Possible Thesis
 Prompt
 Historians have not looked too kindly on the presidents of the
1920s, usually judging them as mediocre. Is this evaluation
valid?
 Four Goals
 Re-State the Question
 Answer the prompt
 Include three categories – create parallel structure for the essay
 Clear and Concise
 Thesis (Underline)
 Historian’s assessment of the mediocrity of the presidents of the
1920s is valid due to Harding’s ineptitude, Coolidge’s reliance on
laissez faire policies, and Hoover’s lack of urgency in his efforts to
ameliorate the Great Depression.
Possible Topic Sentences
 Harding
 Corruption plagued Harding’s presidency. His practice of
relying on nepotism and placing his friends in cabinet level
positions greatly undermined and tainted his presidency.
 Coolidge
 Coolidge laissez faire policies defined his presidency and
contributed to the advent of the Great Depression.
 Hoover
 Hoover became famous for his relief efforts during WWI,
however his inability to quickly provide relief during the
Great Depression scarred his presidency.
Document A
 Source: W.A. White, Autobiography
(1946) referring to President
Harding
 “Lord, Lord, man! You can’t know
what the President is going through.
You see he doesn’t understand it; he
just doesn’t know a thousand things
that he ought to know. And he
realizes his ignorance…Not long
ago, when the first big tax bill came
up, you remember there were two
theories on taxation…He would
listen for an hour to one side,
become convinced; and then the
other side would get him and
overwhelm him with its
contentions…My God, but his is a
hell of a place for a man like me to
be!”
 Incorrect Citation
 According to Document A, “He
would listen for an hour to one
side, become convinced; and then
the other side would get him and
overwhelm him..”
 Correct Citation
 White explained Harding’s
ineptitude in his 1946
autobiography, “He would listen
for an hour to one side, become
convinced; and then the other side
would get him and overwhelm
him” (Document A).
Document A: Outside Info
 Outside Information
 Only served as a Senator for one term
 Considered a puppet of the Republican party
 Chosen for a return to normalcy and laissez-faire
policies
 Represented the transition from liberal reform to
conservative referendum
Document B
 Source Will the Brakes Hold, Berryman,
1925.
 Incorrect Citation
 As exemplified in Document B
 Correct Citation
 As exemplified in Berryman’s 1925
cartoon entitled, “Will the Breaks
Hold,” Calvin Coolidge practice laissez
faire business policies with the aid of
the Secretary of Treasury Mellon
(Document D).
 Outside Info
 Republicans and Dem. Supported tax
reduction on the wealthy
 McCumber Tariff Law
 Negated debt relief to Europe
 Limited gov. regulation of stock market
 Vetoed McNary Haggen Bill Twice
 Dawes Plan
Document C Source: “Take It Away!"
Library of Congress, 2012
 Incorrect Citation
 As depicted in Document B the
Teapot Dome Scandal occurred
 Correct Citation
 The Teapot Dome Scandal is
depicted in the Library of
Congress Cartoon entitled, “Take
It Away!” Secretary of Interior
Albert Fall convinced the Navy
Secretary to transfer naval reserve
authority to him. He proceeded to
illegally lease oil reserves to the
highest bidder (Document B).
 Outside Info
 Attorney General Daughtery –
illegal sale of pardons and liquor
permits
Document D
 Source: “The Stony Stare” Evening
Standard (London), artist David Low,
1932.
 Incorrect Citation
 Document D depicts Hoover’s
unwillingness to aid the Europeans.
 Correct Citation
 David Low’s cartoon from 1932, The
Stony Stare, depicts Hoover ‘s
unwillingness to assist the Europeans
and absolve their war debts.
 Outside Info
 European economic depression lead to
US depression.
 Us spent frivolously during a time of
economic depression.
 Hoover believed in allotting money to
business and industry rather than
direct relief.
Document E
 Source: Leuchtenburg, William Edward.
The Perils Of Prosperity, 1914-1932.
University Of Chicago Press, 1958. 91-92.
 “Harding’s was one of government by
crony...Harding surrounded himself by
old friends…For Director of the Mint, the
President appointed a man who had
been sheriff of Pickaway County… The
President later appointed Crissinger, a
boyhood chum, to the top banking post
in the nations, Governor of the Federal
Reserve System….Harding…managed to
establish a White House the same
atmosphere of informal male
conviviality that permeated the
backroom of a Marion (Ohio) saloon.”
 Incorrect Citation
 Document E proves that Harding was
an inept president and that be
appointed his friends to office.
 Correct Citation
 Leutchenberg in his 1958 work, The
Perils of Prosperity, supported the
reasoning that Harding was inept, “
Harding was one of government by
crony…Harding…surrounded himself
by old friends” (Document C).
Harding’s ineptitude was exemplified
by Harding’s appointment of his friend
Charles Forbes to the head of the
Veteran’s Bureau. Forbes promptly
stole 200 million dollars that was
allotted for hospital construction.
Furthermore, Harding was known to
drink and smoke cigars with the “Ohio
Gang” during the era or prohibition.
 Outside Info
Document F



Source: “State of the Union Address,” Calvin
Coolidge, delivered to the US Congress, 1927.
“…Price fixing and subsidy will both increase the
surplus, instead of diminishing it. Putting the
Government directly into business is merely a
combination of subsidy and price fixing aggravated by
political pressure…. The most effective means of
dealing with surplus crops is to reduce the surplus
acreage. While this cannot be done by the individual
farmer, it can be done through the organizations
already in existence, through the information
published by the Department of Agriculture, and
especially through banks and others who supply credit
refusing to finance an acreage manifestly too large…
“It is often stated that a reduction of tariff rates on
industry would benefit agriculture. It would be
interesting to know to what commodities it is thought
this could be applied… It is obvious that this would not
improve but destroy our market for imports, which is
best served by maintaining our present high
purchasing power under which in the past five years
imports have increased 63 per cent.”

Incorrect Citation
 Document F supports the reasoning that
Coolidge practiced Laissez Faire
economic policies.

Correct Citation
 Calvin Coolidge further elaborated on his
laissez faire economic policies in his 1932
State of the Union Address, “Putting the
Government directly into business is
merely a combination of price fixing
aggravated by political pressure”
(Document F).
Outside Info
 Republicans and Dem. Supported tax
reduction on the wealthy
 McCumber Tariff Law
 Negated debt relief to Europe
 Limited gov. regulation of stock market
 Vetoed McNary-Haggen Bill Twice
 Dawes Plan

Document G


Source: Uknown, 1929.
Incorrect Citation


Correct Citation


Document G depicts how Hoover’s economic
policies were partly to blame for the Great
Depression.
The unknown cartoon from 1929 depicts
how Hoover’s economic policies were partly
to blame for the Great Depression
(Document G).
Outside Info









Explain causes of 1929 Stock Market Collapse
Define Black Tuesday
Purchasing stock on margin
Over speculation of Blue Chip Stocks
Lack of Stock Market Regulation
Buying goods on margin
Purchasing power: goods more expensive –
wages stay the same.
Banks default
¼ of farmers bankrupt
Document H
 Source: “Rugged Individualism”
Speech, Herbert Hoover, Inaugural
Address, NYC, 1928.
 “One test of our economic and social
system is its capacity to cure its own
abuses. New abuses and new
relationships to the public interest will
occur as long as we continue to progress.
If we are to be wholly dependent upon
government to cure every evil we shall by
this very method have created an
enlarged and deadening abuse through
the extension of bureaucracy and the
clumsy and incapable handling of
delicate economic forces. And much
abuse has been and can be cured by
inspiration and cooperation, rather than
by regulation of the government… It is
just as important that business keep out
of government as that government keep
out of business. No system is perfect….
 Incorrect Citation
 Hoover’s response to the Great
Depression was exemplified in
Document H.
 Correct Citation
 Hoover ‘s initial response to the Great
Depression was exemplified in his 1928
speech entitled, “Rugged
Individualism.” He elaborated on his
conservative policies, “It is just as
important that business keep out of
government as that government keep
out of business” (Document H).
 Outside Info
 RFC – Lent money to businesses and
banks
 No direct relief
 Against social welfare – socialism
 Individualism= American WASP
identity
 Discounted Hoovervilles
Transition Sentences
 Don’t Forget Them
Counter-Argument
 Explain how the presidents of the 1920s did implement positive policies. However, the
negative aspects of their presidencies' supersede the positive aspects of during their
tenures’ in office.
 Include in body paragraphs or as a separate counter
 Harding
 Washington Disbarment Conference
 Appointment of Sec. of State Daugherty
 Nine Power Treaty
 Economic Prosperity
 Coolidge
 Economic Prosperity
 Dawes Plan – Relief to Germany
 Kellogg Brian Pact
 Hoover
 RFC attempts to assist with Great Depression
 Good Neighbor Policy – Latin America
 Bonus Army pay outs
 Appropriations to build Hoover Dam
Conclusion
 Synthesize Topic Sentences
 Re-state thesis sentence – different phrasing
 Use language of the question
 Not necessary to say in conclusion, in summary,
overall.
 Be clear and concise, only need one good paragraph.