Chapter 27: Republican Resurgence and Decline
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The progressive coalition that had elected Woodrow Wilson president dissolved by
1920 for all the following reasons except:
a. many of the major progressive reforms still seemed unattainable.
b. intellectuals became disillusioned because of popular support for prohibition
and the anti-evolution movement.
c. organized labor resented the Democrats’ unsympathetic attitude toward the
strikes of 1919–1920.
d. the middle class became more interested in business prosperity than reform.
2. The result in the presidential election of 1920 might be attributed to:
a. the smear campaign directed against Democratic candidate A. Mitchell
Palmer.
b. the fact that Americans in the 1920s were “tired of issues, sick at heart of
ideals, and weary of being noble.”
c. southerners who expressed their displeasure at President Wilson’s policies
by voting Republican.
d. all the above.
3. In his 1920 campaign for president, Warren Harding said the country needed a return
to:
a.
b.
c.
d.
energetic government.
patriotism.
normalcy.
experimentation.
5. Harding’s administration is most remembered for:
a. the fact that he died while in office.
b. the poor state of the economy while he was president.
c. his promotion of the arts and culture.
d. the scandals that plagued it.
7. Harding’s secretary of the treasury:
a. favored retaining the high wartime level of taxation to build up the public
treasury.
b. favored a reduction of taxes, but mainly for the benefit of the rich.
c. favored a reduction of the high wartime level of taxation, but mainly for the
benefit of the poor and the middle class.
d. persuaded Congress to drop the personal income tax instituted under
Wilson.
8. In
a.
b.
c.
d.
the 1920s, the Supreme Court:
seemed to favor the interests of business over those of labor.
abandoned its previously accepted “rule of reason.”
overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine.
gained its first black justice.
11. The biggest scandal of the Harding administration:
a. led to an attempt to impeach Harding that fell just four votes short of success
in the House of Representatives.
b. concerned a corrupt customs official who had regularly allowed Chinese
imports into this country duty free.
c. was the impeachment of the attorney general for fraudulent handling of
German assets seized after World War I.
d. involved the leasing of government-owned oil deposits to private companies.
13. In the 1924 presidential election:
a. Robert M. La Follette barely won the nomination of a faction-ridden
Republican party.
b. the Democratic candidate almost upset the Republican candidate.
c. Calvin Coolidge swept both the popular and electoral votes by decisive
majorities.
d. A. Mitchell Palmer was the Democratic candidate.
14. Coolidge’s administration was marked by:
a. a continuation of the post–World War I economic slump
b. continued tax breaks for the lower and middle classes at the expense of the
upper class.
c. prosperity.
d. the creation of the Internal Revenue and Tariff Commission, which
drastically reformed taxation formulas and duty lists.
17. In
a.
b.
c.
d.
the 1920s, farm prices:
remained at their high wartime levels.
remained at their low wartime levels.
fell sharply.
rose sharply.
18. The McNary-Haugen bill:
a. called for dumping surplus crops on the world market to raise domestic
prices.
b. failed to pass Congress in 1922 but, with the support of President Coolidge,
passed in 1927.
c. effectively raised domestic commodity prices.
d. is correctly represented by all the above statements.
19. In
a.
b.
c.
d.
the 1928 presidential election, the Democrats nominated:
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Herbert Hoover.
Rex Tugwell.
Al Smith.
20. In
a.
b.
c.
d.
the 1920s, labor unions:
won a number of important victories in the Supreme Court.
had the active support of the White House.
lost about 1.5 million members.
were helped by the prosperity of the decade.
22. The Democrats lost the presidential election of 1928 because:
a. most Americans would not vote for a former Methodist minister from
Nebraska who had written two books on the evils of drinking.
b. Americans were pleased with the Republican prosperity of the 1920s.
c. the Democratic candidate had offended Catholic and immigrant voters.
d. All the above statements are true.
23. In
a.
b.
c.
d.
the 1920s, home entertainment was bolstered by the spectacular growth of:
radio.
television.
personal computers.
tape recorders.
24. Charles Lindbergh became immensely popular in the 1920s due to his:
a. invention of the airplane.
b. solo flight from New York to California.
c. solo flight across the Atlantic.
d. All of the above are true.
25. Democratic presidential nominee Al Smith was hurt in 1928 by the fact that he was:
a. a New Yorker and a Catholic.
b. a boring public speaker.
c. a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
d. a supporter of Prohibition.
26. President Herbert Hoover’s progressive and humanitarian reforms included all the
following except:
a. support for a plan to reduce taxes in the lower income brackets.
b. a rejection of “red hunts” or interference with the peaceful picketing of the
White House.
c. financial assistance for all-black Howard University.
d. support for a bill to provide federal financial assistance to lower-income
families.
27. The “Bonus Expeditionary Force”:
a. consisted of angry farmers who sometimes acted outside the law to prevent
the foreclosure on mortgages on their farms.
b. toured the country to create support for the Communist party.
c. marched on Washington in an attempt to get immediate payment of a
veterans’ bonus that Congress had voted in 1924.
d. was a special division within the army created to help local authorities deal
with disturbances.
28. In
a.
b.
c.
d.
response to the Bonus Army marchers, Hoover:
got Congress to approve immediate payment of their bonuses.
put them to work building schools and roads.
sent soldiers to evict them from the capital.
promised them that prosperity was just around the corner.
29. Part of the reason for the stock market crash was the:
a. high rate of deflation in the 1920s.
b. tax policies of the 1920s, which had especially hurt the wealthy who might
otherwise have bought more stocks.
c. buying of great amounts of stock “on margin.”
d. low tariff, which allowed imports to corner several important American
markets.
31. All the following were governmental policies that contributed to the stock market crash
except:
a. increased taxes on upper levels of income.
b. hostility toward labor unions, which worsened income balances.
c. high tariffs.
d. lax enforcement of antitrust laws.
32. In the early years of the depression, farmers:
a. suffered less than most other groups.
b. were hurt by the McNary-Haugen Act, which cut farm assistance nearly in
half.
c. supported Hoover’s Emergency Relief and Construction Act, which provided
loans to farmers to prevent agricultural bankruptcies.
d. often lost their farms as their income continued to fall.
33. In
a.
b.
c.
d.
the elections of 1930:
Herbert Hoover was soundly defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Herbert Hoover won a second term as president, but by a very small margin.
Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives.
Democrats won a majority in the House of Representatives.
34. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation:
a. was passed over Hoover’s veto.
b. offered emergency loans to banks, farm mortgage associations, building and
loan societies, and other such businesses to prevent bankruptcies.
c. was criticized for its alleged favoritism to farmers and workers.
d. is correctly represented by all the above statements.