Post on 25-Dec-2015
transcript
Election of 1920 Democrats nominate James M. Cox (Ohio)
League of Nations
Republicans nominate Warren G. Harding (Ohio)
Lacked Wilson’s intelligence
Pro-business platform
Tax revision, higher tariffs, limits on immigration, some aid to farmers
“America’s present need is not heroics but healing, no false cures but normalcy, not revolution but restoration”
Receives 16 million votes or 60% of popular vote
Harding’s Pro Business Administration “less Government in business and more business in government”
Cabinet
Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover
Goals
Reduce National debt
WWI – 1 Billion to 25 Billion
Charles Dawes (Head of Budget) cut government budget
Promote economic growth
Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act
Pushed tariff rates to all time high
“If government takes away an unreasonable share, the incentive to work is no longer there and slackening of effort is the result” – Andrew Mellon
Lowered taxes on the rich
1923
Unemployment is low, tremendous economic growth
Effects of Republican Policies Surplus capital caused industry to boom
More than 1,000 mergers
Combining two or more companies
Greater efficiency and higher profits
Workers
Incomes grow by 10%
Businesses
Profits increase 60%
Promoted American Plan
Union-Free Open shops
Farmers
Not helped by Fordney-McCumber
New Directions for Women Women’s rights activists – Feminists
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) – “men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction”
Mary Anderson
Director of U.S. Women’s Bureau
Opposed ERA
Movement failed to win political support
The Harding Scandals Ohio Gang
Harding’s friends
Charles Forbes – Director of Veterans Bureau
Pocketed millions through corrupt schemes
Attorney General Daugherty
Taking Bribes
“I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies all right, It’s my friends that keep me walking the floor nights.” – Warren G. Harding
Harding has a heart attack in San Francisco
Dies August 2nd
Teapot Dome Scandal
Secretary of interior Albert Fall
Secretary of Navy Edwin Danby
Fall grants private leases to oil reserves in Elk Hills, Calif. and Teapot Dome reserves in Wyoming
In return he received personal loans, cash, and cattle
Convicted of accepting bribes
Thrown in jail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u2-t6w4HnM
Coolidge takes Charge Vice President Coolidge sworn in
Known as Silent Cal
Fires scandalous people
Wins Presidential nomination in 1924
Democrats split over prohibition
Vote 103 times
John W. Davis
Progressives
Robert La Follette
Angry farmers and workers
Coolidge wins by a landslide
Receives 15.7 million votes to Davis 8.4 million, Follette 4.8 million
Coolidge’s pro-business position “The business of America is business” – Calvin Coolidge
Revenue Act of 1926
Cut estate taxes in half, reduced taxes on wealthy
Coolidge kept government spending low
Vetoed Bonus Bill
Aid to World War I veterans
Vetoed McNary-Haugen Bill
Boost farm prices
Government buys surplus and sells it abroad
Found Presidency burdensome
Did not run for re-election
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUkBE-OCHIU
Election of 1928 Republican’s nominate Secretary of Commerce
Herbert Hoover
Democrats
New York Governor Alfred E. Smith - Catholic
Moderate progressive
Opposition to Prohibition
Ties to Tammany Hall
“the party of progress and liberal thought”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
Hoover wins election
58% of the vote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oxJ8JCGbHU