Chapter 22 Section 2 The Republicans in Power

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 2 nd  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  v=_u2-t6w4HnM 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 

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 