Presidents of the 1920’s
HARDING
COOLIDGE
HOOVER
Learning Target:
• Explain how the new Republican policies of
Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover differed from
those of the Progressives (Roosevelt, Taft,
Wilson)
• Explain the results of the new Republican
policies
• Explain American foreign policy after WWI
President #1: Warren G. Harding
• Year Elected: 1921
• In office: 1921-1923 - died in office
Warren G. Harding
• Background – Born in 1865 – Blooming Grove,
OH
• Profession – publisher – governor of Ohio – US
Senate – President
• US Senate from 1915-1921. Horrible
attendance record – missed 2/3 of votes –
including the 19th Amendment!!
Warren G. Harding
• Won the Presidential nomination because of
political machines
• Election key topic = continue progressive work
of Wilson, OR back to laissez-faire
• In the White House… as a senator, voted
against Prohibition, while in office, always had
bootleg booze available
“Return to Normalcy”
• In your own words, what does the above
quote mean?
• America needs a rest from the deprivation of
WWI and the pressure to make reforms from
the Progressive Movement
• Want to return to the ways of the US before
WWI
Warren G. Harding
• “Ohio Gang” – nickname given to
his “pals” that Harding appointed
into government positions – the
cabinet
• Favored Big Business
• Had 2 long lasting affairs – the 2nd,
Nan Britton, had a daughter
• Died of what was believed to be a
heart attack – VP Calvin Coolidge
came into office
How did the “Ohio Gang,” hurt
President Harding?
• His friends used their positions of power as a
way to improve their personal lives
TEAPOT DOME SCANDEL
• Teapot Dome – Harding proved to be a poor
leader – cabinet essentially ran office –
became known as the “Ohio Gang.”
• TEApot Dome Oilfield in Wyoming –
secretary of interior Albert B. Fall – rented
government lands to Oil Companies in return
for personal loans and gifts.
• US holding lands as oil reserves for the US
Navy. Fall leased lands to two oil companies
– 1. Mammoth Oil Company 2. Pan American
Petroleum Company.
• Fall received $404,000 in loans and gifts.
What was the Teapot Dome Scandal?
• Harding’s Sec. Of Interior leased gov’t oil
fields in exchange for money & bribes
President #2 – Calvin Coolidge
• Year Inaugurated – 1923 – VP to Harding, took
office after death. Ran for president in 1924
• In Office: 1923-1928
Calvin Coolidge
• Background – from Vermont – became
governor of Massachusetts
• Wanted to preserve the old moral and
economic principles of the US
• Policies = 1. Isolation in foreign policy 2. Tax
cuts 3. Limited aid to farmers
• Known as being the “most negative and
remote of presidents, and the most
accessible.”
Calvin Coolidge
• Silent Cal – because he said almost nothing
during interviews – “yes,” and “no”
• Elected for 1924 term, did not run in 1928
Coolidge – Policies towards Business
Gave Businesses a BOOST in 3 ways:
1.Appointed business people to
commissions to regulate businesses
2.Selected supreme court judges that
voted against progressive legislation
3.Named conservatives to powerful
cabinet positions
“Business of America is Business”
• In your own words, what does this quote
mean?
• Now that WWI is over, government should do
everything possible to encourage business to
grow (laissez-faire policies)
During Coolidge’s presidency…
• How were anti-trust agencies (ICC, FTC)
weakened?
• He appointed people to regulatory commissions
who opposed regulation. They overlooked
violations of anti-trust laws
• How did the Supreme Court weaken laws
protecting workers (women/children?)
• Child labor laws & minimum wages laws
declared unconstitutional
During Coolidge’s presidency…
• How did appointing conservatives (Andrew
Mellon) to the cabinet (gov’t positions) help
big business?
• Reduced taxes for business owners & people
with high level incomes
During Coolidge’s presidency…
• During Coolidge’s presidency, did the above
actions encourage or discourage laissez-faire
business practices? Explain your answer
• Encourage b/c the government presence of
controlling trusts and protecting workers was
reduced greatly, therefore there was very
little presence of government in business.
Calvin Coolidge
• Andrew Mellon – secretary of Treasury under
Harding Coolidge, and Hoover – 1921 – 1932
• Favored giving millionaires tax cuts –
overturned almost all of the progressive tax
policies of Wilson
• Coolidge and Mellon both agreed that
government should interfere as little as
possible with big business
President #3 – Herbert Hoover
• Year Elected – 1928
• Years in Office – 1929-1933
Herbert Hoover
• Background – born in Iowa 1874, grew up in
Oregon
• Stanford – mining engineer
• Head of Food Administration during WWI
• Secretary of Commerce under Harding and
Coolidge – helped organize food to be sent to
Europe and Russia
• After the crash – cut taxes and expand public
works spending
• Became a scapegoat for the Great Depression
Herbert Hoover – “Wonder Boy”
• Secretary of Commerce in the 1920’s
• Control and regulate airlines, radio, and other
new industries
• Minimize price competition
• Pushed for the Bureau of Standards
(standardization)
• Supported 8 hr work days, conservation of
natural resources, food for children
• Pollution Act of 1924 – control oil pollution on
the coastline
Provide 2 examples of what Herbert
Hoover accomplished as Sec. of
Commerce, which earned him the
nickname “Wonder Boy.”
• Expanded Commerce Dep’t to regulate
airlines, radio, and new industries.
• Organize trade associations: groups of firms
in the same line of business
• Standardize everything manufactured in the
nation
• Supported zoning laws, 8 hour work days,
improved nutrition for children
Herbert Hoover – Attitude towards
Business
• Volunteer effort
• Free enterprise
Hoover believed in “volunteer effort”
and free enterprise. What do you
think that means?
• Government should have as little as a role
possible in both business and citizen’s lives.
• 1920’s Crash Course
• Republican Presidents