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CARTOON
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A M E R I C A N H I STO RY P O L I T I C A L C A RTO O N S
Po l i t i c a l C o r r u p t i o n i n t h e 1 9 2 0 s
UNDERSTANDING POLITICAL CARTOONS
Study the political cartoon, and then answer the
questions that follow.
1. How does the cartoonist illustrate political
corruption?
2. What does the “Prohibition Agent” refer to?
HRW material copyrighted under notice appearing earlier in this work.
Library of Congress
3. The 1920s were a time of economic growth
and prosperity. How does this cartoon suggest the underlying instability of the so-called
“Roaring Twenties”?
ACTIVITY
Imagine that you are a newspaper columnist. You are covering the investigation and trials of
the Teapot Dome Scandal. Write a brief article summarizing your opinion of the scandal.
American History Political Cartoons
41
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Car toon 21: Discussion and Answers
Discussion Guide
When World War I ended in 1918, many Americans were anxious to get on with the
business of America. Public sentiment ran strongly against reform movements, radical
politics, and foreigners, all of which many Americans held responsible for the war. Peace
and prosperity were what the American people desired.
Republican presidents such as Harding (1921–1923), Coolidge (1923–1929), and
Hoover (1929–1933), believed that if businesses were restricted by heavy tax burdens, they
would not prosper and benefit the whole of the U.S. economy. As a result, cabinet positions in the Republican administrations of the 1920s often went to wealthy business leaders
who used their positions to protect big business interests. Andrew Mellon, one of the
wealthiest men in the United States at this time, served as Secretary of the Treasury under
Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover. Mellon set forth tax cuts to both businesses
and wealthy individuals, thus almost completely undoing all of the progressive reforms
that had been introduced in the years prior to World War I.
Answers
UNDERSTANDING POLITICAL CARTOONS
1. government officials taking bribes; hands behind their back suggests dishonesty
2. the 18th amendment, ratified in 1919, prohibited the sale and manufacture of alcohol
in the United States; prohibition agents were government agents who were in charge
of enforcing the law
3. growth of large business was left unchecked, uncontrolled
Activity
Articles should include events of the Teapot Dome scandal and allude to ways other
government officials were dishonest.
42
American History Political Cartoons
HRW material copyrighted under notice appearing earlier in this work.
Also undermining the advances made by the pre-World War I progressive movement was a series of scandals under the Harding administration. Upon his election to the
presidency, Harding appointed many of his friends to political positions. Known as the
Ohio Gang, they were largely ill qualified to be in the positions they held. Eventually it
was revealed that the Ohio Gang had been selling all types of political favors by accepting
bribes. The most publicized scandal was the Teapot Dome scandal in which Albert Fall, the
Secretary of the Interior, was discovered to have leased government oil reserves in Teapot
Dome, Wyoming, to businessmen in exchange for bribes. Other members of the Harding
administration were linked to the scandal, and the investigations and trials continued for
the rest of the decade.