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Warren Gamaliel Harding

Warren Gamaliel Harding. Return to “ Normalcy ” Meaning, return to... conservatism McKinley-style support of business Laissez-faire: reversal of progressivism. Warren Gamaliel Harding. Scandalous! Veterans Bureau Scandal Charles R. Forbes, head of VB, skimmed off $200m.

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Warren Gamaliel Harding

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  1. Warren Gamaliel Harding Return to “Normalcy” Meaning, return to... • conservatism • McKinley-style support of business • Laissez-faire: reversal of progressivism

  2. Warren Gamaliel Harding Scandalous! Veterans Bureau Scandal Charles R. Forbes, head of VB, skimmed off $200m

  3. Warren Gamaliel Harding Scandalous! Attorney General Daugherty Investigated by Senate for illegal sale of pardons and liquor permits; he resigned

  4. Warren Gamaliel Harding Scandalous! Teapot Dome Scandal = worst U.S. naval oil reserves at Teapot Dome, WY = sold to private oilmen for ~$400k by Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall He served a short time in prison

  5. Teapot Dome Scandal

  6. Warren Gamaliel Harding Also chose Best & Brightest... ...Charles Evans Hughes, Secretary of State ...Andrew W. Mellon, Secretary of Treasury ...Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce

  7. Warren Gamaliel Harding Conservatism... Wm Howard Taft appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Supreme Court struck down Keating-Owens Act (child labor) Interstate Commerce (ICC) = pro-biz High tariff: Fordney McCumber

  8. Post WWI turmoil: labor Economic demobilization Government dismantles WWI economic controls End of government support of business & labor Business under private management once again Labor wants reward for good behavior on the home front during the war

  9. Post WWI turmoil: labor Steel strike of 1919

  10. Post WWI turmoil: labor Steel strike of 1919 Broken by authorities Supposedly a “Red”-inspired strike Also exploited ethnic/racial differences among workers

  11. Post WWI turmoil: labor Boston Police Strike 1919 WWI inflation rose beyond that of police officers’ wages. Cost of living (1913 to 1919)  by 76%; increase in wages  by 18%.

  12. Post WWI turmoil: labor Boston Police Strike 1919 They worked in 10-hour shifts and often slept in the station under unsanitary conditions. They were not paid for court time.

  13. Post WWI turmoil: labor Boston Police Strike 1919

  14. American public reaction to labor disruptions

  15. American public reaction to labor disruptions

  16. Post WWI veterans *Veterans’ Bureau established *Adjusted Compensation Act (aka “Bonus Bill”) To make up for wages lost while serving in war Bill passed (vetoed by Harding) Passed again (signed by Coolidge) Bonus due in 1945

  17. International Relations Sign end-of-war agreement with Germany Rival Britain for oil rights in Middle East Washington (Disarmament) Conference *10-year holiday in battleship construction *5-Power Naval Treaty = 5-5-3 ratio: US/UK/Japan *4-Power Treaty = Pacific status quo: UK/US/France/Japan *9-Power Treaty = Keep Open Door in China ISOLATIONISM!

  18. “Silent Cal” Coolidge Honest Pro-business “The man who builds a factory builds a temple...” “The business of American is business” Reacting vs Progressives

  19. “Silent Cal” Coolidge Twice vetoed the McNary-Haugen Bill... ...which proposed relief to farmers; government would have bought and sold farmers’ unsold surplus

  20. International Debts $10b owed to US by Allies who want their debt forgiven by us

  21. International Debts On April 27, 1921 the Allied Reparation Commission fixed the total War Reparations to be paid by Germany at 132,000,000,000 gold marks

  22. International Debts Allies pressure Germans for reparations French send troops to Germany to get theirs

  23. International Debts Berlin inflates its currency  hyperinflation

  24. International Debts The 5 billion mark note from October 20, 1923: A German needed 40 of these to buy 1 loaf of bread!

  25. International Debts

  26. International Debts Wholesale Price Index July 1914    1.0  Jan 1919   2.6  July 1919   3.4  Jan 1920   12.6  Jan 1921   14.4  July 1921   14.3  Jan 1922   36.7  July 1922   100.6  Jan 1923   2,785.0  July 1923   194,000.0  Nov 1923  726,000,000,000.0

  27. International Debts The Dawes Plan, 1924 Rescheduled German reparations payments Allowed for private loans to Germany American bankers loan $ to Germany  Germany pays reparations to Allies  Allies pay US back

  28. International Debts America’s refusal to forgive foreign debts promotes ill-will and, thus, reinforced isolationism

  29. Election of 1928 Republican Herbert Hoover vs. Democrat Al Smith

  30. Election of 1928 Herbert Hoover Orphan, engineer, self-made millionaire Respected international humanitarian Believed in America’s “rugged individualism” A Republican Progressive

  31. Election of 1928 Herbert Hoover Most respected man in America—respected by both political parties Excellent and honest administrator Supports unions & government control of radio

  32. Election of 1928 Al Smith 4-term governor of New York A “wet”: Al(cohol) Smith Urban and northern

  33. Election of 1928 Al Smith Roman Catholic (prejudice vs. Catholics—KKK slogans) Southern Democrats became “Hoovercrats”

  34. Hoover as President *Established Farm Board for farm loans *Grain/Cotton Stabilization Corp. to raise prices *Smoot-Hawley Tariff (SERIOUS mistake) raised tariffs to almost 60% seals US off from European goods

  35. Causes of Great Depression Overproduction Income disparity (especially farmers) Easy credit High tariffs Postwar worldwide depression Unemployment Natural disasters

  36. Hoover as President Trickle Down theory Public Works (Boulder Dam on Colorado River) Reconstruction Finance Corporation

  37. Hoover as President Norris-LaGuardia Anti-Injunction Act (Boost to organized labor unions) Significance? Bridge between old and new—government IS doing something

  38. Hoover as President Bonus Expeditionary Force 20,000 vets march to DC seeking early payment from Congress on the 1945 bonus

  39. Hoover as President Bonus Expeditionary Force Took up residence in Anacostia Flats (a “Hooverville”) to wait for Congress’s vote; Congress votes to refuse early payment

  40. Hoover as President Bonus Expeditionary Force After Congress’s vote, Hoover gives authority to US Army (Douglas McArthur) to remove the veterans from Washington DC, but NOT to use force

  41. Hoover as President Bonus Expeditionary Force General Douglas MacArthur wages “war” on the vets to get them out of DC (quite ironic)

  42. Hoover as President Bonus Expeditionary Force Hoover did not dismiss McArthur for disobeying his orders. McArthur’s shameful actions handed the ‘32 election to the Democrats

  43. Whose line is this? “I am not fit for this office and never should have been here.”

  44. Whose line is this? “If you don’t say anything, you won’t be called on to repeat it.”

  45. Whose line is this? “We are nearer today to the ideal of the abolition of poverty and fear from the lives of men and women than ever before in any land.”

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