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 * How did presidents' policies of the 1920s contribute or take away from the American society?**

Doc. A Speech on the Occasion of the one Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by Calvin Coolidge (July 5, 1926, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

We are too prone to overlook another conclusion. Governments do not make ideals, but ideals make governments. This is both historically and logically true. Of course the government can help to sustain ideals and can create institutions through which they can be the better observed, but their source by their very nature is in the people. The people have to bear their own responsibilities. There is no method by which that burden can be shifted to the government. It is not the enactment, but the observance of laws, that creates the character of a nation.

Doc. B Assembly Line of Model T by Ford Doc. C Political Cartoon of Coolidge (http://z.about.com/d/dc/1/0/r/X/GolfingSeason.jpg) Doc. D. "A Look at the Harding-Coolidge Tax Cut" Statistic (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/images/32672443.gif)

Doc E: An excerpt from Harding's inauguration speech from 1921

I am sure our own people will not misunderstand, nor will the world misconstrue. We have no thought to impede the paths to closer relationship. We wish to promote understanding. We want to do our part in making offensive warfare so hateful that Governments and peoples who resort to it must prove the righteousness of their cause or stand as outlaws before the bar of civilization. We are ready to associate ourselves with the nations of the world, great and small, for conference, for counsel; to seek the expressed views of world opinion; to recommend a way to approximate disarmament and relieve the crushing burdens of military and naval establishments. We elect to participate in suggesting plans for mediation, conciliation, and arbitration, and would gladly join in that expressed conscience of progress, which seeks to clarify and write the laws of international relationship, and establish a world court for the disposition of such justifiable questions as nations are agreed to submit thereto.

Document F: "William Allen White Calls Harding Fair" An excerpt from an article by William Allen White. New York Times 1922.

Harding is not a tool of Wall Street. Wall Street has little standing in the President's cosmos, and this is true, despicable mistakes of Secretary Fall, the nonsense uttered by Secretary Weeks and the outrageous conduct of Attorney General Daugherty. The President is a country town man with the country town's distrust or Wall Street, mingled strongly with his respect for it.

He let the coal miners win their strike, and when the railroaders had lost their strike The administration foolishly gave it a most unnecessary kick with the Daugherty injunction. But Harding's fair proposals- rejected at different times by both sides- indicate the fairness of his mind.

So there he stands, our ruler for two years and five months more.

Document G: Source: --From Herbert Hoover’s “America Has Not Yet Reached Its Zenith” speech.

“If these measures, these promises, which I have discussed; or these failures to disavow these projects; this attitude of mind, mean anything, they mean the growth of the bureaucracy such as we have never seen in our history. No man who has not occupied my position in Washington can fully realize the constant battle which must be carried on against incompetence, corruption, tyranny of government expanded into business activities. If we first examine the effect of our form of government of such a program, we come at once to the effect of the most gigantic increase in expenditure ever known in history. That alone would break down the savings, the wages, the responsibilities of the Federal Government from the states, the local governments, and the individuals. But that is not all; they would break down our form of government. Our legislative bodies cannot delegate their authority to any dictator.”

Document H: Inaugural Address (March 04, 1929) Hoover ENFORCEMENT OF THE EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT

Of the undoubted abuses which have grown up under the eighteenth amendment, part are due to the causes I have just mentioned; but part are due to the failure of some States to accept their share of responsibility for concurrent enforcement and to the failure of many State and local officials to accept the obligation under their oath of office zealously to enforce the laws. With the failures from these many causes has come a dangerous expansion in the criminal elements who have found enlarged opportunities in dealing in illegal liquor. But a large responsibility rests directly upon our citizens. There would be little traffic in illegal liquor if only criminals patronized it. We must awake to the fact that this patronage from large numbers of law-abiding citizens is supplying the rewards and stimulating crime.

I have been selected by you to execute and enforce the laws of the country. I propose to do so to the extent of my own abilities, but the measure of success that the Government shall attain will depend upon the moral support which you, as citizens, extend. The duty of citizens to support the laws of the land is coequal with the duty of their Government to enforce the laws which exist. No greater national service can be given by men and women of good will--who, I know, are not unmindful of the responsibilities of citizenship--than that they should, by their example, assist in stamping out crime and outlawry by refusing participation in and condemning all transactions with illegal liquor. Our whole system of self-government will crumble either if officials elect what laws they will enforce or citizens elect what laws they will support. The worst evil of disregard for some law is that it destroys respect for all law. For our citizens to patronize the violation of a particular law on the ground that they are opposed to it is destructive of the very basis of all that protection of life, of homes and property which they rightly claim under other laws. If citizens do not like a law, their duty as honest men and women is to discourage its violation; their right is openly to work for its repeal.

To those of criminal mind there can be no appeal but vigorous enforcement of the law. Fortunately they are but a small percentage of our people. Their activities must be stopped.

A NATIONAL INVESTIGATION

I propose to appoint a national commission for a searching investigation of the whole structure of our Federal system of jurisprudence, to include the method of enforcement of the eighteenth amendment and the causes of abuse under it. Its purpose will be to make such recommendations for reorganization of the administration of Federal laws and court procedure as may be found desirable. In the meantime it is essential that a large part of the enforcement activities be transferred from the Treasury Department to the Department of Justice as a beginning of more effective organization.

THE RELATION OF GOVERNMENT TO BUSINESS

The election has again confirmed the determination of the American people that regulation of private enterprise and not Government ownership or operation is the course rightly to be pursued in our relation to business. In recent years we have established a differentiation in the whole method of business regulation between the industries which produce and distribute commodities on the one hand and public utilities on the other. In the former, our laws insist upon effective competition; in the latter, because we substantially confer a monopoly by limiting competition, we must regulate their services and rates. The rigid enforcement of the laws applicable to both groups is the very base of equal opportunity and freedom from domination for all our people, and it is just as essential for the stability and prosperity of business itself as for the protection of the public at large. Such regulation should be extended by the Federal Government within the limitations of the Constitution and only when the individual States are without power to protect their citizens through their own authority. On the other hand, we should be fearless when the authority rests only in the Federal Government.

COOPERATION BY THE GOVERNMENT

The larger purpose of our economic thought should be to establish more firmly stability and security of business and employment and thereby remove poverty still further from our borders. Our people have in recent years developed a new-found capacity for cooperation among themselves to effect high purposes in public welfare. It is an advance toward the highest conception of self- government. Self-government does not and should not imply the use of political agencies alone. Progress is born of cooperation in the community--not from governmental restraints. The Government should assist and encourage these movements of collective self- help by itself cooperating with them. Business has by cooperation made great progress in the advancement of service, in stability, in regularity of employment and in the correction of its own abuses. Such progress, however, can continue only so long as business manifests its respect for law.

There is an equally important field of cooperation by the Federal Government with the multitude of agencies, State, municipal and private, in the systematic development of those processes which directly affect public health, recreation, education, and the home. We have need further to perfect the means by which Government can be adapted to human service.

Document I:

3 December 1929
To the Senate and House of Representatives: The Constitution requires that the President "shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." In complying with that requirement I wish to emphasize that during the past year the Nation has continued to grow in strength; our people have advanced in comfort; we have gained in knowledge; the education of youth has been more widely spread; moral and spiritual forces have been maintained; peace has become more assured. The problems with which we are confronted are the problems of growth and of progress. In their solution we have to determine the facts, to develop the relative importance to be assigned to such facts, to formulate a common judgment upon them, and to realize solutions in spirit of conciliation.

GENERAL ECONOMIC SITUATION

The country has enjoyed a large degree of prosperity and sound progress during the past year with a steady improvement in methods of production and distribution and consequent advancement in standards of living. Progress has, of course, been unequal among industries, and some, such as coal, lumber, leather, and textiles, still lag behind. The long upward trend of fundamental progress, however, gave rise to over-optimism as to profits, which translated itself into a wave of uncontrolled speculation in securities, resulting in the diversion of capital from business to the stock market and the inevitable crash. The natural consequences have been a reduction in the consumption of luxuries and semi-necessities by those who have met with losses, and a number of persons thrown temporarily out of employment. Prices of agricultural products dealt in upon the great markets have been affected in sympathy with the stock crash.

Fortunately, the Federal reserve system had taken measures to strengthen the position against the day when speculation would break, which together with the strong position of the banks has carried the whole credit system through the crisis without impairment. The capital which has been hitherto absorbed in stock-market loans for speculative purposes is now returning to the normal channels of business. There has been no inflation in the prices of commodities; there has been no undue accumulation of goods, and foreign trade has expanded to a magnitude which exerts a steadying influence upon activity in industry and employment.

The sudden threat of unemployment and especially the recollection of the economic consequences of previous crashes under a much less secured financial system created unwarranted pessimism and fear. It was recalled that past storms of similar character had resulted in retrenchment of construction, reduction of wages, and laying off of workers. The natural result was the tendency of business agencies throughout the country to pause in their plans and proposals for continuation and extension of their businesses, and this hesitation unchecked could in itself intensify into a depression with widespread unemployment and suffering.

I have, therefore, instituted systematic, voluntary measures of cooperation with the business institutions and with State and municipal authorities to make certain that fundamental businesses of the country shall continue as usual, that wages and therefore consuming power shall not be reduced, and that a special effort shall be made to expand construction work in order to assist in equalizing other deficits in employment. Due to the enlarged sense of cooperation and responsibility which has grown in the business world during the past few years the response has been remarkable and satisfactory. We have canvassed the Federal Government and instituted measures of prudent expansion in such work that should be helpful, and upon which the different departments will make some early recommendations to Congress. I am convinced that through these measures we have reestablished confidence. Wages should remain stable. A very large degree of industrial unemployment and suffering which would otherwise have occurred has been prevented. Agricultural prices have reflected the returning confidence. The measures taken must be vigorously pursued until normal conditions are restored.

Document J:

Edward Cho

How did presidents' policies of the 1920s contribute or take away from the American society?

American society was facing a boom: a mass production, higher standard of living, advances in technology, and many more. However, this economical boom wasn’t the end of it; Social modifications within American society came along during the 1920s as well. Although it is true that the individuals or the citizens have conquered the path leading to the changes in American society, government and by the presidents such as Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover with their favorable policies toward America have actually and inevitably contributed to these booms in American societies.

In economical field, as shown in Document B, many factories began to form the “assembly line” in order to produce in massive amount and to provide to many customers who were willing to buy these products such as the Model T and radios. Also as shown in Document D by Harding-Coolidge Tax cut, the unemployment rate had gone down by 3.4%, the GDP growth had risen by 1.4%, and Federal Revenue Growth had increased by 9.3%. Addition to this in Document H, states “In the former, our laws insist upon effective competition; in the latter, because we substantially confer a monopoly by limiting competition, we must regulate their services and rates. The rigid enforcement of the laws applicable to both groups is the very base of equal opportunity and freedom from domination for all our people, and it is just as essential for the stability and prosperity of business itself as for the protection of the public at large. Such regulation should be extended by the Federal Government within the limitations of the Constitution and only when the individual States are without power to protect their citizens through their own authority. On the other hand, we should be fearless when the authority rests only in the Federal Government.” These phrases clearly show that the government intervention must be done but explains why this intervention helps the American society and business. Lastly, from Document F by William Allen, it says that “He let the coal miners win their strike, and when the railroaders had lost their strike The administration foolishly gave it a most unnecessary kick with the Daugherty injunction. But Harding's fair proposals- rejected at different times by both sides- indicate the fairness of his mind.” It wasn’t just disturbance, but through the intervention which the presidents enforced upon the business of America had ultimately made the general growth and increase in standard of living in America as well.

In the social field, the government also enforces the changes. As shown in Document H, the Inaugural speech by president Hoover, it states that “I propose to do so to the extent of my own abilities, but the measure of success that the Government shall attain will depend upon the moral support which you, as citizens, extend.” This phrase means that although he will force laws to forbid immoral things such as illegal liquor, the large portion of this responsibility lies within the citizens. At the end of Document H, Hoover mentions that “State, municipal and private, in the systematic development of those processes which directly affect public health, recreation, education, and the home. We have need further to perfect the means by which Government can be adapted to human service” saying it is the government’s duty to change the American society to a better place.

Throughout the1920s, America had changed drastically by the government intervention. Mainly, it was the business and economical refinement that was led by the policies and laws from the presidents. Also social changes were made following presidents’ policies toward American society.

Thesis: Very vague. From reading the first paragraph, we don't know if you know anything about the subject at all. 3

Facts: Most of the facts come within the documents. More outside knowledge would be appreciated. 4

Analysis: This essay lacks analysis, and does not differentiate between the different presidents. 3

youngha ---

Politics during the 1920s are often overlooked by the Roaring Twenties and the overall prosperity in the United States. Due to disagreements between the Democrats, the White House inthe 1920s was dominated by Republicans for three consecutive terms. Though they were part of the same political party, it should be noted that both Presidents Harding and Hoover had different policies towards the country they governed.

Many Americans saw hope in an America presided by a president that would bring the country back to normalcy from World War I. . In his inauguration speech, he promised his people the practice of isolationism [Document E] and commitment to global disarmament. The president believed that a small government would be in the best interest of the country. That is perhaps why he decided to cut taxes, and not surprisingly the public saw a rise in gross development product and a drop in unemployment. [Document D] It was under this thriving economy that assembly lines were used in many factories to boost production rates. [Document B] President Harding definitely had the vision of a bringing wealth to his people through limitations of presidential powers.

President Hoover stepped into office with the daunting task of coping with the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Instead of intervening during times of such ordeals, the president saw government intervention as futile. Rather, Hoover believed in the need for volunteerism, which would soon bring back prosperity. In other words, the economy would repair itself through an hands off approach. [Document G] He saw no need for the government to deal with private enterprises, but rather left it up to the citizens to create competition. [Document H] He saw prosperity and confidence where there were none. [Document I] It was only a matter of time, however, before the president soon saw his country facing high unemployment rates, and of course many people living in impoverished Hoovervilles.

Both presidents seemed to have favored a bit of a laissez faire approach for the United States, but reached different heights with their seemingly different policies. President Harding brought prosperity to the country while Hoover left his country in great trouble. It was only later the Republicans' power in Congress would come to a halt with World War II.

T: Again, this is an extremely vague thesis. Please elaborate how they were different. 3

F: All you do is list the documents. Please put them in context or hint that you have outside knowledge if that in fact is the case. 4

A: Almost every sentence is spent talking about what the documents are, and not how they relate to the thesis. Analysis? What analysis? Answer so what? 2