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Section 1
-Was a senator from Ohio -Didn’t necessarily want to run for president -Wife did, though -Campaigned from his front porch -Promised “return to normalcy” -Get back to the “good old days” before WWI -Goals: -Lower taxes and higher tariffs -Reduce debt (created surplus in 1921) -Less govt in business and more business in govt -Very “pro-business” -Presidency riddled with scandals -Ohio GangàFriends that followed Harding to DC -Used their connections to make money -Sec. of Interior (Al Fall) took bribes to allow oil companies to drill on federal land -Teapot Dome, Wyoming -Harding got out of Washington to avoid the heat -Aug. 2, 1923àSuffers stroke and dies
Calvin Coolidge-VP under Harding -Tried to limit damage of scandals -Ran for president in 1924 -Democrats still divided on whom to support -Progressives had a candidate -Coolidge wins by a landslide -No-nonsense, stern, unemotional, frugal -Americans found him reassuring -Staunch conservative -“The business of America is business” -Same philosophy as Harding -“Laissez faire” (govt does not interfere with the economy) -Govt should NOT deal with social/economic issues -Isolationist -US should stay out of other countries affairs
Technology Changes America -Economy of the 1920s was booming -“Roaring Twenties” -Average income increased 35% ($522 to $716) -GNP (total value of all goods and services produced and sold in the US) went from $70b to $100b in 7 years -1913àHenry Ford -Automobile ownership tripled in the 1920s -Glass, steel, rubber companies profited -Installment buyingàbuying on credit
Changes in Work-Little skill was needed to work on assembly lineàvery boring -Ford reduced workday to 8 hours/day, 5 days/week -Doubled salary to $5/day -Increase in white-collar jobs (40%) -Needed high school diploma (no immigrants) -Housework -Electrical appliances took over work of servants -Women drove to stores Cars, Cars, Cars-Transportation system was overhauled -No more horse-drawn vehicles -400K miles of new roads -Gas stations, restaurants, billboards -Rural folk had greater mobility -People moved out of cities and into suburbs -“Sunday drives” -Traffic jams, pollution, parking problems
Cheating Consumers-Advertising was a big business in the 1920s -Spending on advertising increased by 600% -Played on the minds of women -“Your own child may fall victim to malnutrition if you don’t feed them our milk” -Planned obsolescence -Forcing something to go out of style -“Keeping up with the Joneses” -Jingles and slogans were popular -Grocery store chains -A&P (Increased 500% in 3 years) -Buy on credit became huge -Leads to the fall of economy
The Air Age -1918àPost Office used planes for mail service -1927àCharles Lindbergh -1928àAmelia Earhart -1927àPan American Airways founded
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