Normalcy and Good Times

1. Normalcy and Good Times Presidential Politics

2. Learning Targets: • By the end of this lesson you will: • Know what Warren G. Harding promised America if he were elected President. • Know who the Ohio Gang was. • Understand how Harding ended his Presidency. • Discover the details of the Teapot Dome Scandal. • Realize why Attorney General Harry Daugherty resigned. • Know what a Calvin Coolidge critic said about him. • Quote a quote from Calvin Coolidge. • Know the Progressive Party Nominee for President in 1924. • Compare the personalities of Calvin Coolidge and Warren G. Harding.

3. Introduction • Many middle class Americans bought new convenience products on credit. • In the 1920s America was prosperous (except for farmers). • The car changed how people lived.

4. The Harding Administration • In 1920, Warren G. Harding was a humble presidential candidate who ran on the promise to return America back to “normalcy”. • The Ohio Gang • Harding appointed many of his friends from Ohio to his presidential cabinet. • These “friends” drank, smoked, and played poker with the president • These “friends” also sold government jobs, gave pardons to criminals, and also protected other “friends” from prosecution. They also (Forbes) sold scarce medical supplies from veterans’ hospitals making about $250 million illegally. • Harding died while on vacation visiting Alaska and California

5. The Harding Administration • A Presidency that Ends in Scandal • The Teapot Dome Scandal • Albert B. Fall (Secretary of the Interior) took bribes from private interests totaling over $300,000. In return he leased public land containing US Naval Oil Reserves in Teapot Dome, WY and Elk Hills, CA • Albert B. Fall became the first presidential cabinet member to go to jail. • The Daugherty Scandal • Attorney General Harry Daugherty (Harding’s former campaign manager) controlled a bank account funded with money obtained from a German agent who bribed a politician to acquire chemicals and a German owned American company seized during WWI. • Daugherty refused to turnover evidence and testify in court. President Coolidge demanded his resignation.

6. The Coolidge Administration • Coolidge became popular across the nation as Governor of Massachusetts over how he handled the Boston Police Strike (1919) • He took over for Harding after Harding died in 1923. • “Silent Cal” became his nickname • A critic joked that Coolidge could be “silent in five languages”. • Coolidge said, “Four-fifths of all our troubles would disappear if we would only sit down and keep still” • Coolidge believed that government should stay out of the way of business. • Coolidge was elected president in 1924. • Defeated Robert M. La Follette—Progressive Party Presidential candidate

7. Review Questions: • What did Warren G. Harding promise America if he were elected President? • Who was the Ohio Gang? • How did Harding end his Presidency? • What were the details of the Teapot Dome Scandal? • Why did Attorney General Harry Daugherty resign? • What did a Calvin Coolidge critic say about him? • Quote a quote from Calvin Coolidge. • Who was the Progressive Party Nominee for President in 1924?

8. Essay Question: • Compare the personalities of Calvin Coolidge and Warren G. Harding.

9. Essay Question: • Compare the personalities of Calvin Coolidge and Warren G. Harding. • The contrast between Harding and Coolidge could not have been greater. Harding had enjoyed the easy conversation and company of old friends. He drank, smoked, and played poker in the White House with his friends. Coolidge, joked one critic, could be “silent in five languages.” “Silent Cal” had a simple and frugal manner.