1920s

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1920s

• Government

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Background

• The Decade of the 20s was a time of Growth and
  prosperity for many Americans
• The war was over
• Our Soldiers were coming home
• Women had gained the right to VOTE as a result of
  the 19th amendment to the Constitution

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• Passed June 1919 by Congress it would become part
  of the Constitution Aug 1920 a mere 2 month prior
  to the 1920 General Election for President of the
  United States
• They had for the first time gained the right to
  be heard yet did not exercise that right in great
  numbers
• Women had also managed to push the country to
  become what some say was a dry country

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• No Alcohol
• Prohibition had also managed to come to the
  United States through the 18th Amendment to the
  Constitution
• Passed in 1919 the 18th Amendment was also called
  the Volstead Act
• Allowed you to consume 3.2 alcohol and so long as
  it was for medicinal purposes it was allowed

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Politics

• Warren Harding was elected President in 1920
• He won with 60 of the popular vote
• Harding ran on the premise that America needed to
  go back to Pre war Normalcy

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• Harding appointed many of his friends to cabinet
  positions
• Andrew Mellon was appointed as Secretary of the
  Treasury
• Mellon believed that America needed to take care
  of the rich and wealthy
• They in turn would reinvest that money into the
  economy
• In turn that money would trickle down to the
  every day person through wages and such

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• Businesses did manage to bounce back following a
  small recession in 1921 brought on by the war
  ending
• Hardings Cabinet was not diverse it was more
  like the good ole boys network
• Friends were appointed to post they had no
  business having
• That created problems for Harding
• The greatest scandal of his administration was
  the Teapot Dome Scandal

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Tea Pot Dome

• Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall was
  appointed by Harding
• As such he was responsible for oil lease

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• He had sold oil reserves of the United States to
  private companies in return for large sums of
  money and gifts
• These reserves were located in Elk Hills Ca and
  also in Teapot Dome Wy

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• The U.S Senate found out about the back room
  deals but not before large amounts of oil had
  been removed
• The Senate investigated Fall for accepting Bribes
  and he became the First cabinet member in history
  convicted while in office
• Harding died in 1923 before the Scandal surfaced

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• Vice President Coolidge took over.
• He fired all of Hardings staff who was remotely
  connected with the scandal
• Ran for re-election in 1924 and won

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• Coolidge was even more pro business then Harding
  was.
• He declared the business of America is business
• He sought tax cuts for wealthy Americans
• Supported raising tariffs on foreign goods to
  decrease competition with doemstic products
• Trade increased

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• Many countries depended on America because of the
  devastation from the war to their plants and
  manufacturing
• In 1928 the U.S. and 14 other nations signed the
  Kellog Braind Pact
• Outlawed war as a means of solving political
  issues with others
• The United Nations was also formed during 1921
  and the United States Joined despite not
  accepting the Treaty of Versailles

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• The decade would end with another Presidential
  election
• Herbert Hoover would be pitted against Al Smith
• Smith was a Catholic and Hoover would focus the
  election instead of on the issues on the notion
  that the Pope would be running the country
• First Catholic to run for President
• Ran on the issues facing city dwellers

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• Smith would lose the election
• Hoover will become the President and within
  months the Great Prosperity of the 20s comes
  tumbling down.

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Reminders

• Harding elected after Wilson and end of WWI
• Coolidge takes over after Hardings death
• Wins re-election on a walk
• Hoover runs against Al smith a Catholic and uses
  religion as a reason not to elect a President
• Hoover elected 1928
• 18th and 19th Amendment passed