 Harding elected  Return to normalcy  "America's present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution but restoration...."

 Ranked as one of the worst presidents due to scandal and ineffectiveness  Cabinet ran presidency  Extramarital affairs and corruption in cabinet

 Good for businesses bad for women › Self-regulation of businesses › Harding appoints 4 conservative supreme court justices  Adkins v. Children’s Hospital › Minimum Wage › 19 th amendment – no special treatment for women

 Esch-Cummins Transportation Act of 1920 › Railroads Private  Merchant Marine Act of 1920 › Sold war fleet at low cost  Adjusted Compensation Act › Compensation for WWI vets

 Resolution passed in 1921 that formally declared WWI over  3 years after war ended

 Back to isolationism  Exception: drilling rights in Middle East  Washington Conference  1 st international conference in US  Russia not invited  5 Power Naval Treaty (US, GB, FR, ITA, JAP) › Reduce naval armaments › Largely ignored  4 Power Treaty › Status Quo in Pacific (US, GB, FR, and JAP)  9 Power Treaty › Open Door in China

 Outlaw of War › Exempted defensive war  62 nations signed

 Fordney-McCumber Tariff Law › Raised tariffs from 27%-35% › What was the problem?

 End of war lessened need for goods  Increased supply -> Lowered prices  Volstead Act › Farmers exempt from Anti-trust laws  McNary-Haugen Bill › Gvt purchase and sale of crops › Vetoed 2x by Coolidge (Effect ?)

 Oil field reserve in WY  Albert Fall (Sec. of Interior) leased land to in exchange for cash ($404,000)  Exposed by Wall Street Journal  Given back to Navy in 1927  Fall fined $100,000 and spent 1yr in prison  Lack of trust in big business republicans

 Harding dies of pneumonia and thrombosis in August 1923  Very quite and bland  Reduce taxes and debts  Economy Prospers

 Republicans nominate Coolidge › “Keep Cool with Coolidge”  Democrats heavily divided and with no strong candidate chose John W. Davis  Robert Lafollette – Progressive Party

 #1 › support for tax reductions and the limitation on government's role in American society; › tariff protection for American industry, as provided in the recently enacted Forney- McCumber Tariff › U.S. participation in international arms reduction program and membership in the World Court.

 #2 › a graduated income tax; › tough enforcement of antitrust laws; › public works projects to alleviate unemployment; › farm relief with more accessible credit and crop price subsidies; › a tariff reduction; › Philippine Island Independence › a referendum on the League of Nations

 #3 › public management and conservation of natural resources › government ownership of the railroads and power-generating resources › acknowledgement of workers' right to unionize and bargain collectively › elimination of child labor › dissolution of monopolies

 America’s desire for $$ from Great Britain and France...led to GB and FRA’s desire for $$ from Germany  Dawes Plan › France and Belgium would leave Ruhr area › Manageable reparation schedule › Relied on U.S Private loans (failed) › Replaced by Young Plan (failed)  Reducing the German obligation from the original $32.3 billion to $713 million

 Republican – Hoover › Individualism, free enterprise, and small government › Well liked  Democrats – Alfred E. Smith › Catholicism and being anti-prohibition hurt him

 Agricultural Marketing Act › Federal Farm Board  $500 million  Low cost loans to farmers  Grain and Cotton Stabilization Corps › Raise prices by buying surplus › failed  Hawley-Smoot Tariff › Raised tariffs 60% › Deepened worldwide depression

 Government programs failed because of inflation › substantial rise in the general level of prices related to an increase in the volume of money and resulting in the loss of value of currency

 October 29 th, 1929  Overproduction and Overexpansion