Republican Decade

Fighting the Recession After WWI, 2 million soldiers were looking for work Factories were closing because they were no longer getting orders for wartime goods from European nations

Republicans Rule the 1920s “HARD”-”COOL”-”HOOV” All the presidents of the 1920s were Republican The names of the 3 presidents are Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover Warren G. Harding (died in office) Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover

“A Return to Normalcy” This became Warren G. Harding’s campaign slogan when he accidentally messed up the word, “Normality” Americans loved it and elected him

Warren G. Harding Twenty-Ninth President ( ) Born: November 2, 1865 in Marion, OH Did not approve of the League of Nations Won election with 60% of the national vote. Successfully cut taxes and designed budget Scandalous administration and ineffective governor Died: August 2, 1923

Presidential election of 1920 "Less government in business and more business in government."

What did Harding’s administration do? It cut taxes, especially for the rich It stripped the federal budget of its wartime girth. Set higher restrictions on immigration. Limiting annual # of immigrants that America would allow. Supported anti-lynching legislation

Voyage of Understanding Perhaps in an effort to break away from his cronies. Set out across the United States stopping to give speeches along the way. Never-ending game of Bridge.

Harding’s Death Brings Doom to his Reputation Within months of Harding’s death his reputation was attacked. His scandalous friends began to emerge.

President Harding’s Corrupt Cabinet Harry M. Daugherty - involved with other men that involved a rigged sale of some government property. One person went to jail and another committed suicide. Thomas W. Miller – Harding appointed to the position of Alien Property Custodian and practiced fraud and went to jail.

The Teapot Dome Scandal Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall accepted a bribe to lease government land to oil executives One of these areas was called “Teapot Dome” in Wyoming Fall was sent to prison

Charles Forbes One of Harding’s old buddies Head of the Veteran’s Bureau Stole millions of dollars from the bureau “I can take care of my enemies all right, but my…friends, they’re the ones that keep me walking the floors at night!” – Hoover After a bunch of betrayals, Harding died of a heart attack in August, 1923

Vice President Calvin Coolidge Becomes President “Silent Cal” spoke and spent little (Harding loved to throw parties and give long speeches) He forced Corrupt officials to resign

Calvin Coolidge Thirtieth President ( ) Born: July 4, 1872 Plymouth Notch, Vermont Became President when Warren G. Harding died Isolationist foreign policy Favored tax cuts and limited aid to farmers Died: January 5, 1933

1924 Re-Election He was re-elected in 1924 with the slogan “Keep Cool With Coolidge”

From War Goods to Consumer Goods Coolidge cut regulations on businesses Americans’ incomes rose People began to buy refrigerators, radios, vacuums, and other appliances Businesses began to advertise their products

“Coolidge Prosperity” “The business of America is business. The man who builds a factory builds a temple. The man who works there worships there.” ◦ Calvin Coolidge What does President Calvin Coolidge believe American Prosperity rests on?

Buying on Credit Installment Buying= Buying on Credit (Buy now, pay later) Demands for goods jumped, but so did Americans’ debt “If we want anything, all we have to do is go and buy it on credit. So that leaves us without any economic problems whatsoever, except that perhaps some day to have to pay for them.” –Comedian Will Rogers

Soaring Stock Market By the late 1920s, more people were investing in the stock market People became rich overnight Bull Market: Period of rapidly increasing stock prices Prices of stocks rose more quickly than the value of the companies themselves

American Foreign Policy in the 1920s Most all Americans (including Harding and Coolidge) wanted to remain “isolationist” HOWEVER: 1. The U.S. still needed to protect economic interests in Mexico 2. The U.S. gave $10 million in aid to Russia during a famine 3. The U.S. still signed the “Kellogg-Briand Pact” with 61 other nations (which outlawed war)

“Hopeful that, encouraged by their example, all the other nations of the world will join in this humane endeavor and by adhering to the present Treaty as soon as it comes into force bring their peoples within the scope of its beneficent provisions, thus uniting the civilized nations of the world in a common renunciation of war as an instrument of their national policy” -Section of the Kellogg-Briand Pact

Herbert Hoover had gained fame for setting up the food programs during WWI. He believed in the government taking a “hands off’ approach to dealing with the economic problems of the time. Thirty-first President ( ) Born: August 10, 1874 in West Branch, Iowa. Laissez-faire: French term meaning hands off approach.

Herbert Clark Hoover Herbert Hoover was born in West Branch, Iowa in He was a member of the inaugural class at Stanford University where he studied geology. Hoover’s wife, the former Lou Henry, was athletic and brilliant. She was the first woman to graduate from Stanford and met Herbert in the geology lab. Lou Hoover spoke five languages, assisted her husband in his geology and engineering work, often translating his articles and books.

Hoovers’ Mining Career Herbert made a specialty of turning around struggling operations with organization and technology His wife helped translate his work and bridge the cultural gaps in foreign nations. Their work made them wealthy. They were forced to flee China for a time during the Boxer Rebellion, an insurrection aimed at purging the nation of western influence. While in London, at the outbreak of the First World War, the Hoovers organized an impromptu organization to evacuate expatriated and vacationing Americans from Europe.

Belgium During WWI, Germany invaded Belgium on the way France. Britain and France placed a blockade on the Central Powers which kept them from importing food. Germany no longer had enough food for its own population, let alone occupied countries such as Belgium. Hoover, living in London, organized his entire mining firm as a relief operation for Belgium. Hoover negotiated with the Allied nations to allow the relief ships through the blockade and negotiated with the Germans to not attack the ships with submarines.

Secretary of Commerce With Hoover was invited to serve in the cabinet as Secretary of Commerce of Republican President Warren G. Harding. While many members of the Harding cabinet were implicated in controversies and scandals, Hoover remained unscathed and, thus, retained his post under Calvin Coolidge. By the 1920’s the American economy was transformed, industry and commerce, rather than agriculture, now provided the backbone of the American economy. As Commerce Secretary, Hoover was in the middle of the economic transformation, leading to the impression, that Herbert Hoover was everywhere.

“Hooverizing” Woodrow Wilson placed Hoover in charge of agricultural production for the American war effort. Hoover was immediately successful. In addition to rationalizing the American production system, Hoover convinced Americans that it was patriotic to go without in war time. Cutting back became known as “Hooverizing,” rationing was one way that World War I affected people on the home front. Seeking to manage domestic consumption in order to feed the U.S. Army and to assist Allied armies and civilians., the U.S. Food Administration declared “Food Will Win the War.”

“They will be fed!” Following the war, Hoover turned the United States Food Administration into a relief organization for the devastated populations, including the defeated Central Powers, in Europe. American aid fed two million people per day in Poland alone. When a critic accused Hoover of helping the Bolsheviks by providing food aid to the Soviet Union, Hoover responded in the following speech, “Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they will be fed.”

1928 Election Hoover V. Alfred Smith (Catholic) "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage."

Hoover’s Presidency Hoover believed unnecessary government threatened prosperity and the spirit of the American people. Foreign Affairs. Hoover cited the maintenance of peace as his prime objective in his administration's foreign policy. He was willing to cooperate with, but not join, the League of Nations. Several months into his presidency………..

Who do you think was the better president during the 20’s? A. Harding B. Coolidge C. Hoover

Harding Hoover Coolidge All 3 similar characteristics Harding & Hoover Similarities Coolidge and Hoover Similarities Characteristics of Harding Characteristics of Coolidge Characteristics of Hoover Harding and Coolidge Similarities