Herbert Hoover: Miner

胡佛：矿工

While still a teenager, Hoover and a friend started a company that sold and repaired sewing machines. The business failed, but it was not the future president's only brush with entrepreneurship.

He enrolled at Stanford in 1891, in the university's first class. Although tuition was free at the time, students still had to pay for room, board and books. To cover the costs Hoover ran a laundry service, a concert series and a campus paper route. He made a profit selling the laundry service to another student, allowing him to graduate with no debts and $40 in his pocket, according to a biography written by Amy Ruth.

After graduating, Hoover took a job pushing carts underground in mine shafts in California. He earned $2 a day, working 70 hours a week, according to presidential historian Richard Norton Smith. That daily wage is equal to $56 today.

胡佛十几岁的时候就和朋友开了个小公司，出售和维修缝纫机。不幸小公司没撑多久，可他创业的脚步没有就此停下。1891年，胡佛进入斯坦福大学，成为了斯坦福的第一届学生。当时的斯坦福是不收学费的，不过食宿和书本要学生自己负担。为了挣到这笔钱，他又开始为同学们提供洗衣服务。毕业后，胡佛找了一份工作，在地下的矿井里推矿车。一周工作70个小时，可每天只能挣2美元。