1. THE HISTORY OF THE U.S. 1877- 1945 Lecture 6 The road to the Great Depression

2. BACK TO NORMALCY Warren G. Harding America’s present need is not heroics, but normalcy An old-fashioned plain fellow Promotes Puritan values but drinks during prohibition, regularly gambled, kept mistresses I cannot hope to be one of the great presidents, but perhaps I may be remembered as the best loved

3. President Harding and his wife

4. DOMESTIC POLICY Appoints conservatives to the Supreme Court Chief Justice: William H. Taft, Pro-business attitude, ruling against unions, eliminating federal child labor laws Tax cuts, higher tariffs Weakening regulatory commissions Weakening the achievements of progressivism

5. A CORRUPT ADMINISTRATION Ohio Gang: advisors to President Scandal at the Veterans Bureau: stealing medical and hospital supplies An associate of Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty: implicated in bribery and influence peddling scandal, Teapot Dome scandal, Albert Fall, interior secy. Bribed by private companies in exploiting federal oil deposits

6. EVALUATING THE HARDING PRESIDENCY 1920-1923 Weakened by corruption scandals Accomplishments: helping America out of the postwar crisis Creating the foundation of the economic boom in the 1920’s

7. SILENT CAL Calvin Coolidge Passive president, defers to Congress 12 hour sleep and an afternoon nap H. L. Mencken: He slept more than any other president, Nero fiddled, Coolidge snored Man of few words, dry personality A dinner guest had bet Coolidge she could make him say three words: his reply: you lose

8. A REAL CONSERVATIVE The chief business of American people is business A fundamentalist in religion, in social and economic order Promotes the interests of business Wins the election of 1924 easily

9. Silent Cal

10. RISE OF THE CONSUMER CULTURE Foundations: advances in communication, transportation, business organization, institutions of advanced capitalism Consumption ethic replaces production ethic Promotion of impulse buying Advertising industry 1905: first movie house opened in Philadelphia First radio commercial aired in 1922

11. Charles A. Lindbergh

12. PROMOTION OF AIRPLANE, AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY 1903: Wright Brothers fly at Kitty Hawk N.C. 1927: Charles Lindbergh: first transatlantic flight 1929: 23 million automobiles Ford: democratization of the automobile

13. STABILIZING THE ECONOMY Herbert Hoover: secy of commerce Successful businessman, mining engineer Cooperative individualism Associationalism Promotion of trade associations Attempts to get rid of agricultural surplus production

14. HERBERT HOOVER Wins election of 1928 Increasing tariffs Americans believe that the country entered an era of permanent economic growth Speculation at the stock market By 1927 economic growth slows down Black Tuesday October 29, 1929 stocks drop almost 40% in value

15. CAUSES OF THE DEPRESSION What is the depression: long-term economic decline Overproduction Underconsumption Unequal distribution of wealth Demand could not keep up with supply Speculation at the stock market, buying on the margin

16. GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSE Belief in the soundness of the economy Unsuccessful attempt to reassure the public Building of public works Reconstruction Finance Corporation: provides emergency loans to businesses and banks Bonus Army, Hooverville, Hoover flags, Hoover blankets Hoover cannot bring country out of economic depression

17. Bonus Army

18. Hooverville