1. 12.2 The Harding Presidency
How did President Harding change and corrupt the Presidency during the 1920s?

2. Changes
President Warren G. Harding invited several world powers to Washington in 1921
Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes urged that no more warships be built for ten years and that the five major naval powers scrap many of their existing warships
For the first time, nations agreed to disarm their weapons
In 1928, 64 nations signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which caused them to give up war as national policy

3. Continued America wanted to stay out of world affairs
The U.S. still wanted France and Britain to repay the money they had borrowed during WWI
Those two nations were too weak to repay those loans
Congress also passed the Fordney-McCumber Tariff in 1922, which protected American business from foreign competition while making it impossible for Britain and France to sell their goods in the U.S.

4. Continued
The Dawes Plan solved the problem of Germany paying reparations to France and Britain
This plan had the U.S. loaning money to Germany to pay them back, which was then used to pay back the U.S.
The U.S. essentially got paid with their own money, which left a lot of people unhappy in both Europe and at home

5. Scandal for Harding
Harding’s problems started with his cabinet appointments; three honest members were Charles Evans Hughes, Herbert Hoover, and Andrew Mellon
The rest, known as the “Ohio Gang”, were Harding’s poker buddies from back home
They took advantage of Harding’s ignorance, particularly about finances

6. The Teapot Dome Scandal
Some members of the Ohio Gang were caught taking bribes and selling supplies to private companies and pocketing the money
The Teapot Dome Scandal involved land owned by the government that held large reserves of oil
Albert B. Fall, the Secretary of the Interior, secretly leased the land to two oil companies
He received money and property in return
Harding himself was not charged with corruption; he died suddenly in 1923 and Calvin Coolidge became president and was re-elected in 1924