American Political Figures of the 1920's

Woodrow Wilson, 28th US President

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the twenty-eighth President of the United States (1856-1924). A devout Presbyterian, and leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University and then became the Governor of New Jersey in 1910. With Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft dividing the Republican Party vote, Wilson was elected President as a Democrat in 1912. He proved highly successful in leading a Democratic Congress to pass major legislation that included the Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Underwood Tariff, the Federal Farm Loan Act and most notably the Federal Reserve System.
Warren G. Harding, 29th US President

Warren Gamaliel Harding was an American politician, and the twenty-ninth President of the United States, serving from 1921 to 1923, his term ending as he died from a heart attack at age 57. A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate (1899–1903) and later as Lieutenant Governor of Ohio (1903–1905) and as a U.S. Senator (1915–1921).

Calvin Coolidge, 30th US President

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923–1929). A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
Herbert Hoover, 31st US President

Herbert Clark Hoover, the 31st President of the United States (1929-1933), was a world-famous mining engineer and humanitarian administrator before turning to political administration. A Republican, he defeated Democrat Alfred E. Smith in the presidential election of 1928. The stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression overwhelmed his presidency. In spite of a wide variety of successful reforms, Hoover was held accountable for the dire economic situation and was badly defeated in his bid for a second term by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt.





The threat of Communism, Fascism, and Socialism.
The period between the 2 world wars was characterized by world-wide tensions and saw the rise of mass movements such as communism, fascism, and national socialism.

Political Events of 1920 - The Palmer raids, the Red Scare, a drive to rid the country of "reds," begin under the auspices of the U.S. Dept. of Justice. On January 3, the New York Times reports that 650 are arrested.

League of Nations first council in Paris. President Wilson formally convoked the Council in accordance with the League provision for the summoning of the first Assembly by the President of the United States. It was to be the last official participation by the U.S. in the entire history of the League of Nations.

The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect, prohibiting the making, selling, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Prohibition, the most flouted law in history was repealed in 1933 .

The American Socialist Party nominates Eugene V. Debs for president, and he is the first candidate to mount a campaign from jail. Beginning in September he is permitted to issue weekly public statements that are then circulated by the party. He runs on the slogan, "From the Prison to the White House,"andpolls3.5percentofthevote.

U.S. POLITICS - Following the end of World War I and the freedom from the war-time economy and lifestyle, U.S. politicians focused on the social and cultural issues of the day.

People wanted an end to labor problems and racial strife, less immigration, conservative politics, a return to Christian values, and less government interference in their lives.

By the 1920s, many Americans had grown tired of war and constant attempts at reform, including numerous attempts to pass moral legislation. Many people longed for a simpler way of life. Warren G. Harding's policy of a "return to normalcy" was an attempt to capitalize on this populist feeling.



1920 U.S. ELECTION - The U.S. presidential election of 1920 was dominated by the aftermath of World War I. The wartime boom had collapsed. Diplomats and politicians were arguing over peace treaties and the question of America's entry into the League of Nations. Overseas there were wars and revolutions; at home there were strikes, riots, and a growing fear of radicals and terrorists. Disillusionment was in the air.

On June 8, 1920, the Republican National Convention meeting in Chicago nominated Warren G. Harding, an Ohio newspaper editor and United States Senator, to run for president with Calvin Coolidge, governor of Massachusetts, as his running mate.


The Democrats, meeting in San Francisco, nominated another newspaper editor from Ohio, Governor James M. Cox, as their presidential candidate, and 37 year-old Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, a fifth cousin of the late president Teddy Roosevelt, for vice president.

The presidential election of 1920 continued the debate between the nationalistic activism of Roosevelt's presidency and the global idealism of Wilson's administration. Harding, the winner, inherited major domestic and international problems that tested his leadership.

1924 U.S. ELECTION - The U.S. presidential election of 1924 was won by incumbent President Calvin Coolidge in a landslide as he presided over a booming economy at home and no visible crises abroad. Coolidge (Republican) won the election in a landslide, with Davis (Democrat) only winning the 11 former Confederate states and Oklahoma, and losing the popular vote by 25 percentage points. The Republicans did so well that they won in New York City, a feat that has not been repeated since.

1928 U.S. ELECTION - The U.S. presidential election of 1928 pitted Republican Herbert Hoover against Democrat Alfred E. Smith. The Republicans were identified with the booming economy of the 1920s and Smith, a Roman Catholic, suffered politically from anti-Catholic prejudice.

The election held on November 6, 1928 was won by Republican candidate Herbert Hoover by a wide margin on pledges to continue the economic boom of the Coolidge years.