Chapter 33

Harding: unable to detect liars, very soft “So kindly was his nature that he would brush off ants rather than crush them”(728 Cohen) “hated to hurt people’s feelings especially his friends, by saying no”(728 Cohen) charming Mediocre mind Coolidge: “Silent Cal” very shy sympathetic gave boring speeches honest cautious Hoover: hard-working, determined, shy, stiff, integrity, humanitarian, talented in administrating, passionate for assembling facts. Common: Harding and Coolidge prone to raising tariffs Conservatives less government involvement They all embraced laissez-faire policies which led to their political success

Background: World War 1 had just ended in 1918. Then came the roaring twenties, people started buying cars, partying, and everything changed and then soon after came the great depression. Topic 1: Why the economy wasn’t healthy. Topic 2: Why the weakness weren’t addressed Thesis: There were many evidence as to why the economy wasn’t healthy as many people thought it was. Topic 1: Why the economy wasn’t healthy. -People trusted business would bring prosperity. -The U.S did not want Europe to flood the U.S with cheap goods so the U.S would raise its tariffs ex. Fordney-McCumber Tariff Law(1922) raised tariff from 27 to 35% this created problems for both Europe and the U.S -Another tariff was the Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930 it raised the tariff to 60%.-Farms over produced. -Money was being invested in factories and not salaries so products were not consumed or bought .-Stock market crashed on October 29, 1929, millions of people lost their jobs, banks closed, and the nation suffered a severe setback.Topic 2: Why the weakness weren’t addressed The weaknesses were not addressed because people believed that business would help the economy prosper.

Washington Conference: no restrictions had been placed on small warships , other nations constructed cruisers, destroyers, and submarines while the U.S fell behind. Congress declared that they were not going to make a commitment to the use of armed force or any kind of joint action when it ratified the Four-Power Treaty.The American people seemed more happy to rely for their security on words and wishful thinking rather than weapons. Kellogg-Briand Pact : Defensive wars were permitted but anyone could come up for an excuse of self-defense.It was ultimately ratified by sixty-two nations. It was useless in a showdown. This pact showed the mind of the American people during the 1920s, which was all too easy to be deceived into believing a false sense of security. Stimson Doctrine : failed because violence continued which led to world war

Thesis: Harding was unable to detect liars and “unable to detect moral halitosis in his evil associates” (728 Cohen), and he hated hurting people’s feelings especially his friends, by saying no, so “political leeches capitalized on this weakness” (728 Cohen). After the war people were afraid that Europe would dump their goods on the U.S so people went out of their ways to gain financial security Charles R. Forbes-was caught stealing 200 million from the gov. which was connected with the building of veteran’s hospitals; he was sentenced to two years in federal penitentiary. Teapot Dome Scandal – involved naval oil reserves, the secretary of interior Albert B. Fall convinced the secretary of the navy to transfer these valuable properties to the Interior Department. Harding then signed the secret order. Fall then leased the lands to Oilmen Harry F. Sinclair and Edward L. Doheny but not until he had received a bribe of $100,000. This was leaked to the public. Citizens began to wonder what was going on when public officials could sell out the nations vital resources

Thesis: After ww1 France and Britain demanded reparations from Germany. Germany did not have the money to pay them back, which is when the U.S established tariff polices and soon later came the great depression. Tariffs(McCumber Tariff Law 1922, Hawley-Smoot tariff 1930) were raised in order to stop Europe from dumping their goods on the U.S The U.S adopted the Dawes Plan of 1924 in order to help Germany repay Britain and France so they would pay the U.S back but the U.S was never paid back Because the tariffs affected trade with Europe the economy was hurt and with the U.S loaning money and not getting it back hurt the economy more which led to the Great Depression.

Thesis: When the Great Depression hit, president hoover was faced with a challenge of tackling it. He established the ; Hoover Dam, R.F.C, and more to try to get out of the depression. Let the gov. give money to railroads, banks, and credit corporations Hoover Dam on Colorado river was built man-made lake purpose for irrigation, flood control, and electric power Established Reconstruction Finance Corporation(RFC) designed to provide indirect relief by assisting insurance companies ,banks, agricultural organizations, railroads , and state and local gov. He also indirectly helped labor with Norris-La Guardia Anti-Injunction Act in 1932 it outlawed anti union contracts and fording federal courts to issue injunctions to restrain strikes , boycotts, and peaceful picketing He should have aided the people directly but since he believed prosperity would trickle down he did not. He slowly began providing assistance to citizens which opened the door for the New Deal policy which FDR would take much further.