Harding and the Harding and the Return Return

to Normalcyto Normalcy

Critic H. L. Mencken disagreed, commenting on Harding's inaugural address, "He writes the worst English that I have ever encountered. It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered washing on the line; it reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it. It drags itself out of the dark abysm of pish, and crawls insanely up the topmost pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and doodle. It is balder and dash."

Harding's most famous "mistake" was his use of the word "normalcy" when the more common word at the time was "normality." Harding decided he liked the sound of the word and made "Return to Normalcy" a recurring theme.

Since the War

• The armistice ending World War I was two years in the past when Americans went to the polls in November of 1920 to cast their votes for president

• Their choice was between two men from Ohio:

(1)Governor James Cox (Democrat) who urged the adoption of the League of Nations

(2)Senator Warren G. Harding (Republican) who was unclear about where he stood on every issue

• The only memorable thing that Harding said during the election campaign was that he believed the American people wanted a “return to normalcy”

Governor James Cox

Senator Warren G. Harding

Harding Wins the Election

• Harding was apparently right, because he was elected by a landslide

• The idealism and activism that had characterized the prewar years of the Progressive era were officially over

Republican Control:

• Throughout the 1920s, three Republican presidents would control the executive branch

• Congress would stay solidly Republican throughout the decade in which U.S. business boomed and farmers/unions struggled

Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Harding/Coolidge, Blue denotes those won by Cox/Roosevelt. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

Business Doctrine

• With the death of T.R. in 1919 and the public disillusionment over the war-the return of the old-guard (conservative) Republicans started

• These Republicans were not laissez-faire economic minded, but rather they accepted the idea of limited government regulation (stabilize business)

• The regulatory commissions established in the Progressive era were administered by appointees (more sympathetic to business interests)

• This change and the Republican belief in big business prompted an era in which the pursuit of profits took the lead in developing the economy

The Presidency of Harding

• Harding had been a newspaper publisher before entering politics and was particularly handsome and well-liked among Republicans and voters

• His abilities as a leader, however, were less than presidential (had many Republican political cronies as friends)

• Harding recognized his limitations by appointing able men to his cabinet

President Warren G. Harding1921–1923

Official White House Portrait

Harding’s Cabinet

• Harding’s cabinet included:(1) Former Supreme Court justice

Charles Evans Hughes: Secretary of State

(2) Herbert Hoover: Secretary of Commerce

(3) Andrew Mellon: Secretary of Treassury

(4) Chief Justice of Supreme Court: former President William Howard Taft

• The most surprising action taken by Harding during his first 100 days was the pardoning of the socialist leader Eugene V. Debs

Clifford Berryman's cartoon depiction of Eugene V. Debs' campaign from prison.

Harding’s Domestic Policy

• Harding did little more than sign into law measures adopted by the Republican Congress

• He approved the following:

(1)A reduction in the income tax

(2)The Knox Resolution was passed by Congress and signed by Harding on July 2, 1921. (It provided for separate treaties between the U.S. and enemy nations)

(3)Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act of 1922 - increase in tariff rates

(4)Establishment of the Bureau of the Budget (created a single budget for Congress to review and vote on)

Scandals of the Harding Administration

• Jess Smith, a friend of Harding, used his position to sell “protection” to bootleggers in violation of the Volstead Act.

• Charles Forbes, head of the Veterans’ Bureau, was ousted from office and imprisoned for being unable to account for $2.5 million in government funds.

"I have no trouble with my enemies," Harding told journalist William Allen White late in his presidency, "but my damn friends, they're the ones that keep me walking the floor at night!"

Scandals of the Harding Administration

• The Teapot Dome Scandal:

- Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall leased government oil reserves to friends like Harry F. Sinclair.

- Senate committee indicted Fall and Sinclair

- Fall was convicted for accepting a $100,000 “loan,” Sinclair set free

- oil reserves went back to government control.

Senator Albert B. Fall, the first former U.S. cabinet official sentenced to prison

The Teapot Dome oil fields

The Death of Harding

• While traveling on the West coast of the U.S., Harding became ill.

• He died of either a heart attack or a stroke on August 2, 1923.

• Harding was never implicated in any scandal

Harding’s funeral proceedings

The Presidency of Coolidge

• Calvin Coolidge assumed the presidency after Harding death

• He was a man of few words who richly deserved the nickname “Silent Cal”

• Coolidge summarized both his presidency and era in the phrase: “The business of America is business”

The Election of 1924

• Coolidge ran against the Democrat “conservative lawyer” John W. Davis

• The central issue was the Teapot Dome scandal

• Liberals formed a new Progressive party led by Robert La Follette

• Coolidge won easily, however the Progressive party gained nearly 5 million votes (mostly from discontented farmers and laborers)

Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Coolidge/Dawes, Blue denotes those won by Davis/Bryan, Green denotes those won by La Follette/Wheeler. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

Vetoes and Inaction

• Coolidge believed in limited government that stood aside while business conducted its own affairs

• Coolidge is best remembered as keeping a close eye on the budget

• He cut and vetoed any legislation that allowed for federal spending (WWI bonuses, the McNary-Haugen Bill for farmers)

Coolidge's cabinet in 1924, outside the White HouseFront row, left to right: Harry Stewart New, John W. Weeks, Charles Evans Hughes, Coolidge, Andrew Mellon, Harlan F. Stone, Curtis D. WilburBack row, left to right, James J. Davis, Henry C. Wallace, Herbert Hoover, Hubert Work

Hoover, Smith, and the Election of 1928

• After Coolidge turned down the presidency for a second term, a self-made millionaire/Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover accepted the Republican nomination

• Hoover’s Democratic opponent was Alfred E. Smith (governor of New York)

• Smith was a Roman Catholic, which many Protestants detested openly

• Republicans boasted of “Coolidge Prosperity” and promised that Hoover would continue his policies- Hoover won in a landslide

Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Hoover/Curtis, Blue denotes those won by Smith/Robinson. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

Key Names, Events, and Terms

• Warren Harding• James Cox• Business Doctrine• Albert B. Fall• Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act• Knox Resolution• Bureau of the Budget• Teapot Dome scandal• Calvin Coolidge• John W. Davis• Herbert Hoover• Alfred E. Smith• Andrew Mellon

Question The Teapot Dome scandal rocked the Harding

administration and caused the American people to question their government. Who of the following people was most connected to the corruption?

(a)Calvin Coolidge

(b)Herbert Hoover

(c)Albert B. Fall

(d)Jess Smith

(e)Charles Forbes

Answer

C: Albert B. Fall