The Politics of Normalcy
Did the Republican Era of the
1920s bring peace and prosperity
to all Americans?
The Politics of Normalcy
• Americans want
peace and quiet
• Harding campaigns
on promise to bring
America back to
normalcy
• Life like it was in
prewar America
• Less government in
business; more
business in
government
Harding Cuts Taxes and Spending
• Small town
• Free enterprise;
private ownership;
supply and demand
• Fiscal policy; repeal
taxes; reduce federal
spending
• Prices and
unemployment drop
Tempest in a Teapot
• The Ohio Gang
• Albert Fall; senator
turned Sec. of Interior
• Controls oil reserves
in Elk Hills and
Teapot Dome
• Leases them to
companies giving him
$360,000 in bribes
Coolidge Promotes Business
• August 2, 1923
Harding dies
• August 3, 1923 VP
Coolidge becomes
president
• Silent Cal promotes
business
• Reduces corporate,
income, inheritance
taxes
Republicans Turn to Hoover
• American
Individualism
• After the war, sets up
programs to feed
hungry in Europe
• Promotes business
• Associationalism
brings business and
government leaders
together
Era of Isolationism
• Strongest against
Europe
• Ignore the League
• Washington Naval
Conference for
disarmament
• 1928 Kellogg-Briand
Pact
• Dawes Plan
Washington Disarmament
Conference (1921-1922)
5 Long-standing Anglo-Japanese alliance (1902) obligated
Britain to aid Japan in the event of a Japanese war with the
United States.
5 Goals: Naval disarmament and the political situation in the
Far East.
Five-Power Treaty (1922)
5 A battleship ratio was achieved through this ratio:
US
5
Britain
5
Japan
3
France
1.67
Italy
1.67
5 Japan got a guarantee that the US and Britain would
stop fortifying their Far East territories [including the
Philippines].
5 Loophole: no restrictions on small warships.
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
5 15 nations dedicated to outlawing aggression and war
as tools of foreign policy.
5 62 nations signed.
5 Problems: No means of actual enforcement and gave
Americans a false sense of security.
Dawes Plan (1924)
Republican Boom Years
• Henry Ford; leads to
expansion in steel,
rubber, oil industries;
creates new service
industries; Airplanes
• Consolidation; holding
companies; Dow
Jones
• Ponzi Schemes;
Florida Land Boom;
speculators