The Post Progressive presidencies defined themselves visa-vie their progressive predecessors. Their domestic policies ranged from laissez faire to massive governmental action. Their foreign policies had to contend with an isolationist populace. The first of the group was elected to return America to normalcy. Voters had enough of foreign adventures and enough government involvement in the economy and the country. The second group had to deal with the Great Depression.
Like Barack Obama, Warren Harding went from little known senator without any accomplishments straight to the White House. Like Obama, he was charismatic, good looking, and was surrounded by corrupt party hacks. Unlike Obama, Harding knew he was not very competent. He hoped to be a well-liked president as opposed to a great president.
The Harding Administration is best known for scandal. His attorney general resigned after taking bribes, he fathered a child out of wedlock, and smuggled another mistress out of the country before the 1920 election. It was a lot like the Clinton years some 70 years later. The biggest scandal broke after Harding died. The Teapot Dome scandal was one of the worst in U.S. history. The Secretary of the Interior took bribes from an oil company. In return, the company could drill oil land set aside for the Navy. Luckily for Harding, he died before the scandal broke. His historical reputation did not survive. Like Bill Clinton, Warren Harding will be remembered for scandal and womanizing.
Harding’s vice-president, Calvin Coolidge, restored public confidence in government. He cleaned up Harding’s mess. He then moved to fix the economy which was in a funk since World War I. Coolidge cut taxes and created an environment amiable to growth. Coolidge’s legacy was the Roaring 20s. During his tenure, the economy grew at a breath taking pace. People’s lives became easier, money flowed, and culture flourished. This was the Jazz Age. A spirit of modernity prevailed. Coolidge decided not to run for re-election in 1928. The country was in seemingly good shape.
Showing posts with label Warren Harding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warren Harding. Show all posts
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Worst Inaugural Addresses
Here is a list of the five worst Presidential Inaugural Addresses. They are arranged chronologically.
1. Thomas Jefferson (1805): Jefferson breaks into a tirade during his inaugural. He attempts to justify his policies and accomplishments and then attacks his critics and calls them ignorant. And people thought Nixon's 1962 farewell speech was bitter.
2. John Quincy Adams (1825): Adams was slow to recognize the revolutionary changes overtaking American politics in the 1820s. However, he did recognize his precarious situation after the contested Election of 1824. His address was long, rambling, and boring. He felt the need to mention the aqueducts of Rome. At the end, he admits he is a handicapped president and might not be able to get much done.
3. William Henry Harrison (1841): Harrison's address was so long, he caught a cold, which turned to pneumonia. He died a month into office. His speech was so bad, it killed him.
4. James Buchanan (1857): The word clueless comes to mind with Buchanan. The country was on the eve of Civil War, but Buchanan did not seem to understand this. The Kansas situation had created a war within the territory. Buchanan claimed sectional differences were of no importance. He then rambles on and on and on...
5. Warren Harding (1921): Another long and rambling speech. The first Bill Clinton gave one of the worst addresses ever. Reading the speech is something akin to watching paint dry. No, that is unfair to paint.
1. Thomas Jefferson (1805): Jefferson breaks into a tirade during his inaugural. He attempts to justify his policies and accomplishments and then attacks his critics and calls them ignorant. And people thought Nixon's 1962 farewell speech was bitter.
2. John Quincy Adams (1825): Adams was slow to recognize the revolutionary changes overtaking American politics in the 1820s. However, he did recognize his precarious situation after the contested Election of 1824. His address was long, rambling, and boring. He felt the need to mention the aqueducts of Rome. At the end, he admits he is a handicapped president and might not be able to get much done.
3. William Henry Harrison (1841): Harrison's address was so long, he caught a cold, which turned to pneumonia. He died a month into office. His speech was so bad, it killed him.
4. James Buchanan (1857): The word clueless comes to mind with Buchanan. The country was on the eve of Civil War, but Buchanan did not seem to understand this. The Kansas situation had created a war within the territory. Buchanan claimed sectional differences were of no importance. He then rambles on and on and on...
5. Warren Harding (1921): Another long and rambling speech. The first Bill Clinton gave one of the worst addresses ever. Reading the speech is something akin to watching paint dry. No, that is unfair to paint.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The Failures
Here is the final installment on the presidents. This final list includes the seven presidential failures including the reason for their inclusion on the list. They are ordered chronologically.
1. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857): Pierce got run down and pushed around by Stephen Douglas when leadership was needed most. He supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act which led to a civil war within the state of Kansas. He could not deal with that crisis and was denied renomination. Kansas-Nebraska helped lead to the Civil War. Pierce retired to a life of alcoholism.
2. James Buchanan (1857-1861): Buchanan was the worst of them all. He was unrepentantly pro-Southern. Buchanan pushed for the Dred Scott decision, the Lecompton Constitution in Kansas, and even thought about attacking the Mormons in Utah to unite the country. When South Carolina left the Union, he did nothing.
3. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869): Johnson did everything he could to block Reconstruction. He did nothing to help the freedmen in the South. Eventually, he was impeached, but acquitted. Johnson would later become Senator from Tennessee.
4. Warren Harding (1921-1923): The first Clinton Administration. Harding's Administration was rife with scandal and devoid of achievements. The Teapot Dome scandal is still one of the greatest scandals in history. On the plus side, he did work for arms limitation and supported Blacks in the South.
5. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933): The Great Depression was not his fault. It struck in his seventh month in office. However, Hoover could not solve the country's woes. Ironically, he was the best man for the job having worked on European relief during World War I. Hoover raised taxes and tariffs which made things worse. Hoover did try an unprecedented governmental aid program, but most people do not know this because FDR's New Deal dwarfed it. (FDR did not end the Depression either). The government has never fixed an economic downturn. In 1932, a group of World War I vets marched on Washington asking for their war bonus early. The army rolled in the tanks. It was an American Tiananmen Square and an exclamation mark on the Hoover years.
6. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981): No man has ever been less qualified for office (unless Obama wins in 2008). Carter's policies made an economic slowdown worse and led to the misery index (inflation rate + unemployment rate= Misery Index). While in office, Iran took 52 Americans hostage and Carter looked weak and incompetent. On top of this, gas prices went through the roof as did unemployment and inflation. People have been saying the economy today is the worst since the Depression. This is wrong. It is the worst since Jimmy Carter. On top of this, Carter had a super majority in the Congress. He refused to work with them even when Tip O'Neill promised to help pass anything Carter wanted. Carter was defeated in a landslide by Ronald Reagan.
7. Bill Clinton (1993-2001): Clinton set the record for most scandals. He pushed Fannie and Freddie to make risky loans which collapsed the economy. When offered Osama Bin Laden by the Sudan, he refused. When he could have whacked Bin Laden with a missile strike, he refused. Clinton also gave us Monica and was impeached.
1. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857): Pierce got run down and pushed around by Stephen Douglas when leadership was needed most. He supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act which led to a civil war within the state of Kansas. He could not deal with that crisis and was denied renomination. Kansas-Nebraska helped lead to the Civil War. Pierce retired to a life of alcoholism.
2. James Buchanan (1857-1861): Buchanan was the worst of them all. He was unrepentantly pro-Southern. Buchanan pushed for the Dred Scott decision, the Lecompton Constitution in Kansas, and even thought about attacking the Mormons in Utah to unite the country. When South Carolina left the Union, he did nothing.
3. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869): Johnson did everything he could to block Reconstruction. He did nothing to help the freedmen in the South. Eventually, he was impeached, but acquitted. Johnson would later become Senator from Tennessee.
4. Warren Harding (1921-1923): The first Clinton Administration. Harding's Administration was rife with scandal and devoid of achievements. The Teapot Dome scandal is still one of the greatest scandals in history. On the plus side, he did work for arms limitation and supported Blacks in the South.
5. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933): The Great Depression was not his fault. It struck in his seventh month in office. However, Hoover could not solve the country's woes. Ironically, he was the best man for the job having worked on European relief during World War I. Hoover raised taxes and tariffs which made things worse. Hoover did try an unprecedented governmental aid program, but most people do not know this because FDR's New Deal dwarfed it. (FDR did not end the Depression either). The government has never fixed an economic downturn. In 1932, a group of World War I vets marched on Washington asking for their war bonus early. The army rolled in the tanks. It was an American Tiananmen Square and an exclamation mark on the Hoover years.
6. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981): No man has ever been less qualified for office (unless Obama wins in 2008). Carter's policies made an economic slowdown worse and led to the misery index (inflation rate + unemployment rate= Misery Index). While in office, Iran took 52 Americans hostage and Carter looked weak and incompetent. On top of this, gas prices went through the roof as did unemployment and inflation. People have been saying the economy today is the worst since the Depression. This is wrong. It is the worst since Jimmy Carter. On top of this, Carter had a super majority in the Congress. He refused to work with them even when Tip O'Neill promised to help pass anything Carter wanted. Carter was defeated in a landslide by Ronald Reagan.
7. Bill Clinton (1993-2001): Clinton set the record for most scandals. He pushed Fannie and Freddie to make risky loans which collapsed the economy. When offered Osama Bin Laden by the Sudan, he refused. When he could have whacked Bin Laden with a missile strike, he refused. Clinton also gave us Monica and was impeached.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
The Roaring 20s
America was tired of Woodrow Wilson. Like George W. Bush, he had a successful and progressive first term, he was re-elected by the skin of his teeth, the economy was in recession, he led America into a ridiculous conflict, and then into a massive conflict which the public grew tired of. In 1919, the country experienced a Red Scare, a series of race riots, and the government suspended the constitution to go after radicals. The GOP smelled victory.
In 1920, the GOP nominated Senator Warren Harding of Ohio for president. Harding was not qualified, but was likeable and the girls swooned over him. Harding promised a return to normalcy. (Thus far, 2008 resembles 1920). The Democrats thought about running Wilson again, but he had suffered a stroke and the country despised him. They nominated newspaperman James Cox. The election came down to whether or not people wanted to be involved in world affairs and progressivism. Did people want "A Return to Normalcy" or a continuance of progressive policies and Wilsonian (Bush-like) foreign policy? Harding won with 61% of the vote. Voters wanted an end of Bush...er Wilson.
Four years later, Harding was dead. He died of a massive stroke as a major scandal rocked his administration. Harding the candidate resembled Barack Obama while Harding the president resembled Bill Clinton.(Lessons for today!) The Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, assumed the presidency and was well liked and untainted by scandal. He ran for election in his own right. The Democrats battled and haggled and settled on former Congressman and Diplomat John Davis. Meanwhile, the Progressives re-emerged and nominated the narcissistic Robert La Follette. With the economy doing great, America modernizing, and a popular incumbent president, Coolidge won in a landslide. 54% to 28% for Davis and 17% for La Follette.
In 1928, Coolidge decided not to run. He was a successful president and would have been re-elected. The Republicans turned to Secretary of Commerce and World War I relief hero Herbert Hoover. Hoover decided to enter politics at the beginning of the decade and decided to join the GOP because the Democrats were not popular. Hoover promised a "chicken in every pot" and ironically believed poverty would soon be at an end. The Democrats nominated Al Smith of New York. Smith was a Catholic and against Prohibition. He was the party's sacrificial lamb. The only excitement came from Franklin Roosevelt's nominating speech. The Democrats were crushed again 58%-40%.Four years later, America would be in it's deepest crisis since the Civil War and FDR would be the man they would choose to save the country.
In 1920, the GOP nominated Senator Warren Harding of Ohio for president. Harding was not qualified, but was likeable and the girls swooned over him. Harding promised a return to normalcy. (Thus far, 2008 resembles 1920). The Democrats thought about running Wilson again, but he had suffered a stroke and the country despised him. They nominated newspaperman James Cox. The election came down to whether or not people wanted to be involved in world affairs and progressivism. Did people want "A Return to Normalcy" or a continuance of progressive policies and Wilsonian (Bush-like) foreign policy? Harding won with 61% of the vote. Voters wanted an end of Bush...er Wilson.
Four years later, Harding was dead. He died of a massive stroke as a major scandal rocked his administration. Harding the candidate resembled Barack Obama while Harding the president resembled Bill Clinton.(Lessons for today!) The Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, assumed the presidency and was well liked and untainted by scandal. He ran for election in his own right. The Democrats battled and haggled and settled on former Congressman and Diplomat John Davis. Meanwhile, the Progressives re-emerged and nominated the narcissistic Robert La Follette. With the economy doing great, America modernizing, and a popular incumbent president, Coolidge won in a landslide. 54% to 28% for Davis and 17% for La Follette.
In 1928, Coolidge decided not to run. He was a successful president and would have been re-elected. The Republicans turned to Secretary of Commerce and World War I relief hero Herbert Hoover. Hoover decided to enter politics at the beginning of the decade and decided to join the GOP because the Democrats were not popular. Hoover promised a "chicken in every pot" and ironically believed poverty would soon be at an end. The Democrats nominated Al Smith of New York. Smith was a Catholic and against Prohibition. He was the party's sacrificial lamb. The only excitement came from Franklin Roosevelt's nominating speech. The Democrats were crushed again 58%-40%.Four years later, America would be in it's deepest crisis since the Civil War and FDR would be the man they would choose to save the country.
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