2. Politics, the Red Scare, & Prohibition

3. Chapter 20 Politics of the Roaring Twenties

4. Objectives Summarize the reaction in the U.S. to the perceived threat of communism. Contrast Harding’s policy of “normalcy with progressive era reforms. Identify scandals that plagued the Harding administration. Summarize the impact of the automobile and other consumer goods on American life.

5. Politics The Ohio Gang Head of Veteran’s Bureau – Illegally sold hospital supplies to private companies. Head of Alien Property – Convicted of taking a bribe. Secretary of Interior – Convicted of taking bribes and loans for leasing government oil fields. Teapot Dome Scandal Warren G. Harding (1920-1922) “A Return to Normalcy”

6. Scandals Ohio Gang~ Harding’s poker playing buddies in his cabinet. Albert B. Fall~ Harding’s Secretary of Interior. Teapot Dome Scandal~ Fall leased government land to big oil companies for $400 thousand in kick-backs.

7. Politics Isolationism Nativism Quota System Fordney-McCumber Tariff Calvin “Silent Cal” Coolidge (1922-1928) Laissez-Faire

8. Postwar Issues Nativism~ prejudice against foreign-born people. Isolationism~ a policy of pulling away from involvement in world affairs. Fordney-McCumber Tariff~ raised taxes on U.S. imports to 60%, the highest ever. Quota system~ established the maximum number of people who could enter the U.S.

9. The Red Scare (1918-1921) The Communist takeover of Russia in 1917, “scared” the United States. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer was allowed to conduct raids on suspected communists & anarchists without restriction. Italian immigrants Sacco & Vanzetti were arrested, tried, convicted, & executed for murder and anarchist activities. The communist scare was just one of many reasons that KKK membership rose to over four (4) million in the 1920’s.

10. The Red Scare Communism~ an economic and political system based on a single-party government ruled by a dictatorship. Anarchists~ people who opposed any form of government. Sacco & Vanzetti~ Italian businessmen and anarchists tried and convicted of murder.

11. Prohibition (18 th Amendment) Speakeasies Flappers