The Harding and Coolidge Presidencies Ch 9 sec 3

I. The Harding Presidency Harding was elected to the Senate in 1914 and did not do much as a Senator. He skipped many meetings and did not vote on important bills. When Wilson’s presidency ended, there was no clear candidate until Harding gave a speech calling for “normalcy” in America after the war. http://urbanintellectuals.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Warren_G_Harding-Harris__Ewing-crop.jpg

I. The Harding Presidency Teddy Roosevelt had died the year before, so the Republicans did not have a strong candidate, and Harding won by a landslide. His answer to the economic problems after WW1 was to reduce taxes on the rich and to pass laws that benefited businesses. He felt that businesses would create jobs and pull the nation out of the recession. http://s8.photobucket.com/user/DougLoudenback/media/presidents/1920_11_3_headlines.jpg.html

I. The Harding Presidency Farmers were helped very little by Harding, the only action was the Fordney-McCumber Tariff that raised taxes on imported farm products. It helped farmers in the short term, but hurt European efforts to pay back war debts. http://blog.commonfig.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/taxes-10939567_stocklib.jpg

I. The Harding Presidency Harding tried to cover his lack of governing skills by appointing skilled people to high positions. He also put friends into positions that were not very skilled. Many of them took bribes and caused one of the biggest scandals of the time with the Teapot Dome Scandal. Albert Fall allowed oil companies to drill on federal land in Teapot Dome in Wyoming. http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/26/125926-004-F7B8E7B5.jpg

I. The Harding Presidency After that, Harding took a vacation to Alaska, where he had a heart attack and later died. His vice president Calvin Coolidge then became the 30th president in 1923. http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/4443603/Comebacks/74#74

II. The Coolidge Presidency Calvin Coolidge made a name for himself in the Boston Police Strike, and he had a reputation of being an honest man, which was the opposite of what Harding’s presidency had become. He fired officials suspected of corruption, which allowed him to be reelected in 1924. http://presidentelect.org/images/e1924_ecmap.GIF

II. The Coolidge Presidency Like Harding, he promoted businesses and felt the government should have a limited role in business and in people’s lives. He instead lowered taxes and reduced federal spending. He was a quiet man, but the economy during his presidency grew and he was a popular president. So when he decided not to run for reelection in 1928 people were shocked. http://apushcanvas.pbworks.com/f/1363917763/images.jpg

III. The Lingering Effects of WW1 The war debt that was owed to the U.S. but European countries totaled over $10 billion. After the tariff on farm products and Germany’s inability to pay reparations, the Allies were unable to pay back the U.S. The U.S. then loaned money to Germany, and effectively became the banker to Europe. The U.S. continued to loan money to Germany until the reparations were drastically reduced. http://tressiemc.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/reparations.jpeg

III. The Lingering Effects of WW1 The public also wanted to reduce the size of the armed forces after WW1. but it seemed that some nations were on the verge of a naval arms race, so a conference was called in Washington in 1921. All the major naval powers were invited, and they all agreed to reduce the number of ships they had and were planning to build. http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/36/71436-050-B8A929E4.jpg

III. The Lingering Effects of WW1 Even though the U.S. did not join the League of Nations, there was a big push in the country to prevent another war like WW1. When France proposed a treaty with the U.S. to never go to war with each other, Secretary of State Frank Kellogg had a bigger idea. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/FrankKellogg.jpg/220px-FrankKellogg.jpg

III. The Lingering Effects of WW1 He proposed an agreement that would include many countries. Called the Kellogg-Briand pact, over 60 countries agreed to not resort to war to settle problems with other countries. There was nothing to enforce the agreement, and the countries were only restricted from breaking the agreement by their promise to not start war. http://www.marcandangel.com/images/11-promise-yourself.jpg

In your notebooks Half-page summary of the lecture today