1 / 13

Presidential Politics

Presidential Politics. Thursday November 14, 2013 Main Idea: Warren Harding’s administration suffered from several scandals. His successor, Calvin Coolidge, promised to support business. Bell Ringer (No. 2) Dr. Seuss on Prohibition What is the message of this cartoon?

geri
Download Presentation

Presidential Politics

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Presidential Politics Thursday November 14, 2013 Main Idea: Warren Harding’s administration suffered from several scandals. His successor, Calvin Coolidge, promised to support business.

  2. Bell Ringer (No. 2) • Dr. Seuss on Prohibition • What is the message of this cartoon? The Review is to be completed by 11/22 on your own time

  3. Today’s Activity • Complete “Normalcy and Good Times” • Answer questions 10 and 11 with 3 sentences each. • Use your notes and the textbook

  4. Warren G. Harding • Normalcy Campaign – promise to return to normal life after the war. • Cabinet – distinguished appointments • Charles Evans Hughes as Secretary of State • Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce • Andrew Mellon as secretary of the Treasury • Harding appointed some friends/political allies to cabinet posts and high-level jobs • The Ohio Gang • “The air would be heavy with tobacco smoke, trays with bottles containing every imaginable brand of whiskey…cards and poker chips at hand—a general atmosphere of waistcoat unbuttoned, feet on desk, and spittoons alongside.” (Alice Roosevelt Longworth)

  5. Scandal • Forbes Scandal • Charles Forbes head of Veterans Bureau • Sold medical supplies and kept money for himself • Teapot Dome Scandal • Albert B. Fall Secretary of the Interior allowed private interests to lease lands containing US Navy oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming and Elk Hills, California • Fall received bribes of more than 300,000 • The Fall of Fall: first cabinet member to go to prison

  6. Calvin Coolidge • Kept able cabinet members; replaced the Ohio Gang • Calvin’s Philosophy: prosperity rests on business leadership; president is to make sure that govt interferes with business and industry as little as possible. • “Four-fifths of all our troubles in this life would disappear if we would only sit down and keep still” • Election of 1924: “Keep Cool with Coolidge”

  7. Andrew Mellon and Economic Prosperity • Secretary of the Treasury under Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover • Chief architect of economic policy in the 1920s • Policies encouraged growth and led to a stock market boom • Three goals: balance the budget, reduce govt debt, cut taxes

  8. The Mellon Program • Govtspending cut from 6.4 billion to 3 billion in 7 years • Debt Reduction • Refinanced WWI debt to lower the interest • Persuaded the Fed to lower its interest rates as well • Increased tax revenue from the nation’s economic boom • Debt reduced by 7 billion from 1921-9

  9. Mellon Program Cont. • Reduced taxes • High taxes reduced the money available for private investment and prevented business expansion • High tax rates reduced the amount of money the govt collected • Supply-side economics - lower taxes = more govt revenue • Businesses and consumers spend and invest extra money causing the economy to grow • Americans earn more money • Govt collects more taxes at a lower tax rate • Tax Rate before Mellon: 4-73% • Tax Rate in 1928: 0.5-25%

  10. Hoover’s Cooperative Individualism • Secretary of Commerce Hoover balanced govt regulation with cooperative individualism • Encouraged manufacturers and distributors to form their own trade associations which would share information with the federal govt • Goal: reduce costs and promote economic efficiency • Expanded Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce • Find new markets and business opportunities for American companies • Established • Bureau of Aviation • Federal Radio Commission

  11. Foreign Policy • Isolationism - Americans wanted to be left alone to pursue prosperity • US was too powerful and economically interconnected with other nations to retreat into isolationism • US promoted peace through agreements with individual countries rather than through the League

  12. Dawes Plan • Allies owed US 10 billion at the end of WWI • US needed Europe to be economically stable to buy US exports and repay war debts • 1924 Charles G Dawes (banker/diplomat) made a treaty with France, Britain, and Germany • American banks would make loans to the Germans that would enable them to meet their reparations payments • Britain and France would accept less in reparations and pay more on war debts • Thus, Europe became more indebted to American banks

  13. Kellogg-Briand Pact • Pact between 14 nations outlawing war • Signed August 27, 1928 • 62 nations signed eventually

More Related