The Controversial Administration: Warren G. Harding

During the election year of 1920, America wanted to relax and enjoy winning the war and American life, so people rallied behind Warren G. Harding of Ohio who promised to restore “normalcy” to the country. Though seen as a good man, he was corrupt, did not have strong principles, and scandals arose in his 3rd year of presidency. In 1923, he died of food poisoning while making a trip to the west coast to give speeches. Harding’s vice president, Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts, took over and was very shy and laid-back approach to the presidency which was good because the economy was doing fine. He won again in 1924. However, there were still issues occurring in the nation such as the Prohibition, the decline of morality, and the rise of atheism.

(Document H) Although some may argue that in the beginning, women were treated unfairly, this was true, however, this just had a rough start, and by the 1920s, Wilson passed the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Aside from the women in the United States, the African Americans were in an uproar as well. Stated in The Crisis by W.E.B DuBois, "…black men were drafted into a great struggle." (Document I) Although DuBois argues that Wilson drafted many black men to fight against Germany, he did this to protect the United States on a national level. President Wilson was a sympathizer with the south, a fine speaker, a sincere and morally appealing politician, and an extremely intelligent man. Although some may argue that Woodrow Wilson was racist, in the end, he indirectly helped all workers, without discriminating against anyone. He passed many acts that helped the common man, such as the Federal Farm Act, Adamson Act, and the Workingmen's Compensation Act.

Who do you think Warren Harding was? I’m gonna tell you about his: family, education, birth, settlement, politics, and about when he was a senator.

During Harding's term, a couple of people on his administration were accused and arrested for bribery and corruption. The most well-known scandal was the Teapot Dome scandal were the Secretary of the Interior was arrested for accepting bribes to release government land to oil companies for their own personal reasons. Harding did good for America and its people, but because of the scandals he was not directly involved in, his good was no longer noticed. Harding did not last for long in his terms because he died due to illness, but there were speculations that he was murdered by his wife or that he killed himself. The next Republican president that caught the nation's eye was Calvin Coolidge. Calvin really got noticed when he used the National Guard to break up a strike in Boston. Coolidge reduced the federal debt, lowered income tax rates (mostly for the wealthy) with 3 Revenue Acts and began construction of a national highway system that was very useful for trading and such. The last Republican president of the 1920s was Herbert Hoover. Herbert Hoover was with what he liked to call “associationalism.” This meant seeing which association nationwide was first in commerce and industry. He enjoyed the association of business and government together. Hoover was president at the time of the Stock Market Crash in 1929. Hoover continued to say that the worst was over and that the economy was strong enough to hop up until the market was back on track, but he was completely wrong about this because a worldwide depression took place. The depression caused a huge impact on the American people. Families were unable to pay rent, lived off of potatoes, crackers, some even searched through garbage cans. Marriage was delayed, reproduction rate also decreased. The most impacted class was the farmers and the agricultural sector. Crop prices hit rock bottom and due to farmers trying to compensate for

In the years following World War I, the United States was comfortable with returning to its prior state of traditional values. In the government, this was reflected as the 1920 election was won by Republican candidate Harding, who ran with the slogan “A Return to Normalcy.” Americans simply wanted to recuperate after the intense global conflict that had just ended; however, changing and new attitudes were at battle with their desire of normalcy. It was movements like “New Morality” that contested traditional stances of those who sought security in their lives. As a result of the constant battle between old and new values, tensions were mounting between citizens. The Roaring Twenties was a time of innovation in American life; however, tensions surfaced between traditional and new values, shown through court rooms, national politics, grass roots campaigns, and media revolutions, due to a rise in differing theological views, women’s fight for independence, racial conflict, technology, and advertising.

He had little knowledge of politics, and depended on his fellow politicians. These men, in turn, involved in scandals to embezzle money from the government. One was the Great Mobilier scandal; it dealt with the Union Pacific Railroad. The Construction Company hired themselves at inflated prices to build railroad lines, and distributed shares of stock to congressmen. A scandal during Grant’s second term, was the Whisky Ring. This scandal was uncovered in St. Louis, and consisted of selling whiskey without the excise tax. In return it defrauded the government out of millions of dollars. Belknap was selling goods and trading with the Indians for lower prices.

The American Presidency is one of the most criticized political institutions in the world. The American President is held to standards higher than any person can reasonably be expected to uphold and even the slightest mistake on their part can be remembered forever as a historic failure. Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president of the United States and is often considered to be one of the “top ten” greatest presidents, yet even he is not immune to historical criticism. While he may have been a very successful president he had his fair share of failures. Two of his chief failures as president were his rather disastrous policies dealing with racial issues and his pushing through of the 1917 espionage act.

Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), was one of the most memorable as well as divided politicians in US history. With a humble past of teaching at segregated schools for 3 years, he had all the heart of someone to end slavery. But upon becoming a Senator, this seemed to change. During his Senate years, time and time again showed his dislike for Civil Rights. When President, he was a whirlwind of a worker to push this bill through. What changed, what didn’t, along with what drove him to do this.

In the 1920s, Americans were trying to figure out what was everyone’s role in society. During this time women started to take on bigger jobs then housekeeping and African Americans are finally standing up for their race. Once 1929 hit, Herbert Hoover, America’s newest president, was viewed as an ‘American Superhero’ at that time because of everything he promised society; however, America gets hit by the Great Depression leaving society in a hole. While banking systems were unstable and overproduction were leaving people bankrupt, Herbert Hoover was blaming Europe and was failing to keep society financially stable. As his presidency went on, filmmakers made film cycles and gangster pictures like Little Caesar that portrayed America’s corrupt society during the Great Depression. By the end of his campaign, Hoover was known as the worst American ever which led to the rising of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Roosevelt saw the struggling society as an opportunity to help his campaign in which he created the New Deal. America was given an opportunity that allowed them to look forward to the future. During Herbert Hoover’s presidency, America did not support the federal government, but after Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for president and promised a New Deal, they began to look more favorably on the government.

incident that took place in the United States from 1921 to 1922, during the administration President Warren G. Harding. Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and two other locations in California to private oil companies at low rates without competitive bidding. In 1922 and 1923, the leases became the subject of a sensational investigation by Senator

The 1920 presidential election proved to be memorable as well as historically significant for a number of reasons. This time period is surrounded by important events in American history. It falls directly after World War I, starts the roaring twenties, and leads the United States into the Great Depression. Warren G. Harding was elected president over all other candidates, with promises of life going back to normal conditions. At this point in time, American citizens were desperate for one thing: their old “normal” life. The election of 1920 was important because our nation had just gotten out of World War I, the vote ended in a landslide, and Harding changed the United States for the worse.

The modern presidency has in a sense become a double-edged sword in that presidents have become beneficiaries of anything positive that can be attributed to government, but also can be blamed for anything bad occurring in society. Quite simply, the modern president has become the center of our political system (The Modern Presidency, 2004). The men who have dealt with this double-edged sword known as the modern presidency have often walked a very fine line between effectiveness and ineffectiveness, but all have attempted to use their power in one way or another.

The legacy that President Hoover passed to his successor was disastrous. The country experienced an unprecedented economic depression. However, in his speech during the presidential campaign in 1936, he expressed a deep concern that the New Deal is directed against the interests of ?poor Americans?[footnoteRef:2]. He also blamed the Roosevelt policy in violation of ?fundamental American ideals and liberties?[footnoteRef:3]. While Roosevelt was rebuilding America, Hoover attacked

The American Presidency is undoubtedly one of the most widely recognized popular icons throughout the world. Although to most foreigners or those who have never resided in the United States or know little of its history, the executive branch of government may seem to be as dull and unyielding as the rest of the American politics, for those few rare individuals who have taken the time to examine and closely scrutinize this office of the American political system and its recent history, quite the opposite will be said. Unlike Congressional or local elections where typically a number of individuals of the same ideological background must be elected in order for a particular issue to be

Historians and scholars have often debated the success and failures of Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency since 1945. A number of scholars argue that he created jobs, boosted the economy, and helped America get back onto the road of becoming a great nation. On the other hand, it can be argued that his plans and ideas to create jobs only lasted for the short term and his acts created long-term problems. This paper will discuss Roosevelt’s life, his reforms, and both the positive or negative outcome those actions had on America. However, it must be stated, for the struggles America was going through, and the perseverance they held to triumph over their trials, was in part due to Roosevelt’s boundless leadership as president. Franklin Delano