CHAPTER 33
REPUBLICANS
GALORE
• The 1920s see three GOP presidents
• Warren Harding was elected in 1920
– Scandal, scandal, scandal
– Sec. of State - Charles Evans Hughes
– Sec. of Treasury - Andrew Mellon
– Sec. Of Commerce - Herbert Hoover
– Sec. Of Interior - Albert Fall
Election of 1920
End of Progressivism
• The reforms largely end after WWI
• Taft is the new Chief Justice
– very conservative
– Adkins v. Children’s Hospital
• reversed the Mueller decision
• Took away minimum wage for women and
special treatment for women in jobs - why?
Aftermath of the War
• Corporations did what they wanted and no
one stopped them
• Labor unions continued tough times
– 1919 Steel Strike
– 1922 - RR workers suffered a 12% wage
decrease
• 1921 - Veteran’s Bureau created
– Built hospitals and provided rehab for vets
• American Legion founded - benefits for vets
Return of Isolationism
• The U.S. sent “observers” to the L. of N.
• Did sign a big deal that gave us rights to
some oil in the Middle East
• Isolationism returns
– Still looking for a way to avoid future wars
– “Disarmament” became a major focus
Washington Conference
• all countries except the U.S.S.R. invited
• Agreed to a 10 year “naval holiday”
• Five Power Treaty
– 5:5:3 ratio agreed upon b/n the U.S., G.B.
and Japan
– G.B. & the U.S. agreed to not fortify
possessions in the Far East
Washington Conference
• Four Power Treaty
– Bound the U.S., Japan, France, and G.B.
to preserve the status quo in the Pacific
• Nine Power Treaty
– Formalized the Open Door to China
• Failures
– No restrictions on small warships, U.S
would not agree to intervene to maintain
the Four Power Treaty
Kellogg-Briand Pact
Frank Kellogg
• AKA the Pact of Paris
• Signed by 62 nations
• Agreement to not use war
as an instrument of foreign
policy
– Said nothing about “defensive
war”
– No enforcement mechanism
Aristide Briand
Tariffs in the 1920s
• Americans had lots of $ and U.S. business
wanted it spent on their goods
• Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)
– tariffs were almost doubled
– Included tariffs on farm produce - bad
– Allowed the Prez to adjust if needed
• Harding & Coolidge okayed 32 increases, only 5
reductions
• Really hurt Europe - needed $ to rebuild and pay
us back
Harding Scandals
• Col. Charles Forbes - Veteran’s Bureau
– stole about $200 million
• Teapot Dome - U.S. oil reserves
– Naval oil reserves transferred to the Interior Dept.
(Albert Fall)
– The land was then leased to 2 private
businessmen for a $400,000 bribe
• Fall convicted, “bribers” acquitted
• Attorney General Daugherty resigned
Calvin Coolidge
• Became President upon the death of
Warren Harding
• Honest, moral, incredibly short with his
words
• Brought dignity back to
the White House
Farmers in the 1920s
• Made lots of $ during WWI
– Feeding the armies and citizens of the countries at
war
• After the war lost certain markets and
protections from the U.S. govt.
– Had increased their production so now had a
surplus (prices fell)
• Technology improved and made it more
expensive to farm
Farm Bankruptcies in the
1920s
Election of 1924
• GOP nominated Coolidge
• Democrats were split on a # of issues
– wet v. dry, urban v. rural, fundamentalist v.
modernist
– Nominated John Davis
• Progressives still lingering
– Nominate Robert LaFollete
– Got 5 million votes (farmers,
socialists, AFL)
Election of 1924 - Results
Coolidge & Foreign Policy
• Isolationism (except Latin America)
• WWI debt was a big issue
– Other Allies didn’t think they should have to
pay
• Paid in loss of life, war was responsible for an
economic boom in the U.S.
• Took it out on Germany - $52 billion in
reparations
• Dawes Plan (circle of debt)
Election of 1928
• GOP nominates Herbert Hoover
– Very popular
– Success story
– Great for business
• Made his own $ and thought govt. should stay out of the
way
• Dems nominate Al Smith
– wet, urban, accent (radio didn’t help),
abrasive
– Catholic - lots of religious undertones
Election of 1928
Hoover’s Presidency
• Despite prosperity, was signs of trouble
• Farmers still hurting
– Agricultural Marketing Act
• Created the Federal Farm Board
• $ to form cooperatives (bought equipment and storage
facilities)
– Had promised to call for and agricultural tariff
• Hawley-Smoot Tariff
– Started out good,
– ended up being largest in our history (Depression)
– Made the Depression worse
Stock Market Crash
• Oct. 29, 1929 - major sell off
– $40 billion lost in 2 months
– By 1930 were 4 million without jobs
• Tripled in 2 years
– Those who had jobs lost hours and were
paid lower wages
– Made worse by mass bank closures
Stock Market Crash
Causes of the Great Depression
• Overproduction
– Were making more than the market needed
• Income gap
– All the$ was concentrated in the hands of
the rich
• Credit
• Problems in Europe
– Were being made worse by U.S. policies
Hoover & the Depression
• He took a lot of blame
– Hoovervilles, Hoover blankets, etc.
• Hoover refused the kind of govt. help
that was needed
– “rugged individualism”
– Idea of “direct relief” not too popular
– Eventually tried to help - too little too late
• Top down help - not popular
Hoover’s Actions
• Public works projects - provided jobs
– Ex. Hoover Dam
• Reconstruction Finance Corporation
– $500 million in loans to RRs, insurance
companies, banks, state and local govts.
– Good, but not enough
• Did more than any other President
before him - still not enough
Bonus Army
• WWI vets were supposed to get a bonus in
1945 - needed it now
• 20,000 veterans converged on D.C. to lobby
Congress
– “Bonus Expeditionary Force”
• Congress said no and Hoover orderd them to
leave
– They didn’t and were a few incidents including a
small riot
– He used the army to get rid of them - MISTAKE!
League of What, Kellogg-Briand
Who?
• 1931 - Japanese invade Manchuria
– Alleged it was defensive - needed iron
– Knew no one would stop them- why?
– League of Nations did nothing
• Stimson Doctrine
– Henry Stimson – Sec. of State
– U.S. would not recognize territory gained
by force - oooooohhhhh!
Good Neighbor?
• Hoover did improve relations with Latin
America
• Went on a goodwill tour as part of his
new “Good Neighbor” policy
• Withdrew U.S. troops from Nicaragua
and Haiti
– Saved us money