1920s Section: A, B, C, D, E, & F

Warren G. Harding (R) (1921-1923) b/g

newspaper owner and Ohio senator

Warren G. Harding (R) (1921-1923) pers

calm, conservative, popular, poor judge of character, and loved to party

1920 election:

"A return to normalcy."

Opposed the League of Nations

1st election that women voted across the country

Warren G. Harding Policies:

Pro-business,

Cut government spending,

Lowered taxes

Bureau of the Budget:

Monitor the nation's expenses for the first time

Washington Conference

The first ever "disarmament" agreement, when he brought nations together to reduce military

Warren G. Harding Civil rights:

First president since Grant to openly speak out against civil rights when he addressed problems like segregation and lynching

Warren G. Harding downfall:

He gave government jobs to his friends

Ohio Gang:

Name for his friends because they were known for drinking, gambling, and getting involved with scandals

Teapot Dome Scandal:

Albert Fall (Sec. of Int.):

Was accused of selling US Navy property to oil men and keeping some of the money

Harding didn't know of the scandal right away, but didn't act when he found out

Harry Dougherty (Att. General): Was accused of selling pardons to criminals and ignoring the Teapot Dome scandal

Warren G. Harding 1923

Died suddenly and news of scandals broke out after his death

Calvin Coolidge (R) (1923-29) nickname

"Silent Cal"

Calvin Coolidge (R) (1923-29) b/g

Long career in Mass. politics, VP

Calvin Coolidge (R) (1923-29) pers

Quiet, shy, serious, and conservative

Calvin Coolidge (R) (1923-29) problems

Had to deal with the scandals

Had to restore the image of the republican party

Poverty among farmers

Calvin Coolidge (R) (1923-29) policies

Pro-business

Believed in small government

Believed in racial inequality

Calvin Coolidge (R) (1923-29) philosophy

"The Business of America is Business"

1924 election

Won easily with the slogan "Keep cool with Coolidge"

Indian Citizenship Act:

Granted full citizenship to Native Americans

Kellogg-Briand Pact:

US, France, and 30 other nations agreed to outlaw War and make it illegal

Problem: There was no means to enforce it

Calvin Coolidge 1928

Chose not to run again

Herbert Hoover (R) (1929-1933) b/g

Engineer, millionaire, considered a war hero for heading the Food Administration during World War One

Herbert Hoover (R) (1929-1933) pers

Business-like, somber, conservative, didn't relate well to people

Herbert Hoover (R) (1929-1933) problem

Lost public support after first year in office

1928 election

Hoover defeated AL Smith (D)

Al Smith: First Catholic to run for president

Prohibition and religion = main issue

Hoover:

supported prohibition

Smith:

opposed prohibition

American People:

afraid of changes, so choose religion over alcohol

1929

Great Depression began and Hoover was blamed

post war year problems

1. Nativism

2. Many War time employees lost jobs

3. Violent labor strikes and random bombings

4. Communists were blamed for many of the problems

nativism

strong anti-immigrant feeling in the US directed towards people from Southern & Eastern Europe

League of Nations

was rejected by the US and overall ineffective

women

Rights and status continued to improve and had full voting rights by 1920

Great Migration

African Americans continued to move North and about 1 million moved by the early 1920s.

red Scare

Period in the US in the early 1920s when there was an intense fear of communist and radical ideas spreading

communism

system of government in which there are no classes and work, money, land etc. is shared

Subversies

People who want to overthrow government and were often linked with communism

A. Mitchell Palmer:

Attorney general who led a crusade against communism

Palmer raids:

Palmer and authorities would go to the homes of suspected communists, went through their belongings and had many arrested (around 6,000 people arrested or deported)

A.C.L.U.:

American Civil Liberties Union, said that what Palmer was doing was illegal and he had no evidence

National Origins Act

Lowered immigration quotas

Sacco-Vanzetti Case

Italian immigrants who were charged with robbery and murder in Massachusetts

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti:

Anarchists who did not receive a fair trial b/c of their political beliefs

anarchist

people who don't believe in government

Evidence:

Both had guns

Both lied to the police about where they were

Witnesses saw Italian looking men at the scene of the crime

Judge Webster Thayer:

anti-immigrant and kept using their political beliefs in the case

Sacco-Vanzetti Case Results

Both were executed for the crimes