Chapter 31: The Politics of Boom and Bust (1920-1932)

Warren G. Harding

29th President from 1921 until death in 1923

• period of postwar recovery

  • ruined by scandals

Kellogg-Briand Pact

International agreement aimed at preventing war

• 62 nations signed

• renounce war as a solution

Teapot Dome Scandal

Major political scandal where Secretary of the Interior, Albert B. Fall, illegally leased Navy petroleum reserves to private oil companies for bribes

• during Harding’s presidency

Calvin Coolidge

30th president following Harding’s death

• quiet, pro-business

  • oversaw Roaring 20s

• limited government (laissez-faire)

Dawes Plan of 1924

Attempt to stabilize German economy and ease post-WWI tensions

• gives loans to Germany

  • help pay off German reparations to Britain and France

• collapsed during Great Depression

Herbert Hoover

31st president from 1929 to 1933

• led nation through onset of Great Depression

  • reluctant to intervene

Agricultural Marketing Act

Attempt to assist struggling farmers by stabilizing crop prices and creating cooperatives

• purchase surplus crops (prevent price drops)

  • still failed

Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930

Highest protective tariff in US history

• meant to protect American industries by raising tariffs

  • collapsed World trade

  • worsened the Great Depression

Black Tuesday

October 29, 1929 - Stock market crashed

• signaled beginning of the Great Depression

  • panic selling, bank failure, massive unemployment

Hoovervilles

Makeshift shantytowns that emerged during Great Depression

• unemployed and homeless build scrap shelters

  • unsanitary + dangerous

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Provide financial support to struggling banks, businesses, and state governments

• during Great Depression

  • under Herbert Hoover

Bonus Army

Group of 43,000 WWI veterans (+ their families) marching to Washington D.C.

• demanded early payment of promised war bonuses