History - Republican Politics

Republican Politics:Harding, Coolidge, and HooverWarren G. HardingTwenty-Ninth President (1921-1923)Born: November 2, 1865 Did not approve of the League of NationsWon election with 60% of the national vote.Successfully cut taxes and designed budgetScandelous administration and ineffective governor Died: August 2, 1923 Calvin CoolidgeThirtieth President (1923-1929)Born: July 4, 1872 Became President when Warren G. Harding diedIsolationist foreign policyFavored tax cuts and limited aid to farmers Died: January 5, 1933 Herbert Clark HooverHerbert Hoover was born in West Branch, Iowa in 1874. He was a member of the inaugural class at Stanford University where he studied geology.Hoover’s wife, the former Lou Henry, was athletic and brilliant. She was the first woman to graduate from Stanford and met Herbert in the geology lab. Lou Hoover spoke five languages, assisted her husband in his geology and engineering work, often translating his articles and books. She was a world traveler and often assisted her husband in the cultural necessities for international business. Hoovers’ Mining CareerHerbert made a specialty of turning around struggling operations with organization and technology His wife helped translate his work and bridge the cultural gaps in foreign nations. Their work made them wealthy.They were forced to flee China for a time during the Boxer Rebellion, an insurrection aimed at purging the nation of western influence. While in London, at the outbreak of the First World War, the Hoovers organized an impromptu organization to evacuate expatriated and vacationing Americans from Europe. BelgiumDuring WWI, Germany invaded Belgium on the way France. Britain and France placed a blockade on the Central Powers which kept them from importing food. Germany no longer had enough food for its own population, let alone occupied countries such as Belgium.Hoover, living in London, organized his entire mining firm as a relief operation for Belgium. Hoover negotiated with the Allied nations to allow the relief ships through the blockade and negotiated with the Germans to not attack the ships with submarines. “Hooverizing”Woodrow Wilson placed Hoover in charge of agricultural production for the American war effort. Hoover was immediately successful.In addition to rationalizing the American production system, Hoover convinced Americans that it was patriotic to go without in war time. Cutting back became known as “Hooverizing,” rationing was one way that World War I affected people on the home front. Seeking to manage domestic consumption in order to feed the U.S. Army and to assist Allied armies and civilians., the U.S. Food Administration declared “Food Will Win the War.”“They will be fed!”Following the war, Hoover turned the United States Food Administration into a relief organization for the devastated populations, including the defeated Central Powers, in Europe. American aid fed two million people per day in Poland alone. When a critic accused Hoover of helping the Bolsheviks by providing food aid to the Soviet Union, Hoover responded in the following speech, “Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they will be fed.”Secretary of CommerceWith Hoover was invited to serve in the cabinet as Secretary of Commerce of Republican President Warren G. Harding. While many members of the Harding cabinet were implicated in controversies and scandals, Hoover remained unscathed and, thus, retained his post under Calvin Coolidge.By the 1920’s the American economy was transformed, industry and commerce, rather than agriculture, now provided the backbone of the American economy. As Commerce Secretary, Hoover was in the middle of the economic transformation, leading to the impression, that Herbert Hoover was everywhere. Prohibition of Intoxication LiquorsThe Eighteenth Amendment was passed in 1919. This Amendment started prohibition in the United States that lasted through the 1920s and was a major issue throughout the entire decade. It was supposed to decrease criminal activity but normally law abiding citizens were breaking the law by making, drinking or selling alcohol. The Volstead Act The 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919 and took effect in 1920. The Volstead Act clarified the new rules surrounding prohibition. President Wilson vetoed the Volstead Act on constitutional grounds. His veto was overridden by Congress. Special stamps were required for medicinal liquors under the Volstead Act."A Noble Experiment" The sale, transport, and consumption of intoxicating beverages became illegal.Many law-abiding Americans defied the regulations.The black market for alcohol was a boon for organized crime.Detroit police discover a clandestine still Multimedia CitationsSlide 2: http://www.historylink.org/db_images/Harding.JPGSlide 3: http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/docs-pix/coolidge.jpgSlide 4: http://www.ecommcode2.com/hoover/research/photos/1930-63.html Slide 5: http://www.ecommcode2.com/hoover/research/photos/images/1900-8.gif Add Another FileSlide 6: http://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/collections/flour%20sacks/images/1941-A68A.jpgSlide 7: http://www.ecommcode.com/hoover/hooveronline/hoover_bio/archive/food/conserve.htmSlide 8: http://www.ecommcode2.com/hoover/research/photos/images/1921-11.gif Slide 9: Joan Hoff Wilson, "Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive." Waveland Press, 1975. Slide 10: http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/photos/html/1145.htmlSlide 11: http://www.bottlebooks.com/american%20medicinal%20spirits%20company/prescription.JPGSlide 12: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4062605