Chapter 10 Section 1 – The Politics of the 1920s
(p. 362-367)
MAIN IDEAS
The Harding
Administration
(p. 362-364)
NOTES
 Election of 1920 – Warren G. Harding promised “a return to normalcy”
1.) _________________________________________________________________________________________

The Ohio Gang = his poker playing friends
a.) _________________________________________________________________________________

Sold government jobs, pardons and supplies

Harding said his enemies didn’t cause him trouble, but his friends did
2.) ________________________________________________________________________________________
a.) _________________________________________________________________________________
b.) Allowed _________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

Teapot Dome, WY and Elk Hills, CA
c.) _________________________________________________________________________________

Wall Street Journal broke the story

Senate investigated the scandal throughout the 1920s
d.) _________________________________________________________________________________

Fall was the first cabinet officer to go to prison
 Charles R. Forbes was appointed head of the Veterans Bureau

Sold scarce medical supplies from veterans’ hospitals and kept the money

Cost the taxpayers $250 million
 June 1923 = Harding toured the West and had a heart attack en route from Alaska to California
3.) Aug. 2, 1923 = ___________________________________________________________________________
Coolidge Takes Over
(p. 364)
1.) 1923 = ___________________________________________________________________________________
 Silent Cal = The joke was “Coolidge could be silent in five languages”
 Attorney General Harry Daugherty

Appointed by President Warren G. Harding

A German agent bribed him to get a company and valuable chemical patents seized by the US
during the WW I as enemy property

Daugherty refused to turn over files and bank records during the investigation

Refused to testify under oath claiming immunity because he said he had confidential dealings with
the President

New President Calvin Coolidge demanded his resignation
2.) _________________________________________________________________________________________
 His philosophy of government: “Prosperity rest on business leadership and that part of the president’s job is to
make sure that the government interfered with business and industry as little as possible.”
 Coolidge avoided crises and adopted policies to keep the nation prosperous
3.) _________________________________________________________________________________________
 ““Keep Cool with Coolidge”
 Won more than ½ of the popular vote and 382 electoral votes
Page #1
2010-2011
Chapter 10 Section 1 – The Politics of the 1920s
(p. 362-367)
Economic Policies to
Encourage Prosperity
(p. 365)
1.) _________________________________________________________________________________________
 1921 = Bureau of the Budget = to prepare a unified federal budget
 General Accounting Office = to track spending
2.) _________________________________________________________________________________________
 cut spending from $6.4 billion to less than $3 billion in 7 years
3.) _________________________________________________________________________________________
a.) ___________________________________ economics = __________________________________
economics
b.) _________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
c.) _________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Average taxpayers = 4% to 0.5%

Wealthy taxpayers = 73% to 25%
 See graphs in “Coolidge and Prosperity” on p. 364-365
4.) _________________________________________________________________________________________
 encouraged businesses to form trade associations that would voluntarily share information with the federal
government
 Believed it would reduce costs and promote economic efficiency



US Foreign Policies
(p. 366-367)
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce = asked them to find new markets for companies
Bureau of Aviation = set up to regulate and promote the growth of the airline industry
Federal Radio Commission = set up to help to regulate radio frequencies and the power of transmitters
1.) _________________________________________________________________________________________
 Isolationism = to stay out of foreign affairs and wars
 USA refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles
 USA didn’t join the League of Nations
 USA didn’t join the World Court in 1921
 USA used economic policies and arms control treaties to keep peace
(Foreign
Economic Policies)
 Before WW I, the US was in debt
 After WW I, Allies owed the US more than $10 billion
 USA became the dominate economic power in the world
2.) _________________________________________________________________________________________
 Allies had a hard time paying war debts
 US tariffs made it hard to sell their exports in the USA
 Germany had a hard time paying war reparations to the allies
 US wanted European economies to be stable so they could buy US exports and repay their debts
Page #2
2010-2011
Chapter 10 Section 1 – The Politics of the 1920s
(p. 362-367)
3.) _________________________________________________________________________________________

Charles G. Dawes = an American diplomat

US, France, Britain and Germany
a.) US banks would _________________________________________________________________ to
____________________________________________________________________________________
b.) _______________________________________________________ would ____________________
________________________________________________________________________ from Germany
c.) Britain and France __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
 Major world powers were in an arms race
(Disarmament)
4.) _________________________________________________________________________________________
a.) US invited ________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Britain, France, Italy, China, Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal

Secretary of State – Charles Evans Hughes
o Proposed a 10 year moratorium on building new warships
o Made a list of warships to be destroyed (including some US ships)
5.) _______________________________________________________________________________ – see p. 366
a.) _________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
b.) ________________________________________________________ on building _______________
____________________________________________________________________________________
c.) US and Britain agreed to _____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Didn’t limit land forces

Japan was upset because they were required to maintain a smaller navy than Britain or the US
6.) _________________________________________________________________________________________

US Secretary of State = Frank Kellogg

French Foreign Minister = Aristide Briand
a.) _________________________________________________________________________________
b.) _________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
 Was not legally binding
Page #3
2010-2011