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The Harding Administration. After appointing several friends to positions in the government, President Harding endured a presidency plagued by scandal. Harding looked like a president, but he thought he lacked the intellectual qualifications for the job.
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The Harding Administration • After appointing several friends to positions in the government, President Harding endured a presidency plagued by scandal. • Harding looked like a president, but he thought he lacked the intellectual qualifications for the job. • Harding ran on the campaign slogan “return to normalcy.” • Harding made several distinguished appointments to his cabinet, including Charles Evans Hughes, Herbert Hoover and Andrew Mellon.
The Harding Administration • Charles R. Forbes, Harding’s head of the Veteran’s Bureau, sold scarce medicalsupplies from veterans’ hospitals and kept the money at a cost to the taxpayers of about $250million. • Harding’s secretary of the interior, Albert B. Fall, was bribed by private interests to lease them public lands containing oil reserves, an incident that became known as the Teapot Dome Scandal.
The Harding Administration • Attorney General Harry Daugherty created yet another scandal in the Harding administration when he participated in a bribe involving Germany and a company holding valuable chemical patents. • Under investigation by his own Justice Department, the Attorney General refused to turn over requested files and bank records.
Coolidge becomes President • In August 1923, amid the scandals unfolding in Washington, President and Mrs. Harding went out to the west coast. While there, Harding died of an apparent heart attack. • Coolidge, away on a family vacation, is awakened by his father and administered the oath of office…
The Coolidge Administration • Calvin Coolidge steered the country toward an emphasis on business and personal virtue. • Coolidge believed that prosperity rested on business leadership and that part of his job as president was to make sure that government interfered with businessandindustry as little as possible.
The Coolidge Administration • In the Presidential election of 1924, the Democrats were so deeply divided that they had to make 103 attempts to find a candidate acceptable to the majority of the delegates. • Republican Coolidge won the election with more than half the popular vote and 382 electoral votes.
Reading Check p. 446 • Why was Harding’s emphasis on “norlmalcy” an effective campaign strategy? • Americans yearned for simpler times after WWI.
Reading Check p. 448 • How did Calvin Coolidge restore public confidence after becoming President? • He distanced himself from the Harding Administration.
What problems faced President Harding during his administration? • A series of poor appointment decisions which led to several key scandals including the Veteran’s Bureau and Tea Pot Dome scandal.
How did Calvin Coolidge feel about business and government? • He believed that prosperity rested business leadership and that part of his job as President was to make sure that government interfered with business and industry as little as possible.
Section Assessment p. 448 - #1-7 • Normalcy – return to a normal life after the war. • People and Terms • Ohio Gang – Harding’s old poker-playing friends from Ohio who were given cabinet positions in the administration • Albert B. Fall- Harding’s Secretary of the interior who was responsible for the Tea Pot Dome Scandal • Tea Pot Dome scandal – Scandal involving taking bribes in exchange for leasing government land in Tea Pot Dome, Wyoming, containing oil. • Robert M. La Follette – Progressive Party candidate in the 1924 election.
Section Assessment p. 448 - #1-7 • Evaluate the effects Tea Pot Dome scandal on citizens’ views of the Federal Government. • Citizens began to view the Government as corrupt. • How did the Ohio Gang tarnish the Harding administration • They used their positions for personal advantage
Section Assessment p. 448 - #1-7 • How did the Democrats lose the chance for victory in the election of 1924? • They could not agree on a nominee
Section Assessment p. 448 - #1-7 • How did Coolidge’s actions demonstrate effective leadership following the Harding Administration? • Avoided scandal, supported business prosperity.
