the registrar. I've forgotten now who was the dean of students. Dr. [J. Oliver] Buswell, of course, was president. I...I...I just never paid any particular attention to who might be involved in this process of qualification. I do think that probably behind the scenes Dr. Eavey may have carried the ball for me. I'm not sure.
ERICKSEN: What do you remember of Dr. Buswell?
HOOVER: I took one course under him in philosophy of Christianity, I don't know whether that's the exact title of the course, and it tremendously stimulating to me. I appreciated his teaching, his method of teaching, of course, was quite different from some of the others. He...he was almost exclusively lecture in his approach but I...I appreciated Dr. Buswell and...very stimulating, very stimulating to me.
ERICKSEN: Was he a personable man?
HOOVER: That I don't think I am in position directly because I did not have opportunity to enter into any kind of social relationships to any significant extent there and I had practically no personal relationships with any except Dr. Eavey, whom I had known previously. And this, of course, is one of my great regrets that I did not have that opportunity.
ERICKSEN: What was the relationship between the college and the city of Wheaton like, any recollections about that?
HOOVER: Well, I don't have anything to specifically to recall or to guide me in answer to that. So far as I knew the relationships were quite congenial but I'm certain, quite certain that a closer, much closer relationship did develop in subsequent years. A more cooperative stance probably. But as far as I know there was always a very congenial atmosphere.
ERICKSEN: What about school pranks, were there any school pranks during your senior year that you could talk about?
HOOVER: Well, there again, I attended most of the class meetings but I was more of less isolated in the sense that I...I wasn't an active participant in...in much of that activity. I recall, for example, a rather humorous thing that happened and yet became rather distressing. I forget exactly what I was doing but I was in some study hall or somewhere one night when I had a telephone call and they began to interview me over the telephone while...I didn't realize it was for the Wheaton [College] paper, what did they call it, The Record. I thought it was someone trying to play a prank on me and I was giving very factious answer until I finally woke up to the fact that it was for real. And I don't think I ever did quite straighten out the record there. [laughs]
ERICKSEN: What was the issue at hand?
HOOVER: Oh, I don't...I don't just recall...I don't just specifically recall. But I...I know that I was giving some very flippant, factious answers thinking that it was only a prank. As I recall it was around Halloween time and that gave added credence to my supposition.
ERICKSEN: And then all of this was printed in The Record?
HOOVER: Well, I think I tried to sort of cover some of it but it...it was rather a mixed record, it was not a very [laughs] not a very reasonable picture.