The Harding Administration
A. After appointing several friends to positions in
the government, President Harding endured a
presidency plagued by scandal.
1. Harding looked like a president, but he thought he
lacked the intellectual qualifications for the job.
2. Harding ran on the campaign slogan “return to
normalcy.”
3. Harding made several distinguished appointments
to his cabinet, including Charles Evans Hughes,
Herbert Hoover and Andrew Mellon.
The Harding Administration
4. Charles R. Forbes, Harding’s head of the
Veteran’s Bureau, sold scarce medical
supplies from veterans’ hospitals and kept
the money at a cost to the taxpayers of
about $250 million.
5. Harding’s secretary of the interior, Albert B.
Fall, was bribed by private interests to lease
them public lands containing oil reserves, an
incident that became known as the Teapot
Dome Scandal.
The Harding Administration
6. Attorney General Harry Daugherty created
yet another scandal in the Harding
administration when he participated in a
bribe involving Germany and a company
holding valuable chemical patents.
7. Under investigation by his own Justice
Department, the Attorney General refused to
turn over requested files and bank
records.
Coolidge becomes President
• In August 1923, amid the scandals
unfolding in Washington, President and
Mrs. Harding went out to the west coast.
While there, Harding died of an apparent
heart attack.
• Coolidge, away on a family vacation, is
awakened by his father and administered
the oath of office…
The Coolidge Administration
B. Calvin Coolidge steered the country
toward an emphasis on business and
personal virtue.
8. Coolidge believed that prosperity rested on
business leadership and that part of his job
as president was to make sure that
government interfered with business and
industry as little as possible.
The Coolidge Administration
9. In the Presidential election of 1924, the
Democrats were so deeply divided that they
had to make 103 attempts to find a
candidate acceptable to the majority of the
delegates.
10. Republican Coolidge won the election with
more than half the popular vote and 382
electoral votes.
Reading Check p. 446
• Why was Harding’s emphasis on
“norlmalcy” an effective campaign
strategy?
• Americans yearned for simpler times after
WWI.
Reading Check p. 448
• How did Calvin Coolidge restore public
confidence after becoming President?
• He distanced himself from the Harding
Administration.
What problems faced President
Harding during his administration?
• A series of poor appointment decisions
which led to several key scandals
including the Veteran’s Bureau and Tea
Pot Dome scandal.
How did Calvin Coolidge feel about
business and government?
• He believed that prosperity rested
business leadership and that part of his
job as President was to make sure that
government interfered with business and
industry as little as possible.
Section Assessment p. 448 - #1-7
1.
2.
•
•
•
•
Normalcy – return to a normal life after the war.
People and Terms
Ohio Gang – Harding’s old poker-playing friends from
Ohio who were given cabinet positions in the
administration
Albert B. Fall- Harding’s Secretary of the interior who
was responsible for the Tea Pot Dome Scandal
Tea Pot Dome scandal – Scandal involving taking
bribes in exchange for leasing government land in Tea
Pot Dome, Wyoming, containing oil.
Robert M. La Follette – Progressive Party candidate in
the 1924 election.
Section Assessment p. 448 - #1-7
3. Evaluate the effects Tea Pot Dome
scandal on citizens’ views of the Federal
Government.
•
Citizens began to view the Government as
corrupt.
4. How did the Ohio Gang tarnish the
Harding administration
•
They used their positions for personal
advantage
Section Assessment p. 448 - #1-7
5. How did the Democrats lose the chance
for victory in the election of 1924?
•
They could not agree on a nominee
Section Assessment p. 448 - #1-7
#6
Politics
Presidency
Harding
Open Politics
Scandal-ridden
Presidency
Coolidge
Simple Politics
Businessoriented
Presidency
Section Assessment p. 448 - #1-7
7. How did Coolidge’s
actions demonstrate
effective leadership
following the
Harding
Administration?
• Avoided scandal,
supported business
prosperity.