Hoover ran for reelection in 1932 but was handily defeated by Franklin Roosevelt. During the campaign, Hoover was derided for not alleviating the widespread poverty that resulted from the Great Depression. He retired to Palo Alto, California. He was a strong opponent of the New Deal after his defeat.

In 1946, Hoover was appointed to a job that particularly suited him:coordinator of the food supply for world famine. He was an excellent administrator, able to find ways to streamline government, and as such he was selected to be chairman of the commission on organization of the executive branch of the government, nicknamed the Hoover Commission (1947–1949). He was again chosen to be on the commission on government operations (1953–1955). Many changes in government operations resulted from these two commissions recommendations. Hoover died in New York City on October 20, 1964, of cancer at the age of ninety.