Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Kirsten Gillibrand

2010-01-09T15:20:46Z

Reservoir:

{{Officeholder
|name=Kirsten Gillibrand
|image=Gillibrand.jpg
|party=[[Democrat]]
|spouse=Jonathan Gillibrand
|religion=Roman Catholic
|offices=
{{Officeholder/senator
|state=New York
|terms=January 26, 2009 - Present
|preceded=[[Hillary Rodham Clinton]]
|former=n
|succeeded=
}}
{{Officeholder/representative
|state=New York
|district=20th
|terms=January 4, 2007 – January 26, 2009
|preceded=John E. Sweeney
|former=n
|succeeded=Scott Murphy
}}
}}

'''Kirsten E. Gillibrand''' (born December 9, 1966) (pronounced JILL-uh-brand) is a first-term United States senator from [[New York]]. Gillibrand served in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 2007, to January 26, 2009, when she resigned to become a U.S. Senator. Gillibrand was appointed by NY Governor [[David A. Paterson|David Paterson]] on January 23, 2009 to the United States Senate for the term ending January 3, 2013, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of [[Hillary Clinton]]. This appointment took effect upon her resignation from the House of Representatives on January 26, 2009. Gillibrand took the oath of office on January 27, 2009. At forty-two years old she is the youngest member of the Senate.

==Career==
From an upstate New York family long involved in politics, she graduated from Dartmouth College (1988) and UCLA Law School. At Dartmouth learned Chinese, spent a semester in China, and wrote a senior project on the topic, "The History of Tibetan Resistance to the Chinese Occupation of Tibet 1950-1988."

She is a Catholic, and is married with two children. Her husband, Jonathan Gillibrand, is a British citizen who works in finance.

Gillibrand worked for both Republicans and Democrats, and clerked for a senior federal judge --a Reagan appointee-- before working for a major law firm in New York City.

==Election==
Gillibrand was elected in 2006 after defeating scandal-plagued incumbent Republican John E. Sweeney. She won by 6% of the vote.

==House==
Gillibrand is considered a [[Blue Dog Democrat]] for her conservative credentials, including a 100% rating from the [[NRA]], supports offshore drilling, and voted against the $700 billion bailout. However, she supports civil liberties and has a 100% rating from the [[ACLU]]. She supported redeployment of troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, and voted with the Bush administration and against her own party leadership on funding the Iraq war.<ref> See [http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2009/01/23/kirsten_gillibrand/ Joe Conason, "Kirsten Gillibrand. Really? Why New York Gov. David Paterson chose a senator with conservative views that clash with his own." ''Salon'' Jan. 23, 2009]</ref> She favors the English language-only movement as well as abortion rights; she has supported balanced budget amendments, and opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Gillibrand is considered one of the Democratic Party's most active and aggressive grass roots campaigners, using her huge $4.6 million war chest to garner 65% of the vote in the 2008 election.

==U.S. Senate==
Gillibrand was nominated to fill the seat vacated by Hillary Clinton after she became Secretary of State in the [[Obama Administration]]. Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president, had been considered the frontrunner until she mysteriously dropped out of the contest on Jan. 22. The choice of Gillibrand was a stunning blow to liberal forces in New York, who never dreamed she would displace their favorites. "She is on the right-wing of our Congressional delegation," said Danny Cantor, a liberal leader. "People change, and we’re going to be optimistic and hope she does too."<ref>Quoted in [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/24/nyregion/24gillibrand.html?ref=nyregion Michael Powell and Raymond Hernandez, "Gillibrand Is a Centrist With a Tenacious Style," ''New York Times'' Jan. 24, 2009] </ref>

Many staffers and supporters of Clinton have joined her team, which proposes to raise $70 million for her statewide reelection campaigns in 2010 and 2012. Gillibrand is not well known in New York City, the liberal stronghold where Democratic primaries are won and lost. However she has already amassed a huge war chest.

==ACORN==
Despite countless stories of election fraud by the group ACORN, Kirsten Gillibrand remained one of seven Democrats that voted to continue funding [[ACORN]]. The vote failed and ACORN was stripped of funding in the Senate <ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27153.html Senate denies ACORN funding, Politico, September 14, 2009]</ref> Bill Wilson of Americans for Limited Government said, "The ACORN Housing Corporation has long been pushing the very loose-lending policies that helped destroy the housing industry. And now it has been exposed for working with prostitutes, as well. Yet, these seven Senators [Gillibrand] have knowingly voted to keep sending taxpayer money to a highly corrupt organization of pushers and pimps," <ref>[http://politicomafioso.blogspot.com/2009/09/alg-condemns-7-senators-for-voting-to.html ALG Condemns 7 Senators,Politico Mafioso, September 16, 2009]</ref>

==External Links==
*[http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/senators/one_item_and_teasers/gillibrand.htm Senator Kirsten Gillibrand - Official Senate Homepage]
*[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=412223 Senator Kirsten Gillibrand - GovTrack.us]

{{DEFAULTSORT: Gillibrand, Kirsten}}

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:United States Senators]]
[[Category:2010 Midterm Elections]]
[[Category:New York]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:111th United States Congress]]

George Pataki

2010-01-09T15:17:58Z

Reservoir:

{{Officeholder
|name=George Pataki
|image=000-George_Pataki.jpg
|party=[[Republican]]
|spouse=Libby Pataki
|religion=Roman Catholic
|offices=
{{Officeholder/governor
|state=New York
|terms=January 1, 1995 – December 31, 2006
|preceded=[[Mario Cuomo]]
|former=n
|succeeded=[[Eliot Spitzer]]
}}
}}

'''George Elmer Pataki''' (born June 24, 1945) served as the three term [[Governor]] of [[New York]] from 1995 to 2006 and is a member of the [[Republican Party]].

Born and raised on his family farm in Westchester County, New York to [[Hungarian]] immigrants, he graduated from [[Yale University]] in 1967 and Columbia Law School in 1970 on academic scholarships. Pataki began his political career by serving as Mayor of his home town of Peekskill. He went on to serve 10 years in the New York State legislature. He was elected Governor in the 1994 Republican sweep year, defeating incumbent [[Democrat]] [[Mario Cuomo]]. Pataki was the first Governor of New York since [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] to not be from [[New York City]]. He was easily reelected in 1998 and 2002. From the begining of his administration he instituted major spending cuts. Pataki's governance included a period of economic expansion for New York State, $100 billion in tax cuts, reduced [[welfare]] and 600,000 added jobs. In 2005, New York had an on-time budget for the first time in twenty-one years. He enact more than 100 new laws to toughen penalties for criminals and eliminated parole for violent felony offenders. The [[crime]] rate in New York State fell for eleven consecutive years, by the end of his tenure as Governor, violent crime dropped 54% and New York was recognized as the safest large state in America. <ref>http://www.worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/AO%23/2007/01/12/0000057321/viewer/file5060.html</ref>.

A [[moderate Republican]], Pataki is [[pro-choice]] regarding [[abortion]] (although supports the ban on [[partial birth abortion]]) <ref>http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/George_Pataki_Abortion.htm</ref> and vetoed a bill that would allow sale of the morning-after pill. <ref>http://www.netglimse.com/celebs/pages/george_pataki/index.shtml</ref> Additionally, he is a strong supporter of [[environment]]al protection. He played a major role in the clean-up of the Hudson River and Long Island Sound. Pataki signed major [[health care]] legislation in 1999 that provided health insurance coverage, under Family Health Plus, to lower income adults who do not have health insurance through their employers. George Pataki was governor during the [[September 11, 2001 attacks|September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks]], and led lower [[Manhattan]] through recovery and rebuilding. Pataki suffered health problems towards the end of his governorship after he suffered a burst appendix and had to go through significant operation.

Pataki's name was mentioned as a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2000 and 2008, although he declined to run. He was rumored to be running for the [[United States Senate]] in 2010 against [[Kirsten Gillibrand]]. <ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/08/08/2009-08-08_maloney_wont_run_against_kirsten_flipflops_on_challenge_in_primary.html</ref> Public opinion polls indicated a Pataki victory. <ref>http://maristpoll.marist.edu/gillibrand-needs-to-make-positive-inroads-with-ny-electorate/</ref>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pataki, George}}
==References==
{{reflist|}}

[[Category:New York Governors]]
[[Category:Republican Governors]]

Calvin Coolidge

2010-01-09T15:16:26Z

Reservoir: /* Bibliography */

{{President|
|name=John Calvin Coolidge Jr.
|image=460px-Calvin Coolidge photo portrait head and shoulders.jpg
|country=the United States
|seq=30
|party=Republican
|term_start=August 2, 1923
|term_end=March 4, 1929<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|vp=None
|vp_dates=1923-1925
|2vp=Charles G.Dawes
|2vp_dates=1925-1929
|previous=Warren G. Harding
|next=Herbert Hoover
|seq2=29
|office2=vice
|term_start2=March 4, 1921
|term_end2=August 2, 1923
|pres2=Warren G. Harding
|previous2=Thomas R. Marshall
|next2=Charles G. Dawes
|birth_date=July 4, 1872
|birth_place=Plymouth, Vermont
|death_date=January 5, 1933
|death_place=Northampton, Massachusetts
|spouse=Grace Goodhue Coolidge
|spouse2=
|religion=Congregationalist
}}

'''Calvin Coolidge''' was the 30th [[President of the United States of America]] from 1923 to 1929, an era of peace and prosperity. He was elected Vice President in 1920 as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] and took office in August 1923 upon the death of President [[Warren G. Harding]]; he was reelected by a landslide in 1924, but in 1928 at the peak of his popularity he announced in typical laconical fashion that he did not choose to run again.

==Early Career==
Coolidge was born in Plymouth, Vermont, July 4, 1872, the son of John and Victoria Moor Coolidge. Both parents were Yankees; his ancestors came from England to New England in the early seventeenth century. Coolidge's father was a farmer and a successful country storekeeper who dabbled in local and state politics. Young Calvin was educated in the local school and later at Black River and St. Johnsbury academies. In 1891 he entered [[Amherst College]] in Massachusetts, where he showed an interest in philosophy. Reserved and reticent, he did not mix readily with his fellows. In his senior year, however, he was selected as class speaker.
==Early Public Life==
After his graduation in 1895 Coolidge studied law, was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1897, and began to practice in the city of Northampton, where he became active in local GOP politics. In 1898 he was elected to the common council. Thereafter he was seldom out of public office. He was elected to the Massachusetts General Court (legislature) in 1907. After two terms he was elected mayor of Northampton and then was elected to the state senate; during 1914-1915 he was president of that body. He had also served as chairman of the Republican State Committee, and he spent three terms as lieutenant governor of the state.

In 1905 Coolidge married Grace Anna Goodhue of Burlington, Vt. The couple had two sons, John and Calvin, the younger of whom, Calvin, died on July 7, 1924, from blood poisoning.

==Governor and Vice President==
When Governor Samuel W. McCall retired in 1918, Coolidge became the unanimous choice of the Republican Party for the governorship; he was elected and took office in January 1919. As governor, Coolidge made no radical innovations nor did he sponsor a legislative program. A conservative, he devoted himself to a program of economy in government. The Boston police strike, and his handling of it, first brought him to national attention. On Sept. 9, 1919, the police struck in protest against the police commissioner's refusal to permit them to join an American Federation of Labor union. Immediately there were riots and disorder. After some urging Governor Coolidge called out the state guard to preserve order and personally took charge. The governor answered Samuel Gompers' objections to his actions with the statement: "There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, at any time." The statement received nationwide publicity. After the nomination of Warren G. Harding by the Republican national convention in 1920, the members of the convention rebelled against the dominant senatorial clique. They nominated Coolidge for second place on the ticket after his name had been presented by a comparatively unknown delegate. Coolidge was elected along with Harding in 1920 and became president on Aug. 2, 1923, when Harding died of natural causes. Coolidge was at his father's house in Vermont when the momentous news arrived. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office.

==Presidency==
The elections in 1922 had reduced the party's numbers in Congress to a scant majority. Moreover, the scandals connected with the Harding administration were in the process of being made public by a congressional committee. Yet, a little over a year later, Coolidge was elected for another term by a landslide over both [[John W. Davis]], [[U.S. Democratic Party, History|Democrat]], and [[Robert M. LaFollette]], Progressive. Davis got 29% of the popular vote, carrying the South from Virginia to Texas, and 136 electoral votes, LaFollette carried Wisconsin and many German and railroad centers, but Coolidge won easily with 382 electoral votes. Four years later, when he left office, his party was in a much stronger position than it had been in 1924.

Felzenberg (19978) shows that Coolidge battled intolerance, lynching and especially the [[Ku Klux Klan]], which lost all its influence during his term.

In 1924 he appointed a commission to investigate the circumstances of the Teapot Dome oil lease, a scandal inherited from the Harding administration. By focusing all the blame on Harding, he permanently tarnished Harding's name and promoted himself.
===Economic policies===
Coolidge famously said, "The business of America is business."

The Coolidge policy was a simple one, made easier by the continuous prosperity and the weakness of the liberal opposition. He believed in government economy, reduced taxation, and gave aid to private business without accompanying restrictive regulation. In 1927 he vetoed the soldiers' bonus bill. Coolidge opposed any government control in interstate electrical power and was against the proposal for government operation of the Wilson Dam at Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River; in 1933 it became part of the [[New Deal]]'s [[TVA]].

Throughout the farming regions of the traditionally Republican Middle West loud complaints were heard about the farm crisis. It was characterized by low prices for crops and the overhang of the land bubble that burst in 1920, leaving many farmers deeply in debt for new lands they purchased at high price during the war. The farmers wanted the federal government to intervene in the market, by buying crops at high prices and dumping them abroad cheaply. Congress passed the legislation, known as the and the [[McNary-Haugen Bill]], a farm relief bill, but Coolidge vetoed it. He supported the alternative program of Hoover and Jardine to modernize farming, by bringing in more electricity, more efficient equipment, better seeds and breeds, and better business practices.
===Foreign Affairs===
In the realm of foreign affairs the president urged the nation to become a member of the World Court, but the bill authorizing it was hedged with so many qualifications that the other member nations refused to admit the United States. Under the direction of Secretary of the Treasury [[Andrew W. Mellon]], plans for the payment of foreign government debts to the United States were negotiated and approved. During the Coolidge administration the Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of national policy, was signed by most of the important nations of the world. The appointment of Dwight W. Morrow as ambassador to Mexico did much to restore good relations with that country, although the policy pursued elsewhere in Latin America in the interest of American investors helped maintain the Latin-American distrust of their northern neighbor.
===Evaluations===
In the short view, the Coolidge administration was a preeminently successful one. Income taxes and corporate taxes were greatly reduced, a major part of the national debt was retired, and the nation experienced some of the most prosperous years in its history. The Coolidge policies were in part responsible for these benefits, but some hostile historians claim they were probably responsible, in part, for the great depression that followed.

Coolidge's image was to a degree shaped by Madison Avenue. Buckley (2003) reveals the role of advertising giant [[Bruce Barton]] in the remaking of the public persona or image of Coolidge during 1919-26 and, in so doing, guiding a dramatic shift in politics and the wide acceptance of consumer culture. The dominance of the political party bosses, who selected Harding in 1920, ended when the business elite wrested control from the party, using their ability to raise money for advertising and ultimately commodifying the political process. Members of this elite suggested that Barton refashion Coolidge from an aloof man driven by the advancement of his career into a voice of the masses, the "silent majority," which Barton accomplished with press coverage, exploiting the new technology of radio for political speeches, newsreels, an exclusive "spontaneous" interview with Coolidge, and by arranging events that would be covered free, as news. Coolidge's election to the presidency in 1924 was the first campaign of personality, in which style was promoted over substance, tapping into "intense private longings" of a public uncertain of its moorings in a rapidly modernizing society. Gilbert (2003) and Gilbert (2005) argues that Coolidge suffered from clinical depression throughout his life. Gilbert discusses the major symptoms of the disorder as evidenced in Coolidge's personal and political behavior. He exhibited symptoms from a very early age, beginning with his grandfather's death when he was six and again with the deaths of his mother and sister during his adolescence. Ascending to the presidency in 1923, Coolidge at first was diligent, effective, and respectful of others. After the death of his teenage son in 1924, however, his demeanor and degree of political engagement changed drastically. He developed hypersomnia, sleeping as much as 15 hours per day, and he began to treat White House staffers and his wife rudely, often publicly humiliating them. Moreover, he became far less effective as a decision-maker and grew increasingly detached from political issues.

==Silent Cal==
A woman once told Coolidge that she had bet someone that she could get him to say more than two words. He told her, "You lose."
===Retirement===
In the summer of 1927 Coolidge made the statement, "I do not chose to run for president in 1928." He did not indicate his choice of his successor. Coolidge left the White House on Mar. 4, 1929, amid the acclaim of the nation. Returning to Northampton, he published his autobiography and wrote articles for newspapers and periodicals. These and his business activities kept him engaged until his death on Jan. 5, 1933, in the midst of the [[Great Depression]].

==Quotes==
*"Nothing is easier than spending the public money. It doesn't appear to belong to anybody."
==Bibliography==
* Buckley, Kerry W. "'A President for the "Great Silent Majority': Bruce Barton's Construction of Calvin Coolidge." ''New England Quarterly'' 2003 76(4): 593-626. Issn: 0028-4866 Fulltext: in Jstor
* Felzenberg, Alvin S. "Calvin Coolidge and Race: His Record in Dealing with the Racial Tensions of the 1920s." ''New England Journal of History'' 1998 55(1): 83-96.
* Ferrell, Robert H. ''The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge.'' U. Press of Kansas, 1998. 244 pp. The standard scholarly study.
* Gilbert, Robert E. "Calvin Coolidge's Tragic Presidency: the Political Effects of Bereavement and Depression." ''Journal of American Studies'' 2005 39(1): 87-109. Issn: 0021-8758 Fulltext: in Cambridge and Swetswise
* Gilbert, Robert E. ''The Tormented President: Calvin Coolidge, Death, and Clinical Depression.'' Praeger, 2003. 288pp
* Greenberg, David. ''Calvin Coolidge'' (2006), short biography. [http://www.amazon.com/Calvin-Coolidge-David-Greenberg/dp/0805069577/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194420081&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Haynes, John Earl, ed. ''Calvin Coolidge and the Coolidge Era: Essays on the History of the 1920s.'' Library of Congress, 1998. 329 pp. essays by scholars
* McCoy, Donald R. ''Calvin Coolidge: A Biography'' (1967), 447pp, the standard scholarly biography
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New York: Carroll & Graf, 2007
* Pietrusza, David (ed.) ''Silent Cal's Almanack: The Homespun Wit and Wisdom of Vermont's Calvin Coolidge'' createspace: 2008.
* William Allen White; ''A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge,'' (1938) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=1105748 online edition]

===Primary sources===
* Calvin Coolidge. ''The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge'' (1929), [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=82302633 online edition]
* Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell, eds. ''The Talkative President: The Off-The-Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge,'' (1964), 276pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=77365439 online edition]
* Calvin Coolidge Telegram to Samuel Gompers re: Boston Police Strike [http://www.davidpietrusza.com/coolidge-gompers-telegram.html online edition]

==External Sources==
*[http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/americanpresident/coolidge excellent essays & documents from Miller Center U Virginia]]

====notes====
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{USVicePresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coolidge, Calvin}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Governors]]
[[Category:Fiscal Conservatives]]

Herbert Hoover

2010-01-09T15:15:33Z

Reservoir: /* Basic readings */

{{President
|image=Herbert_hoover.jpg
|seq=31
|term_start=March 4, 1929
|term_end=March 4, 1933 <ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Republican
|vp=Charles Curtis
|previous=Calvin Coolidge
|next=Franklin D. Roosevelt
|birth_date=August 10, 1874
|birth_place=West Branch, Iowa
|death_date=October 20, 1964
|death_place=New York, New York
|spouse=Lou Henry Hoover
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Quaker]]
}}

'''Herbert Clark Hoover'''<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref> was the 31st [[President of the United States of America]] 1929-33, a Republican best known for his inability to prevent the collapse of the U.S. economy into the [[Great Depression]]. he was defeated for reelection by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in a major realignment that marked the beginning of the [[New Deal]] and the [[Fifth Party System]]. Hoover lived another three decades, leading the isolationists in foreign policy and working with his friend President [[Harry S. Truman]] to reform the federal bureaucracy. He was a bitterly reviled target of liberal and Democratic hatreds, while hailed by conservatives as a great, albeit tragic, American hero.

Hoover, building a world reputation as a humanitarian for his successful efforts to prevent starvation in Europe in the wake of [[World War I]], and his remarkable leadership of the business community as Secretary of Commerce (1921-28), was the major political leader of the [[Progressive Era]] in the 1920s. His name was a byword for devotion to duty, efficiency, and humanitarian public service. His reputation fell when he was unable to reverse the [[Great Depression]], and he became the object of attacks by Democrats for the next four decades. He was a hero to most conservatives, including senators [[Robert Taft]] and [[Barry Goldwater]].

==Early Life==
===Family background===
Hoover came from an old Swiss family named Huber. He was born in the Quaker stronghold of West Branch, Iowa. He was the first President to be born west of the Mississippi River. Both of his parents died when Hoover was young. His father, Jesse Hoover died in 1880, and his mother, Hulda Minthorn, died in 1883. He was raised as a Quaker and remained faithful all his life.

In 1885, when "Bert" Hoover was 11, he was sent to the small town of Newberg, Oregon to be cared for by his uncle John Minthorn. Minthorn was a doctor and real estate developer whom Hoover recalled as "a severe man on the surface, but like all Quakers kindly at the bottom."

At a young age, Hoover was self-reliant and ambitious. "My boyhood ambition was to be able to earn my own living, without the help of anybody, anywhere," he once said. As an office boy in his uncle's Oregon Land Company he excelled in bookkeeping and typing, while also attending business school in the evening. Thanks to a local schoolteacher, Miss Jane Gray, the young Hoover was introduced to the novels of [[Charles Dickens]] and [[Sir Walter Scott]]. ''[[David Copperfield]]'', the story of another orphan cast into the world, was Hoover's lifelong favorite.
===Stanford===
In 1891, Hoover entered the new [[Stanford University]] in California. Hoover managed the baseball and football teams, started a laundry, and ran a lecture agency. With the support of other students from less wealthy backgrounds against campus "swells," he was elected student body treasurer on the "Barbarian" slate. It was the only election he ran in until he ran for president.

Hoover majored in geology, studying with Professor John Casper Branner, who helped him get summer jobs mapping terrain in Arkansas and Colorado. Hoover met [[Lou Henry Hoover]], a banker's daughter from Waterloo, Iowa. They shared a love of geology and the environment, and were both remarkably strong willed. Lou said, "It isn't so important what others think of you as what you feel inside yourself". She became a Quaker when they married in 1899; they had two sons.
===Mining engineer===
After graduating in 1895 Hoover worked as a clerk with a San Francisco consulting firm of Louis Janin. He joined the British mining firm, Bewick, Moering & Co. which sent him to the new mines in far western Australia.

Hoover arrived in Albany, Western Australia, in May 1897, and designed mining operations, ordering equipment, and examining new prospects. Hoover often traveled to outlying mines by camel, which he called "even a less successful creation than a horse." After inspecting "Sons of Gwalia" mine he recommended the company buy it; it proved to be one of the richest gold mines in the world.

In 1899 Bewick, Moering sent Hoover to supervise coal mines in China. Hoover went to China with his new bride in 1899; she soon learned Chinese. In 1900, the Hoovers, along with hundreds of foreign families, were trapped by the [[Boxer Rebellion]]. Hoover helped organize defensive barricades and organize food supplies, and Lou helped out at the hospital.

Between 1907 and 1912, Hoover and his wife translated of one of the earliest printed technical treatises: Georg Agricola's '''De re metallica''', originally published in 1556. At 670 pages, with 289 woodcuts, the Hoover translation remains the definitive English language translation of Agricola's Latin work.

==Humanitarian==
Bored with making money, the Quaker side of Hoover yearned to be of service to others. When [[World War I]] started in August 1914, he helped organize the return home of 120,000 American tourists and businessmen from Europe. Hoover led five hundred volunteers to distribute food, clothing, steamship tickets and cash. "I did not realize it at the moment, but on August 3, [[1914]] my engineering career was over forever. I was on the slippery road of public life." {{dictatorship-democracy-Hoover}}

[[Belgium]] faced a food crisis after being invaded by Germany in fall 1914. Hoover undertook an unprecedented relief effort as head of the Commission for the Relief of Belgium (CRB). The CRB became, in effect, an independent republic of relief, with its own flag, navy, factories, mills and railroads. Its $12-million-a-month budget was supplied by voluntary donations and government grants. In an early form of shuttle diplomacy, he crossed the North Sea forty times seeking to persuade the enemies in Berlin to allow food to reach the war's victims. Long before the Armistice of November, 1918, he was an international hero. The Belgian city of Leuven named a prominent square after him.

After the United States entered the war in April 1917, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] appointed Hoover head of the American [[Food Administration]], with headquarters in Washington. It became a major federal emergency agency, standing far above the others in terms of efficiency and success. Hoover cut American consumption of food needed overseas and avoided rationing at home.

After war ended in late 1918, Hoover, a member of the Supreme Economic Council and head of the American Relief Administration, organized shipments of food for millions of starving people in Central Europe. To this end, he employed a newly formed Quaker organization, the [[American Friends Service Committee]] to carry out much of the logistical work in Europe. He extended aid to famine-stricken Communist Russia in 1921. When a critic inquired if he was not thus helping Bolshevism, Hoover retorted, "Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!"

===Hoover Library at Stanford===
During this time, Hoover realized that he was in a unique position to collect information about the Great War and its aftermath. He worked with Stanford to support his Hoover War Collection and donated to it the extensive files of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, the U.S. Food Administration, and the American Relief Administration. Scholars were sent to Europe to collect pamphlets, society publications, government documents, newspapers, posters, proclamations, and other ephemeral materials related to the war and the revolutions and political movements that had followed it. The collection was later renamed the Hoover War Library, and the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace.

==Commerce Secretary==
By 1920 both parties considered Hoover for president. He announced he was a Republican and following the convention supported [[Warren Harding]]. Harding appointed him as Secretary of Commerce, until then a minor job. Hoover, already one of the most famous people in the world (and far more famous than harding or Coolidge) transformed it the most visible, imaginative and path-breaking agency of government.<ref> After Hoover left Commerce relapsed into obscurity again.</ref>

As secretary (and later as President), Hoover revolutionized the relations between business and government. Rejecting the adversarial anti-business stance of [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[William Howard Taft]], and [[Woodrow Wilson]], he sought to make the Commerce Department a powerful service organization, empowered to forge cooperative voluntary partnerships between government and business. This philosophy is often called "associationalism."

Many of Hoover's efforts as Commerce Secretary centered on the elimination of waste and the increase of efficiency in business and industry. It was the climax of the [[Efficiency Movement]]--always a centerpiece of the [[Progressive Era]] and now its central feature. Efficiency meant reducing labor losses from trade disputes and seasonal fluctuations, reducing industrial losses from accident and injury, and reducing the amount of crude oil spilled during extraction and shipping. One major achievement was to promote progressive ideals in the areas of standardization products and designs. He energetically promoted international trade by opening offices overseas that gave advice and practical help to businessmen. He was especially eager to promote [[Hollywood]] films overseas. <ref>David M. Hart, "Herbert Hoover's Last Laugh: the Enduring Significance of the 'Associative State' in the United States." ''Journal of Policy History'' 1998</ref>

Hoover's "Own Your Own Home" campaign was a collaboration with organizations working to promote ownership of single-family dwellings, including the Better Houses in America movement, the Architects' Small House Service Bureau, and the Home Modernizing Bureau. He worked with bankers and the savings and loan industry to promote the new long term home mortgage, which dramatically stimulated home construction. <ref>Janet Hutchison, "Building for Babbitt: the State and the Suburban Home Ideal" ''Journal of Policy History'' 1997</ref>

Among Hoover's other successes were the [[radio]] conferences, which played a key role in the early organization, development and regulation of radio broadcasting. Hoover played a key role in major projects for navigation, irrigation of dry lands, electrical power, and flood control.

As the new air transport industry developed, Hoover held a conference on aviation to promote codes and regulations.

He became president of the American Child Health Organization, and he raised private funds to promote health education in schools and communities.

In the spring of 1927, the Great Mississippi Flood broke the banks and levees and flooded millions of acres on which people lived. The governors of six states called for Hoover in the emergency, so President Coolidge sent Hoover to mobilize state and local authorities, militia, army engineers, Coast Guard, and the [[American Red Cross]]. Hoover set up health units, with a grant from the [[Rockefeller Foundation]], to work in the flooded regions for a year. These workers stamped out [[malaria]], [[pellagra]] and [[typhoid fever]] from many areas. His work during the flood brought Herbert Hoover to the front page of newspapers almost everywhere.

==Election to Presidency==
[[Image:Gop1928.jpg|thumb|300px]]

Coolidge stunned the nation with 12 words announcing he did not choose to run again in 1928. Hoover was the obvious choice of the party and easily won nomination, against the popular governor of New York, [[Al Smith]]. Smith was a Catholic, which alarmed fundamentalist Baptist in the South and Lutherans in the Midwest. Smith was honest but was the product of the notoriously corrupt [[Tammany Hall]] machine. Smith wanted to repeal prohibition and allow saloons to reopen; Hoover, calling prohibition an "experiment" ("a noble experiment") opposed repeal.

Hoover’s reputation, experience, and popularity together, along with the GOP record of peace and prosperity, made him the overwhelming favorite, especially since the Democrats were deeply split north and south over prohibition. Hoover avoided the religious issue. (Quakers were themselves sometimes under attack as pacifists.) Historians agree that Hoover's reputation nationwide and the economic boom, combined with the deep chasm among the Democrats over religion and prohibition, led to his landslide victory.

On the issue of poverty Hoover optimistically promised, "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land."

Hoover won by a smashing landslide, carrying the more urban middle class areas of the South and nearly the entire North, apart from Catholic strongholds like New York City and Boston.
==Presidency: Great Depression==
Although Hoover later came under sustained and intense attack that he did nothing to reverse the depression, the charges were false. He tried any number of approached--but none worked and the economy continued to spiral downward. His basic assumption, from 1929 to 1931, was that it was a temporary short cycle, and like all previous downturns would end shortly. Meanwhile his job was to maintain public optimism, because pessimism would make people cut back further and prolong the downturn. Hoover was using the best available economic knowledge.
===Expanding public works===
Hoover in late 1930 created The President's Emergency Committee on Employment (PECE), as unemployment reached 11%.<ref> Estimates of unemployment were only roughly approximate before 1933.</ref> PECE tried to mobilize private charity and encouraged states, cities and Congress to increase public works spending as a stimulus. They did so, and soon the states and cities were nearly bankrupt on their own. In August 1931, finally realizing this was not a normal cycle, Hoover replaced PECE with the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief (POUR), headed by Walter S. Gifford, president of American Telephone and Telegraph, the nation's largest private company. POUR expanded, coordinated, and improved local and state relief efforts; but the economy relentlessly went lower.

In early 1931 Hoover signed the Wagner-Graham Stabilization Act, which set up the Federal Stabilization Board to initiate public works such as dams and highways. Public works did increase throughout the decade after 1929, but not enough to cover the downturn in private construction, let alone all the other negative sectors. In 1931 the mood in Congress --equally divided after the GOP lost seats in 1930--remained strongly opposed to federal relief; even the National Council of Social Workers refused to endorse relief as a principle at their convention in May. New urban slums--shantytowns derisively called Hoovervilles by the Democrats--were rising in the nation's largest cities.
===Mortgages===
Hoover had played a major role in creating the long-term (20-year) mortgage in the 1920s. In times of prosperity mortgages accelerated national growth, as houses were built and lived in before people had saved enough to pay cash for one. But in a downturn mortgages debt hurt the economy. people sacrificed current consumption to pay the mortgage so they would not lose the house and all the money they put in it. To pay the mortgage they gave up luxuries (like a telephone or new car), made do with old clothes, canceled vacations. The foreclosure rate pushed up and construction of new houses ceased. It was much like 2008-09. Like President Obama, Hoover moved to resolve the mortgage crisis. He called for the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (passed in July 1932), that created a system of federal home loan banks to discount home mortgages. The Federal Home Loan Banks received $125 million in capital (comparable to $32 billion in 2009) to fund the home mortgages held by financial concerns.<ref> The "comparable" figures here are calculating by taking the same % of the GDP in 2009 as the sum was a % of GDP in 1930, 1931 or 1932. This can be found by using these multipliers: to compare spending in 1929 versus 2009, multiply by 146; use 167 in 1930; 197 in 1931; 259 in 1932, and 268 in 1933.</ref> Hoover believed that the ability of private lending institutions to secure new sources of capital would encourage them to make more construction loans and revive the industry. But it had little effect.

===RFC===
The most successful Hoover program--one that continued under FDR--was the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]], proposed by Hoover and created by Congress in early 1932. The collapse in the value of assets combined with demands from panicky depositors to get their money out meant that many banks that were otherwise solvent, hoarded their money and refused to make loans. It was much like the [[Financial Crisis of 2008]]. The RFC could make loans to banks, insurance companies and railroads. The Emergency Relief and Construction Act of July 21, 1932, enlarged its power to allow for loans to state government and to farm agencies. The immediate aim was to restore confidence in financial institutions generally and encourage them to start lending again, prevent ruinous bankruptcies that would further destabilize the shaky economy, and--hopefully-- revive the economy through the restoration of credit. The RFC was capitalized at $500 million (comparable in size to $130 billion in 2009), provided by the federal government, and it was empowered to sell $3.3 billion (comparable to $850 billion in 2009) of debentures. Through the end of the Hoover administration $2.2 billion was actually loaned to authorized borrowers (comparable to $590 billion). The RFC saved many railroads, banks, and insurance companies. Democrats limited its effectiveness by overly stringent security requirements for loans and by the decision of Congress to require public disclosure of borrowers, which virtually forced a bank to admit publicly it was in trouble.

==Presidency: Other actions==
===Reforms===
Hoover was a reformer who expanded [[civil service]], canceled private oil leases on government lands, and prosecuted notorious criminals, most notably [[Al Capone]]. He negotiated a treaty with Canada on the [[St. Lawrence Seaway]]; it in the Senate. He wrote a Children's Charter that advocated protection of every child regardless of race or gender, built the [[San Francisco Bay Bridge]], created an antitrust division in the [[Justice Department]], required air mail carriers to improve service, and proposed federal loans for clearance of urban [[slum]]s.

Hoover organized the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]], reorganized the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]], proposed a federal [[United States Department of Education|Department of Education]], advocated fifty-dollar-per-month [[pension]]s for Americans over 65, chaired [[White House]] conferences on child health, protection, homebuilding and homeownership, and signed the [[Norris-La Guardia Act]] that limited judicial intervention in labor disputes.
===Indians===
Hoover's Quaker upbringing influenced his views that Native Americans needed to achieve economic self-sufficiency. He chose Senator [[Charles Curtis]], an Indian--as his Vice President. (Curtis was the first and last Indian to hold high national office, but he was a figurehead, not a policy maker.) Hoover appointed Charles J. Rhoads as commissioner of Indian affairs. He supported Rhoads' efforts to achieve Indian assimilation and sought to reduce the federal role in Indian affairs to the minimum. He wanted to have Indians acting as individuals instead of as tribes, and assuming the responsibilities of citizenship which had been granted pursuant to [[Indian Citizenship Act of 1924]].<ref>Thomas A. Britten, "Hoover and the Indians: the Case for Continuity in Federal Indian Policy, 1900-1933" Historian 1999 61(3): 518-538. Issn: 0018-2370 </ref>
===Foreign Policy===
Regarding to foreign policy, Hoover originated what Roosevelt later called the "[[Good Neighbor Policy]]" by withdrawing American troops from [[Nicaragua]] and [[Haiti]]. He proposed an arms embargo on [[Latin America]] and a one-third reduction in the world's naval, which was called the [[Hoover Plan]]. The [[Roosevelt Corollary]] was dropped as a part of U.S. foreign policy. He and his powerful Secretary of State [[Henry Stimson]] formulated the [[Stimson Doctrine]] that said the United States would not recognize territories gained by force. This meant the U.S. refused to recognize Japan's seizure of Manchuria.

==Hoover's popularity takes a hit==
Many people lost their jobs during the Great Depression and were forced to move into "shantytowns" that became known as "Hoovervilles", a mocking tribute to the President whom they blamed for their financial woes. <ref>http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/depwwii/depress/hoovers.html</ref> (This link contains pictures of several "Hoovervilles".) Hoover's popularity took a further hit when a group of veterans from [[World War I]] known as the [[Bonus Army]] marched on [[Washington, D.C.]] to demand their cash bonuses that they were to receive in 1945 for their military service. <ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/bonusarmy.htm</ref> Hoover deployed the Army to drive out these marchers, of whom there were up to 10,000, which was a further public relations nightmare. Hoover lost the [[United States presidential election of 1932]] election by a landslide to [[Democrat]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], winning only 59 electoral votes. <ref>http://www.statemaster.com/graph/pre_1932_ele_vot_for_her_hoo-1932-electoral-votes-herbert-hoover</ref>

==Miscellaneous==
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is located in West Branch, Iowa. <ref>http://hoover.archives.gov/</ref>

Hoover's wife, Lou Henry Hoover, served as the president of the Girl Scouts. <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/lh31.html</ref>

==Bibliography==
===Basic readings===
* Best, Gary Dean. ''The Politics of American Individualism: Herbert Hoover in Transition, 1918-1921'' (1975) [http://www.questia.com/read/15384473 online edition], by a conservative scholar
* Bornet, Vaughn Davis, ''An Uncommon President.'' In: Herbert Hoover Reassessed. (1981), pp. 71-88, by conservative scholar
* Burner, David. ''Herbert Hoover: A Public Life''. (1979). good one-volume biography by a liberal historian
* Fausold, Martin L. ''The Presidency of Herbert C. Hoover.'' (1985) standard scholarly overview.
* Fausold Martin L. and George Mazuzan, eds. ''The Hoover Presidency: A Reappraisal'' (1974).
* Hawley, Ellis. ''Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce: Studies in New Era Thought and Practice'' (1981). A major reinterpretation.
* Hawley, Ellis. "Herbert Hoover, the Commerce Secretariat, and the Vision of an 'Associative State,' 1921-1928." ''Journal of American History'' 61 (1974): 116-140. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1918256 in JSTOR]
* Hoff-Wilson, Joan. ''Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive.'' (1975). short favorable biography
* Kennedy, David M. ''Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945'' (1999), the major scholarly synthesis [http://www.questia.com/read/52284041 online edition]
* Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: The Engineer 1874-1914'' (1983), the definitive scholarly biography, by a leading conservative scholar
** Nash, George H. ''Life of Herbert Hoover: The Humanitarian, 1914-1917'' (1988), vol. 2. [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Herbert-Hoover-Humanitarian-1914-1917/dp/0393025500/ref=sr_1_7/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933296&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]
** Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: Master of Emergencies, 1917-1918'' (1996), vol. 3
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New York: Carroll & Graf, 2007
* Robinson, Edgar Eugene and Vaughn Davis Bornet. ''Herbert Hoover: President of the United States.'' (1976), conservative views
* Romasco, Albert U. ''The Poverty of Abundance: Hoover, the Nation, the Depression'' (1965).
* Smith, Richard Norton. ''An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover'', (1987), major biography, especially useful for 1933-64.
* Wilbur, Ray Lyman, and Arthur Mastick Hyde. ''The Hoover Policies.'' (1937). In depth description of his administration by two cabinet members.

===Major studies ===
* [http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/reference/bibliographies/hoover.html Long annotated bibliography] via [[University of Virginia]].
* Barber, William J. ''From New Era to New Deal: Herbert Hoover, the Economists, and American Economic Policy, 1921-1933.'' (1985). [http://www.amazon.com/New-Era-Deal-Economists-Perspectives/dp/0521367379/ref=sr_1_21/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933346&sr=1-21 excerpt and text search]
* Barry, John M. ''Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America'' (1998), Hoover played a major role.
* Best, Gary Dean. ''The Politics of American Individualism: Herbert Hoover in Transition, 1918-1921'' (1975) [http://www.questia.com/read/15384473 online edition]
* Bornet, Vaughn Davis, ''An Uncommon President.'' In: Herbert Hoover Reassessed. (1981), pp. 71-88.
*Britten, Thomas A. "Hoover and the Indians: the Case for Continuity in Federal Indian Policy, 1900-1933" ''Historian'' 1999 61(3): 518-538. Issn: 0018-2370
* Burner, David. ''Herbert Hoover: A Public Life''. (1979). good one-volume biography.
* Calder, James D. ''The Origins and Development of Federal Crime Control Policy: Herbert Hoover's Initiatives'' Praeger, 1993.
* Carcasson, Martin. "Herbert Hoover and the Presidential Campaign of 1932: the Failure of Apologia" ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1998 28(2): 349-365. [http://www.questia.com/read/5001348651?title=Herbert%20Hoover%20and%20the%20Presidential%20Campaign%20of%201932%3a%20The%20Failure%20of%20Apologia online edition]
* Clements, Kendrick A. ''Hoover, Conservation, and Consumerism: Engineering the Good Life.'' U. Press of Kansas, 2000.
* Darling, Jay N. ''As Ding Saw Herbert Hoover'' (1996) editorial cartoons by Darling (mostly pro-Hoover) [http://www.amazon.com/Ding-Herbert-Hoover-Heritage-Collection/dp/0813823439/ref=sr_1_34/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933525&sr=1-34 excerpt and text search]
* DeConde, Alexander. ''Herbert Hoover's Latin American Policy.'' (1951).
* Dodge, Mark M., ed. ''Herbert Hoover and the Historians.'' (1989).
* Doenecke, Justus D. "Anti-Interventionism of Herbert Hoover" Journal of Libertarian Studies, Summer 1987, 8(2), pp. 311-340. [http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/8_2/8_2_10.pdf online version]
* Fausold, Martin L. ''The Presidency of Herbert C. Hoover.'' (1985) standard scholarly overview.
* Fausold Martin L. and George Mazuzan, eds. ''The Hoover Presidency: A Reappraisal'' (1974).
* Ferrell, Robert H. ''American Diplomacy in the Great Depression: Hoover-Stimson Foreign Policy, 1929-1933.'' (1957).
* Freidel, Frank. "Election of 1932," in ''History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-1968'', ed. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and Fred L. Israel (1971), vol. 3
* Gaddis, Vincent. ''Herbert Hoover, Unemployment, and the Public Sphere: A Conceptual History, 1919–1933.'' (University Press of America, 2005. xxx, 180 pp. isbn 0-7618-3235-1.)
* Gelfand, Lawrence E. ed., ''Herbert Hoover: The Great War and Its Aftermath, 1914-1923'' (1979).
* Goodman, Mark and Gring, Mark. "The Ideological Fight over Creation of the Federal Radio Commission in 1927" ''Journalism History'' 2000 26(3): 117-124.
* Hamilton, David E. ''From New Day to New Deal: American Farm Policy from Hoover to Roosevelt, 1928-1933.'' (1991).
* Hart, David M. "Herbert Hoover's Last Laugh: the Enduring Significance of the 'Associative State' in the United States." ''Journal of Policy History'' 1998 10(4): 419-444.
* Hatfield, Mark. ed. ''Herbert Hoover Reassessed'' (2002).
* Hawley, Ellis. ''Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce: Studies in New Era Thought and Practice'' (1981). A major reinterpretation by leading conservative historian
* Hawley, Ellis. ''Herbert Hoover and the Historians'' (1989).
* Hawley, Ellis. "Herbert Hoover, the Commerce Secretariat, and the Vision of an 'Associative State,' 1921-1928." ''Journal of American History'' 61 (1974): 116-140.
* Hawley, Ellis. "Herbert Hoover and Modern American History: Fifty Years Later," in ''Herbert Hoover Reassessed'',
* Hoff-Wilson, Joan. ''Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive.'' (1975). short biography
* Houck, Davis W. "Rhetoric as Currency: Herbert Hoover and the 1929 Stock Market Crash" ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 2000 3(2): 155-181. Issn: 1094-8392
* Hutchison, Janet. "Building for Babbitt: the State and the Suburban Home Ideal" ''Journal of Policy History'' 1997 9(2): 184-210
* Lee, David D. "Herbert Hoover and the Development of Commercial Aviation, 1921-1926," ''Business History Review'', Vol. 58, No. 1, Transportation (Spring, 1984), pp. 78-102 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3114529 in JSTOR]
* Lichtman, Allan J. ''Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928'' (1979), statistical analysis of voting patterns
* Liebovich, Louis W. ''Bylines in Despair: Herbert Hoover, the Great Depression, and the U.S. News Media'' (1994) [http://www.amazon.com/Bylines-Despair-Herbert-Hoover-Depression/dp/0275948439/ref=sr_1_35/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933525&sr=1-35 excerpt and text search]
* Lisio, Donald J. ''The President and Protest: Hoover, MacArthur, and the Bonus Riot,'' 2d ed. (1994).
* Lisio, Donald J. ''Hoover, Blacks, and Lily-whites: A Study of Southern Strategies'' (1985)
* Lloyd, Craig. ''Aggressive Introvert: A Study of Herbert Hoover and Public Relations Management, 1912-1932'' (1973).
* Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: The Engineer 1874-1914'' (1983), the definitive scholarly biography.
* Nash, George H. ''Life of Herbert Hoover: The Humanitarian, 1914-1917'' (1988), vol. 2. [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Herbert-Hoover-Humanitarian-1914-1917/dp/0393025500/ref=sr_1_7/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933296&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]
* Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: Master of Emergencies, 1917-1918'' (1996), vol. 3
* Nash, Lee, ed. ''Understanding Herbert Hoover: Ten Perspectives'' (1987)
* Olson, James S. ''Herbert Hoover and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1931-1933'' (1977).
* Ortiz, Stephen R. "Rethinking the Bonus March: Federal Bonus Policy, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Origins of a Protest Movement," ''Journal of Policy History,'' 18 (no. 3, 2006), 275–303.
* Peel, Roy V., and Thomas C. Donnelly. ''The 1932 Campaign: An Analysis'' (1935)
* Robinson, Edgar Eugene and Vaughn Davis Bornet. ''Herbert Hoover: President of the United States.'' (1976).
* Romasco, Albert U. ''The Poverty of Abundance: Hoover, the Nation, the Depression'' (1965).
* Schwarz, Jordan A. ''The Interregnum of Despair: Hoover, Congress, and the Depression.'' (1970). Hostile to Hoover.
* Short, Brant. "The Rhetoric of the Post-Presidency: Herbert Hoover's Campaign against the New Deal, 1934-1936," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 21, no. 1 (1991): 33-50.
* Smith, Richard Norton. ''An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover'', (1987) covers 1933-64.
* Sobel, Robert. ''Herbert Hoover and the Onset of the Great Depression 1929-1930'' (1975).
* Spragens, William, and Linda J. Lear, "Herbert Hoover," in ''Popular Images of American Presidents,'' ed. William Spragens (1988)
* Tracey, Kathleen. ''Herbert Hoover--A Bibliography.'' His Writings and Addresses (1977).
* Walch, Timothy. ed. ''Uncommon Americans: The Lives and Legacies of Herbert and Lou Henri Hoover'' Praeger, 2003.
* Weissman, Benjamin M. ''Herbert Hoover and Famine Relief to Soviet Russia: 1921-1923'' (1974)
* Wilbur, Ray Lyman, and Arthur Mastick Hyde. ''The Hoover Policies.'' (1937). In depth description of his administration by two cabinet members.
* Wueschner, Silvano A. ''Charting Twentieth-Century Monetary Policy: Herbert Hoover and Benjamin Strong, 1917-1927.'' Greenwood, 1999. [http://www.questia.com/read/37781264online edition]
* Zalewski, David A. "A Reconsideration of the Revenue Act of 1932," ''Essays in Economic and Business History,'' 24 (2006), 56–68.

===Primary sources===
* Myers, William Starr and Walter H. Newton, eds. ''The Hoover Administration; a documented narrative''. 1936.
* Hawley, Ellis, ed. ''Herbert Hoover: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President,'' 4 vols. (1974-1977)
** [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/ available online]
* Hoover, Herbert Clark and Lou Henry Hoover, trans., ''De Re Metallica'', by Agricola, G., The Mining magazine, London, 1912
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''The Challenge to Liberty'', 1934
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Addresses Upon The American Road, 1933-1938'', 1938
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Addresses Upon The American Road, 1940-41'', (1941) [http://www.questia.com/read/91318277 online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''The Problems of Lasting Peace'', with Hugh Gibson, 1942
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Addresses Upon The American Road, 1945-48'', (1949) [http://www.questia.com/read/74021135 online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''The Hoover Commission Report on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government'' (1949) [http://www.questia.com/read/8883839?title=The%20Hoover%20Commission%20Report%20on%20Organization%20of%20the%20Executive%20Branch%20of%20the%20Government online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''40 Key Questions about Our Foreign Policy: Answered in Important Addresses and Statements Delivered between 1941 and 1952'' (1952) [http://www.questia.com/read/61545061 online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Memoirs.'' New York, 1951–52. 3 vol; ''v. 1. Years of adventure, 1874–1920; v. 2. The Cabinet and the Presidency, 1920–1933; v. 3. The Great Depression, 1929–1941.'' [http://www.questia.com/read/7721788 vol 2 online edition]
* Dwight M. Miller and Timothy Walch, eds; ''Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Documentary History.'' Greenwood Press. 1998. [http://www.questia.com/read/15310403 online edition]

==External links==
* [http://hoover.archives.gov/ Herbert Hoover Presidential Library]
* [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/hoover.htm Inaugural Address]
* [http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/showfindingaid.cfm?findaidid=HooverH Audio clips of Hoover's speeches]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-1.html Herbert Hoover First State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-2.html Herbert Hoover Second State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-3.html Herbert Hoover Third State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-4.html Herbert Hoover Fourth State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.davidpietrusza.com/Herbert-Hoover-links.html Herbert Hoover Links]
* Herbert Hoover's 1946 - 1947 factfinding mission to Germany. [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?pagenumber=1&documentid=24&documentdate=1947-02-28&studycollectionid=mp&nav=OK (Report No.1)], [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?pagenumber=1&documentid=22&documentdate=1947-03-24&studycollectionid=mp&nav=OK (Report No.3)]
* [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hoover/book.htm Hoover and Truman]

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoover, Herbert}}
[[Category:Progressive Era]]
{{USPresidents}}
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Great Depression]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:New Deal]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Quakers]]

Herbert Hoover

2010-01-09T15:14:59Z

Reservoir: /* Foreign Policy */

{{President
|image=Herbert_hoover.jpg
|seq=31
|term_start=March 4, 1929
|term_end=March 4, 1933 <ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Republican
|vp=Charles Curtis
|previous=Calvin Coolidge
|next=Franklin D. Roosevelt
|birth_date=August 10, 1874
|birth_place=West Branch, Iowa
|death_date=October 20, 1964
|death_place=New York, New York
|spouse=Lou Henry Hoover
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Quaker]]
}}

'''Herbert Clark Hoover'''<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref> was the 31st [[President of the United States of America]] 1929-33, a Republican best known for his inability to prevent the collapse of the U.S. economy into the [[Great Depression]]. he was defeated for reelection by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in a major realignment that marked the beginning of the [[New Deal]] and the [[Fifth Party System]]. Hoover lived another three decades, leading the isolationists in foreign policy and working with his friend President [[Harry S. Truman]] to reform the federal bureaucracy. He was a bitterly reviled target of liberal and Democratic hatreds, while hailed by conservatives as a great, albeit tragic, American hero.

Hoover, building a world reputation as a humanitarian for his successful efforts to prevent starvation in Europe in the wake of [[World War I]], and his remarkable leadership of the business community as Secretary of Commerce (1921-28), was the major political leader of the [[Progressive Era]] in the 1920s. His name was a byword for devotion to duty, efficiency, and humanitarian public service. His reputation fell when he was unable to reverse the [[Great Depression]], and he became the object of attacks by Democrats for the next four decades. He was a hero to most conservatives, including senators [[Robert Taft]] and [[Barry Goldwater]].

==Early Life==
===Family background===
Hoover came from an old Swiss family named Huber. He was born in the Quaker stronghold of West Branch, Iowa. He was the first President to be born west of the Mississippi River. Both of his parents died when Hoover was young. His father, Jesse Hoover died in 1880, and his mother, Hulda Minthorn, died in 1883. He was raised as a Quaker and remained faithful all his life.

In 1885, when "Bert" Hoover was 11, he was sent to the small town of Newberg, Oregon to be cared for by his uncle John Minthorn. Minthorn was a doctor and real estate developer whom Hoover recalled as "a severe man on the surface, but like all Quakers kindly at the bottom."

At a young age, Hoover was self-reliant and ambitious. "My boyhood ambition was to be able to earn my own living, without the help of anybody, anywhere," he once said. As an office boy in his uncle's Oregon Land Company he excelled in bookkeeping and typing, while also attending business school in the evening. Thanks to a local schoolteacher, Miss Jane Gray, the young Hoover was introduced to the novels of [[Charles Dickens]] and [[Sir Walter Scott]]. ''[[David Copperfield]]'', the story of another orphan cast into the world, was Hoover's lifelong favorite.
===Stanford===
In 1891, Hoover entered the new [[Stanford University]] in California. Hoover managed the baseball and football teams, started a laundry, and ran a lecture agency. With the support of other students from less wealthy backgrounds against campus "swells," he was elected student body treasurer on the "Barbarian" slate. It was the only election he ran in until he ran for president.

Hoover majored in geology, studying with Professor John Casper Branner, who helped him get summer jobs mapping terrain in Arkansas and Colorado. Hoover met [[Lou Henry Hoover]], a banker's daughter from Waterloo, Iowa. They shared a love of geology and the environment, and were both remarkably strong willed. Lou said, "It isn't so important what others think of you as what you feel inside yourself". She became a Quaker when they married in 1899; they had two sons.
===Mining engineer===
After graduating in 1895 Hoover worked as a clerk with a San Francisco consulting firm of Louis Janin. He joined the British mining firm, Bewick, Moering & Co. which sent him to the new mines in far western Australia.

Hoover arrived in Albany, Western Australia, in May 1897, and designed mining operations, ordering equipment, and examining new prospects. Hoover often traveled to outlying mines by camel, which he called "even a less successful creation than a horse." After inspecting "Sons of Gwalia" mine he recommended the company buy it; it proved to be one of the richest gold mines in the world.

In 1899 Bewick, Moering sent Hoover to supervise coal mines in China. Hoover went to China with his new bride in 1899; she soon learned Chinese. In 1900, the Hoovers, along with hundreds of foreign families, were trapped by the [[Boxer Rebellion]]. Hoover helped organize defensive barricades and organize food supplies, and Lou helped out at the hospital.

Between 1907 and 1912, Hoover and his wife translated of one of the earliest printed technical treatises: Georg Agricola's '''De re metallica''', originally published in 1556. At 670 pages, with 289 woodcuts, the Hoover translation remains the definitive English language translation of Agricola's Latin work.

==Humanitarian==
Bored with making money, the Quaker side of Hoover yearned to be of service to others. When [[World War I]] started in August 1914, he helped organize the return home of 120,000 American tourists and businessmen from Europe. Hoover led five hundred volunteers to distribute food, clothing, steamship tickets and cash. "I did not realize it at the moment, but on August 3, [[1914]] my engineering career was over forever. I was on the slippery road of public life." {{dictatorship-democracy-Hoover}}

[[Belgium]] faced a food crisis after being invaded by Germany in fall 1914. Hoover undertook an unprecedented relief effort as head of the Commission for the Relief of Belgium (CRB). The CRB became, in effect, an independent republic of relief, with its own flag, navy, factories, mills and railroads. Its $12-million-a-month budget was supplied by voluntary donations and government grants. In an early form of shuttle diplomacy, he crossed the North Sea forty times seeking to persuade the enemies in Berlin to allow food to reach the war's victims. Long before the Armistice of November, 1918, he was an international hero. The Belgian city of Leuven named a prominent square after him.

After the United States entered the war in April 1917, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] appointed Hoover head of the American [[Food Administration]], with headquarters in Washington. It became a major federal emergency agency, standing far above the others in terms of efficiency and success. Hoover cut American consumption of food needed overseas and avoided rationing at home.

After war ended in late 1918, Hoover, a member of the Supreme Economic Council and head of the American Relief Administration, organized shipments of food for millions of starving people in Central Europe. To this end, he employed a newly formed Quaker organization, the [[American Friends Service Committee]] to carry out much of the logistical work in Europe. He extended aid to famine-stricken Communist Russia in 1921. When a critic inquired if he was not thus helping Bolshevism, Hoover retorted, "Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!"

===Hoover Library at Stanford===
During this time, Hoover realized that he was in a unique position to collect information about the Great War and its aftermath. He worked with Stanford to support his Hoover War Collection and donated to it the extensive files of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, the U.S. Food Administration, and the American Relief Administration. Scholars were sent to Europe to collect pamphlets, society publications, government documents, newspapers, posters, proclamations, and other ephemeral materials related to the war and the revolutions and political movements that had followed it. The collection was later renamed the Hoover War Library, and the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace.

==Commerce Secretary==
By 1920 both parties considered Hoover for president. He announced he was a Republican and following the convention supported [[Warren Harding]]. Harding appointed him as Secretary of Commerce, until then a minor job. Hoover, already one of the most famous people in the world (and far more famous than harding or Coolidge) transformed it the most visible, imaginative and path-breaking agency of government.<ref> After Hoover left Commerce relapsed into obscurity again.</ref>

As secretary (and later as President), Hoover revolutionized the relations between business and government. Rejecting the adversarial anti-business stance of [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[William Howard Taft]], and [[Woodrow Wilson]], he sought to make the Commerce Department a powerful service organization, empowered to forge cooperative voluntary partnerships between government and business. This philosophy is often called "associationalism."

Many of Hoover's efforts as Commerce Secretary centered on the elimination of waste and the increase of efficiency in business and industry. It was the climax of the [[Efficiency Movement]]--always a centerpiece of the [[Progressive Era]] and now its central feature. Efficiency meant reducing labor losses from trade disputes and seasonal fluctuations, reducing industrial losses from accident and injury, and reducing the amount of crude oil spilled during extraction and shipping. One major achievement was to promote progressive ideals in the areas of standardization products and designs. He energetically promoted international trade by opening offices overseas that gave advice and practical help to businessmen. He was especially eager to promote [[Hollywood]] films overseas. <ref>David M. Hart, "Herbert Hoover's Last Laugh: the Enduring Significance of the 'Associative State' in the United States." ''Journal of Policy History'' 1998</ref>

Hoover's "Own Your Own Home" campaign was a collaboration with organizations working to promote ownership of single-family dwellings, including the Better Houses in America movement, the Architects' Small House Service Bureau, and the Home Modernizing Bureau. He worked with bankers and the savings and loan industry to promote the new long term home mortgage, which dramatically stimulated home construction. <ref>Janet Hutchison, "Building for Babbitt: the State and the Suburban Home Ideal" ''Journal of Policy History'' 1997</ref>

Among Hoover's other successes were the [[radio]] conferences, which played a key role in the early organization, development and regulation of radio broadcasting. Hoover played a key role in major projects for navigation, irrigation of dry lands, electrical power, and flood control.

As the new air transport industry developed, Hoover held a conference on aviation to promote codes and regulations.

He became president of the American Child Health Organization, and he raised private funds to promote health education in schools and communities.

In the spring of 1927, the Great Mississippi Flood broke the banks and levees and flooded millions of acres on which people lived. The governors of six states called for Hoover in the emergency, so President Coolidge sent Hoover to mobilize state and local authorities, militia, army engineers, Coast Guard, and the [[American Red Cross]]. Hoover set up health units, with a grant from the [[Rockefeller Foundation]], to work in the flooded regions for a year. These workers stamped out [[malaria]], [[pellagra]] and [[typhoid fever]] from many areas. His work during the flood brought Herbert Hoover to the front page of newspapers almost everywhere.

==Election to Presidency==
[[Image:Gop1928.jpg|thumb|300px]]

Coolidge stunned the nation with 12 words announcing he did not choose to run again in 1928. Hoover was the obvious choice of the party and easily won nomination, against the popular governor of New York, [[Al Smith]]. Smith was a Catholic, which alarmed fundamentalist Baptist in the South and Lutherans in the Midwest. Smith was honest but was the product of the notoriously corrupt [[Tammany Hall]] machine. Smith wanted to repeal prohibition and allow saloons to reopen; Hoover, calling prohibition an "experiment" ("a noble experiment") opposed repeal.

Hoover’s reputation, experience, and popularity together, along with the GOP record of peace and prosperity, made him the overwhelming favorite, especially since the Democrats were deeply split north and south over prohibition. Hoover avoided the religious issue. (Quakers were themselves sometimes under attack as pacifists.) Historians agree that Hoover's reputation nationwide and the economic boom, combined with the deep chasm among the Democrats over religion and prohibition, led to his landslide victory.

On the issue of poverty Hoover optimistically promised, "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land."

Hoover won by a smashing landslide, carrying the more urban middle class areas of the South and nearly the entire North, apart from Catholic strongholds like New York City and Boston.
==Presidency: Great Depression==
Although Hoover later came under sustained and intense attack that he did nothing to reverse the depression, the charges were false. He tried any number of approached--but none worked and the economy continued to spiral downward. His basic assumption, from 1929 to 1931, was that it was a temporary short cycle, and like all previous downturns would end shortly. Meanwhile his job was to maintain public optimism, because pessimism would make people cut back further and prolong the downturn. Hoover was using the best available economic knowledge.
===Expanding public works===
Hoover in late 1930 created The President's Emergency Committee on Employment (PECE), as unemployment reached 11%.<ref> Estimates of unemployment were only roughly approximate before 1933.</ref> PECE tried to mobilize private charity and encouraged states, cities and Congress to increase public works spending as a stimulus. They did so, and soon the states and cities were nearly bankrupt on their own. In August 1931, finally realizing this was not a normal cycle, Hoover replaced PECE with the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief (POUR), headed by Walter S. Gifford, president of American Telephone and Telegraph, the nation's largest private company. POUR expanded, coordinated, and improved local and state relief efforts; but the economy relentlessly went lower.

In early 1931 Hoover signed the Wagner-Graham Stabilization Act, which set up the Federal Stabilization Board to initiate public works such as dams and highways. Public works did increase throughout the decade after 1929, but not enough to cover the downturn in private construction, let alone all the other negative sectors. In 1931 the mood in Congress --equally divided after the GOP lost seats in 1930--remained strongly opposed to federal relief; even the National Council of Social Workers refused to endorse relief as a principle at their convention in May. New urban slums--shantytowns derisively called Hoovervilles by the Democrats--were rising in the nation's largest cities.
===Mortgages===
Hoover had played a major role in creating the long-term (20-year) mortgage in the 1920s. In times of prosperity mortgages accelerated national growth, as houses were built and lived in before people had saved enough to pay cash for one. But in a downturn mortgages debt hurt the economy. people sacrificed current consumption to pay the mortgage so they would not lose the house and all the money they put in it. To pay the mortgage they gave up luxuries (like a telephone or new car), made do with old clothes, canceled vacations. The foreclosure rate pushed up and construction of new houses ceased. It was much like 2008-09. Like President Obama, Hoover moved to resolve the mortgage crisis. He called for the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (passed in July 1932), that created a system of federal home loan banks to discount home mortgages. The Federal Home Loan Banks received $125 million in capital (comparable to $32 billion in 2009) to fund the home mortgages held by financial concerns.<ref> The "comparable" figures here are calculating by taking the same % of the GDP in 2009 as the sum was a % of GDP in 1930, 1931 or 1932. This can be found by using these multipliers: to compare spending in 1929 versus 2009, multiply by 146; use 167 in 1930; 197 in 1931; 259 in 1932, and 268 in 1933.</ref> Hoover believed that the ability of private lending institutions to secure new sources of capital would encourage them to make more construction loans and revive the industry. But it had little effect.

===RFC===
The most successful Hoover program--one that continued under FDR--was the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]], proposed by Hoover and created by Congress in early 1932. The collapse in the value of assets combined with demands from panicky depositors to get their money out meant that many banks that were otherwise solvent, hoarded their money and refused to make loans. It was much like the [[Financial Crisis of 2008]]. The RFC could make loans to banks, insurance companies and railroads. The Emergency Relief and Construction Act of July 21, 1932, enlarged its power to allow for loans to state government and to farm agencies. The immediate aim was to restore confidence in financial institutions generally and encourage them to start lending again, prevent ruinous bankruptcies that would further destabilize the shaky economy, and--hopefully-- revive the economy through the restoration of credit. The RFC was capitalized at $500 million (comparable in size to $130 billion in 2009), provided by the federal government, and it was empowered to sell $3.3 billion (comparable to $850 billion in 2009) of debentures. Through the end of the Hoover administration $2.2 billion was actually loaned to authorized borrowers (comparable to $590 billion). The RFC saved many railroads, banks, and insurance companies. Democrats limited its effectiveness by overly stringent security requirements for loans and by the decision of Congress to require public disclosure of borrowers, which virtually forced a bank to admit publicly it was in trouble.

==Presidency: Other actions==
===Reforms===
Hoover was a reformer who expanded [[civil service]], canceled private oil leases on government lands, and prosecuted notorious criminals, most notably [[Al Capone]]. He negotiated a treaty with Canada on the [[St. Lawrence Seaway]]; it in the Senate. He wrote a Children's Charter that advocated protection of every child regardless of race or gender, built the [[San Francisco Bay Bridge]], created an antitrust division in the [[Justice Department]], required air mail carriers to improve service, and proposed federal loans for clearance of urban [[slum]]s.

Hoover organized the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]], reorganized the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]], proposed a federal [[United States Department of Education|Department of Education]], advocated fifty-dollar-per-month [[pension]]s for Americans over 65, chaired [[White House]] conferences on child health, protection, homebuilding and homeownership, and signed the [[Norris-La Guardia Act]] that limited judicial intervention in labor disputes.
===Indians===
Hoover's Quaker upbringing influenced his views that Native Americans needed to achieve economic self-sufficiency. He chose Senator [[Charles Curtis]], an Indian--as his Vice President. (Curtis was the first and last Indian to hold high national office, but he was a figurehead, not a policy maker.) Hoover appointed Charles J. Rhoads as commissioner of Indian affairs. He supported Rhoads' efforts to achieve Indian assimilation and sought to reduce the federal role in Indian affairs to the minimum. He wanted to have Indians acting as individuals instead of as tribes, and assuming the responsibilities of citizenship which had been granted pursuant to [[Indian Citizenship Act of 1924]].<ref>Thomas A. Britten, "Hoover and the Indians: the Case for Continuity in Federal Indian Policy, 1900-1933" Historian 1999 61(3): 518-538. Issn: 0018-2370 </ref>
===Foreign Policy===
Regarding to foreign policy, Hoover originated what Roosevelt later called the "[[Good Neighbor Policy]]" by withdrawing American troops from [[Nicaragua]] and [[Haiti]]. He proposed an arms embargo on [[Latin America]] and a one-third reduction in the world's naval, which was called the [[Hoover Plan]]. The [[Roosevelt Corollary]] was dropped as a part of U.S. foreign policy. He and his powerful Secretary of State [[Henry Stimson]] formulated the [[Stimson Doctrine]] that said the United States would not recognize territories gained by force. This meant the U.S. refused to recognize Japan's seizure of Manchuria.

==Hoover's popularity takes a hit==
Many people lost their jobs during the Great Depression and were forced to move into "shantytowns" that became known as "Hoovervilles", a mocking tribute to the President whom they blamed for their financial woes. <ref>http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/depwwii/depress/hoovers.html</ref> (This link contains pictures of several "Hoovervilles".) Hoover's popularity took a further hit when a group of veterans from [[World War I]] known as the [[Bonus Army]] marched on [[Washington, D.C.]] to demand their cash bonuses that they were to receive in 1945 for their military service. <ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/bonusarmy.htm</ref> Hoover deployed the Army to drive out these marchers, of whom there were up to 10,000, which was a further public relations nightmare. Hoover lost the [[United States presidential election of 1932]] election by a landslide to [[Democrat]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], winning only 59 electoral votes. <ref>http://www.statemaster.com/graph/pre_1932_ele_vot_for_her_hoo-1932-electoral-votes-herbert-hoover</ref>

==Miscellaneous==
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is located in West Branch, Iowa. <ref>http://hoover.archives.gov/</ref>

Hoover's wife, Lou Henry Hoover, served as the president of the Girl Scouts. <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/lh31.html</ref>

==Bibliography==
===Basic readings===
* Best, Gary Dean. ''The Politics of American Individualism: Herbert Hoover in Transition, 1918-1921'' (1975) [http://www.questia.com/read/15384473 online edition], by a conservative scholar
* Bornet, Vaughn Davis, ''An Uncommon President.'' In: Herbert Hoover Reassessed. (1981), pp. 71-88, by conservative scholar
* Burner, David. ''Herbert Hoover: A Public Life''. (1979). good one-volume biography by a liberal historian
* Fausold, Martin L. ''The Presidency of Herbert C. Hoover.'' (1985) standard scholarly overview.
* Fausold Martin L. and George Mazuzan, eds. ''The Hoover Presidency: A Reappraisal'' (1974).
* Hawley, Ellis. ''Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce: Studies in New Era Thought and Practice'' (1981). A major reinterpretation.
* Hawley, Ellis. "Herbert Hoover, the Commerce Secretariat, and the Vision of an 'Associative State,' 1921-1928." ''Journal of American History'' 61 (1974): 116-140. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1918256 in JSTOR]
* Hoff-Wilson, Joan. ''Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive.'' (1975). short favorable biography
* Kennedy, David M. ''Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945'' (1999), the major scholarly synthesis [http://www.questia.com/read/52284041 online edition]
* Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: The Engineer 1874-1914'' (1983), the definitive scholarly biography, by a leading conservative scholar
** Nash, George H. ''Life of Herbert Hoover: The Humanitarian, 1914-1917'' (1988), vol. 2. [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Herbert-Hoover-Humanitarian-1914-1917/dp/0393025500/ref=sr_1_7/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933296&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]
** Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: Master of Emergencies, 1917-1918'' (1996), vol. 3
* Robinson, Edgar Eugene and Vaughn Davis Bornet. ''Herbert Hoover: President of the United States.'' (1976), conservative views
* Romasco, Albert U. ''The Poverty of Abundance: Hoover, the Nation, the Depression'' (1965).
* Smith, Richard Norton. ''An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover'', (1987), major biography, especially useful for 1933-64.
* Wilbur, Ray Lyman, and Arthur Mastick Hyde. ''The Hoover Policies.'' (1937). In depth description of his administration by two cabinet members.

===Major studies ===
* [http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/reference/bibliographies/hoover.html Long annotated bibliography] via [[University of Virginia]].
* Barber, William J. ''From New Era to New Deal: Herbert Hoover, the Economists, and American Economic Policy, 1921-1933.'' (1985). [http://www.amazon.com/New-Era-Deal-Economists-Perspectives/dp/0521367379/ref=sr_1_21/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933346&sr=1-21 excerpt and text search]
* Barry, John M. ''Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America'' (1998), Hoover played a major role.
* Best, Gary Dean. ''The Politics of American Individualism: Herbert Hoover in Transition, 1918-1921'' (1975) [http://www.questia.com/read/15384473 online edition]
* Bornet, Vaughn Davis, ''An Uncommon President.'' In: Herbert Hoover Reassessed. (1981), pp. 71-88.
*Britten, Thomas A. "Hoover and the Indians: the Case for Continuity in Federal Indian Policy, 1900-1933" ''Historian'' 1999 61(3): 518-538. Issn: 0018-2370
* Burner, David. ''Herbert Hoover: A Public Life''. (1979). good one-volume biography.
* Calder, James D. ''The Origins and Development of Federal Crime Control Policy: Herbert Hoover's Initiatives'' Praeger, 1993.
* Carcasson, Martin. "Herbert Hoover and the Presidential Campaign of 1932: the Failure of Apologia" ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1998 28(2): 349-365. [http://www.questia.com/read/5001348651?title=Herbert%20Hoover%20and%20the%20Presidential%20Campaign%20of%201932%3a%20The%20Failure%20of%20Apologia online edition]
* Clements, Kendrick A. ''Hoover, Conservation, and Consumerism: Engineering the Good Life.'' U. Press of Kansas, 2000.
* Darling, Jay N. ''As Ding Saw Herbert Hoover'' (1996) editorial cartoons by Darling (mostly pro-Hoover) [http://www.amazon.com/Ding-Herbert-Hoover-Heritage-Collection/dp/0813823439/ref=sr_1_34/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933525&sr=1-34 excerpt and text search]
* DeConde, Alexander. ''Herbert Hoover's Latin American Policy.'' (1951).
* Dodge, Mark M., ed. ''Herbert Hoover and the Historians.'' (1989).
* Doenecke, Justus D. "Anti-Interventionism of Herbert Hoover" Journal of Libertarian Studies, Summer 1987, 8(2), pp. 311-340. [http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/8_2/8_2_10.pdf online version]
* Fausold, Martin L. ''The Presidency of Herbert C. Hoover.'' (1985) standard scholarly overview.
* Fausold Martin L. and George Mazuzan, eds. ''The Hoover Presidency: A Reappraisal'' (1974).
* Ferrell, Robert H. ''American Diplomacy in the Great Depression: Hoover-Stimson Foreign Policy, 1929-1933.'' (1957).
* Freidel, Frank. "Election of 1932," in ''History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-1968'', ed. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and Fred L. Israel (1971), vol. 3
* Gaddis, Vincent. ''Herbert Hoover, Unemployment, and the Public Sphere: A Conceptual History, 1919–1933.'' (University Press of America, 2005. xxx, 180 pp. isbn 0-7618-3235-1.)
* Gelfand, Lawrence E. ed., ''Herbert Hoover: The Great War and Its Aftermath, 1914-1923'' (1979).
* Goodman, Mark and Gring, Mark. "The Ideological Fight over Creation of the Federal Radio Commission in 1927" ''Journalism History'' 2000 26(3): 117-124.
* Hamilton, David E. ''From New Day to New Deal: American Farm Policy from Hoover to Roosevelt, 1928-1933.'' (1991).
* Hart, David M. "Herbert Hoover's Last Laugh: the Enduring Significance of the 'Associative State' in the United States." ''Journal of Policy History'' 1998 10(4): 419-444.
* Hatfield, Mark. ed. ''Herbert Hoover Reassessed'' (2002).
* Hawley, Ellis. ''Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce: Studies in New Era Thought and Practice'' (1981). A major reinterpretation by leading conservative historian
* Hawley, Ellis. ''Herbert Hoover and the Historians'' (1989).
* Hawley, Ellis. "Herbert Hoover, the Commerce Secretariat, and the Vision of an 'Associative State,' 1921-1928." ''Journal of American History'' 61 (1974): 116-140.
* Hawley, Ellis. "Herbert Hoover and Modern American History: Fifty Years Later," in ''Herbert Hoover Reassessed'',
* Hoff-Wilson, Joan. ''Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive.'' (1975). short biography
* Houck, Davis W. "Rhetoric as Currency: Herbert Hoover and the 1929 Stock Market Crash" ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 2000 3(2): 155-181. Issn: 1094-8392
* Hutchison, Janet. "Building for Babbitt: the State and the Suburban Home Ideal" ''Journal of Policy History'' 1997 9(2): 184-210
* Lee, David D. "Herbert Hoover and the Development of Commercial Aviation, 1921-1926," ''Business History Review'', Vol. 58, No. 1, Transportation (Spring, 1984), pp. 78-102 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3114529 in JSTOR]
* Lichtman, Allan J. ''Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928'' (1979), statistical analysis of voting patterns
* Liebovich, Louis W. ''Bylines in Despair: Herbert Hoover, the Great Depression, and the U.S. News Media'' (1994) [http://www.amazon.com/Bylines-Despair-Herbert-Hoover-Depression/dp/0275948439/ref=sr_1_35/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933525&sr=1-35 excerpt and text search]
* Lisio, Donald J. ''The President and Protest: Hoover, MacArthur, and the Bonus Riot,'' 2d ed. (1994).
* Lisio, Donald J. ''Hoover, Blacks, and Lily-whites: A Study of Southern Strategies'' (1985)
* Lloyd, Craig. ''Aggressive Introvert: A Study of Herbert Hoover and Public Relations Management, 1912-1932'' (1973).
* Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: The Engineer 1874-1914'' (1983), the definitive scholarly biography.
* Nash, George H. ''Life of Herbert Hoover: The Humanitarian, 1914-1917'' (1988), vol. 2. [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Herbert-Hoover-Humanitarian-1914-1917/dp/0393025500/ref=sr_1_7/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933296&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]
* Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: Master of Emergencies, 1917-1918'' (1996), vol. 3
* Nash, Lee, ed. ''Understanding Herbert Hoover: Ten Perspectives'' (1987)
* Olson, James S. ''Herbert Hoover and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1931-1933'' (1977).
* Ortiz, Stephen R. "Rethinking the Bonus March: Federal Bonus Policy, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Origins of a Protest Movement," ''Journal of Policy History,'' 18 (no. 3, 2006), 275–303.
* Peel, Roy V., and Thomas C. Donnelly. ''The 1932 Campaign: An Analysis'' (1935)
* Robinson, Edgar Eugene and Vaughn Davis Bornet. ''Herbert Hoover: President of the United States.'' (1976).
* Romasco, Albert U. ''The Poverty of Abundance: Hoover, the Nation, the Depression'' (1965).
* Schwarz, Jordan A. ''The Interregnum of Despair: Hoover, Congress, and the Depression.'' (1970). Hostile to Hoover.
* Short, Brant. "The Rhetoric of the Post-Presidency: Herbert Hoover's Campaign against the New Deal, 1934-1936," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 21, no. 1 (1991): 33-50.
* Smith, Richard Norton. ''An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover'', (1987) covers 1933-64.
* Sobel, Robert. ''Herbert Hoover and the Onset of the Great Depression 1929-1930'' (1975).
* Spragens, William, and Linda J. Lear, "Herbert Hoover," in ''Popular Images of American Presidents,'' ed. William Spragens (1988)
* Tracey, Kathleen. ''Herbert Hoover--A Bibliography.'' His Writings and Addresses (1977).
* Walch, Timothy. ed. ''Uncommon Americans: The Lives and Legacies of Herbert and Lou Henri Hoover'' Praeger, 2003.
* Weissman, Benjamin M. ''Herbert Hoover and Famine Relief to Soviet Russia: 1921-1923'' (1974)
* Wilbur, Ray Lyman, and Arthur Mastick Hyde. ''The Hoover Policies.'' (1937). In depth description of his administration by two cabinet members.
* Wueschner, Silvano A. ''Charting Twentieth-Century Monetary Policy: Herbert Hoover and Benjamin Strong, 1917-1927.'' Greenwood, 1999. [http://www.questia.com/read/37781264online edition]
* Zalewski, David A. "A Reconsideration of the Revenue Act of 1932," ''Essays in Economic and Business History,'' 24 (2006), 56–68.

===Primary sources===
* Myers, William Starr and Walter H. Newton, eds. ''The Hoover Administration; a documented narrative''. 1936.
* Hawley, Ellis, ed. ''Herbert Hoover: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President,'' 4 vols. (1974-1977)
** [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/ available online]
* Hoover, Herbert Clark and Lou Henry Hoover, trans., ''De Re Metallica'', by Agricola, G., The Mining magazine, London, 1912
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''The Challenge to Liberty'', 1934
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Addresses Upon The American Road, 1933-1938'', 1938
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Addresses Upon The American Road, 1940-41'', (1941) [http://www.questia.com/read/91318277 online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''The Problems of Lasting Peace'', with Hugh Gibson, 1942
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Addresses Upon The American Road, 1945-48'', (1949) [http://www.questia.com/read/74021135 online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''The Hoover Commission Report on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government'' (1949) [http://www.questia.com/read/8883839?title=The%20Hoover%20Commission%20Report%20on%20Organization%20of%20the%20Executive%20Branch%20of%20the%20Government online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''40 Key Questions about Our Foreign Policy: Answered in Important Addresses and Statements Delivered between 1941 and 1952'' (1952) [http://www.questia.com/read/61545061 online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Memoirs.'' New York, 1951–52. 3 vol; ''v. 1. Years of adventure, 1874–1920; v. 2. The Cabinet and the Presidency, 1920–1933; v. 3. The Great Depression, 1929–1941.'' [http://www.questia.com/read/7721788 vol 2 online edition]
* Dwight M. Miller and Timothy Walch, eds; ''Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Documentary History.'' Greenwood Press. 1998. [http://www.questia.com/read/15310403 online edition]

==External links==
* [http://hoover.archives.gov/ Herbert Hoover Presidential Library]
* [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/hoover.htm Inaugural Address]
* [http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/showfindingaid.cfm?findaidid=HooverH Audio clips of Hoover's speeches]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-1.html Herbert Hoover First State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-2.html Herbert Hoover Second State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-3.html Herbert Hoover Third State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-4.html Herbert Hoover Fourth State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.davidpietrusza.com/Herbert-Hoover-links.html Herbert Hoover Links]
* Herbert Hoover's 1946 - 1947 factfinding mission to Germany. [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?pagenumber=1&documentid=24&documentdate=1947-02-28&studycollectionid=mp&nav=OK (Report No.1)], [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?pagenumber=1&documentid=22&documentdate=1947-03-24&studycollectionid=mp&nav=OK (Report No.3)]
* [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hoover/book.htm Hoover and Truman]

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoover, Herbert}}
[[Category:Progressive Era]]
{{USPresidents}}
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Great Depression]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:New Deal]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Quakers]]

Herbert Hoover

2010-01-09T15:14:08Z

Reservoir: /* Commerce Secretary */

{{President
|image=Herbert_hoover.jpg
|seq=31
|term_start=March 4, 1929
|term_end=March 4, 1933 <ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Republican
|vp=Charles Curtis
|previous=Calvin Coolidge
|next=Franklin D. Roosevelt
|birth_date=August 10, 1874
|birth_place=West Branch, Iowa
|death_date=October 20, 1964
|death_place=New York, New York
|spouse=Lou Henry Hoover
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Quaker]]
}}

'''Herbert Clark Hoover'''<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref> was the 31st [[President of the United States of America]] 1929-33, a Republican best known for his inability to prevent the collapse of the U.S. economy into the [[Great Depression]]. he was defeated for reelection by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in a major realignment that marked the beginning of the [[New Deal]] and the [[Fifth Party System]]. Hoover lived another three decades, leading the isolationists in foreign policy and working with his friend President [[Harry S. Truman]] to reform the federal bureaucracy. He was a bitterly reviled target of liberal and Democratic hatreds, while hailed by conservatives as a great, albeit tragic, American hero.

Hoover, building a world reputation as a humanitarian for his successful efforts to prevent starvation in Europe in the wake of [[World War I]], and his remarkable leadership of the business community as Secretary of Commerce (1921-28), was the major political leader of the [[Progressive Era]] in the 1920s. His name was a byword for devotion to duty, efficiency, and humanitarian public service. His reputation fell when he was unable to reverse the [[Great Depression]], and he became the object of attacks by Democrats for the next four decades. He was a hero to most conservatives, including senators [[Robert Taft]] and [[Barry Goldwater]].

==Early Life==
===Family background===
Hoover came from an old Swiss family named Huber. He was born in the Quaker stronghold of West Branch, Iowa. He was the first President to be born west of the Mississippi River. Both of his parents died when Hoover was young. His father, Jesse Hoover died in 1880, and his mother, Hulda Minthorn, died in 1883. He was raised as a Quaker and remained faithful all his life.

In 1885, when "Bert" Hoover was 11, he was sent to the small town of Newberg, Oregon to be cared for by his uncle John Minthorn. Minthorn was a doctor and real estate developer whom Hoover recalled as "a severe man on the surface, but like all Quakers kindly at the bottom."

At a young age, Hoover was self-reliant and ambitious. "My boyhood ambition was to be able to earn my own living, without the help of anybody, anywhere," he once said. As an office boy in his uncle's Oregon Land Company he excelled in bookkeeping and typing, while also attending business school in the evening. Thanks to a local schoolteacher, Miss Jane Gray, the young Hoover was introduced to the novels of [[Charles Dickens]] and [[Sir Walter Scott]]. ''[[David Copperfield]]'', the story of another orphan cast into the world, was Hoover's lifelong favorite.
===Stanford===
In 1891, Hoover entered the new [[Stanford University]] in California. Hoover managed the baseball and football teams, started a laundry, and ran a lecture agency. With the support of other students from less wealthy backgrounds against campus "swells," he was elected student body treasurer on the "Barbarian" slate. It was the only election he ran in until he ran for president.

Hoover majored in geology, studying with Professor John Casper Branner, who helped him get summer jobs mapping terrain in Arkansas and Colorado. Hoover met [[Lou Henry Hoover]], a banker's daughter from Waterloo, Iowa. They shared a love of geology and the environment, and were both remarkably strong willed. Lou said, "It isn't so important what others think of you as what you feel inside yourself". She became a Quaker when they married in 1899; they had two sons.
===Mining engineer===
After graduating in 1895 Hoover worked as a clerk with a San Francisco consulting firm of Louis Janin. He joined the British mining firm, Bewick, Moering & Co. which sent him to the new mines in far western Australia.

Hoover arrived in Albany, Western Australia, in May 1897, and designed mining operations, ordering equipment, and examining new prospects. Hoover often traveled to outlying mines by camel, which he called "even a less successful creation than a horse." After inspecting "Sons of Gwalia" mine he recommended the company buy it; it proved to be one of the richest gold mines in the world.

In 1899 Bewick, Moering sent Hoover to supervise coal mines in China. Hoover went to China with his new bride in 1899; she soon learned Chinese. In 1900, the Hoovers, along with hundreds of foreign families, were trapped by the [[Boxer Rebellion]]. Hoover helped organize defensive barricades and organize food supplies, and Lou helped out at the hospital.

Between 1907 and 1912, Hoover and his wife translated of one of the earliest printed technical treatises: Georg Agricola's '''De re metallica''', originally published in 1556. At 670 pages, with 289 woodcuts, the Hoover translation remains the definitive English language translation of Agricola's Latin work.

==Humanitarian==
Bored with making money, the Quaker side of Hoover yearned to be of service to others. When [[World War I]] started in August 1914, he helped organize the return home of 120,000 American tourists and businessmen from Europe. Hoover led five hundred volunteers to distribute food, clothing, steamship tickets and cash. "I did not realize it at the moment, but on August 3, [[1914]] my engineering career was over forever. I was on the slippery road of public life." {{dictatorship-democracy-Hoover}}

[[Belgium]] faced a food crisis after being invaded by Germany in fall 1914. Hoover undertook an unprecedented relief effort as head of the Commission for the Relief of Belgium (CRB). The CRB became, in effect, an independent republic of relief, with its own flag, navy, factories, mills and railroads. Its $12-million-a-month budget was supplied by voluntary donations and government grants. In an early form of shuttle diplomacy, he crossed the North Sea forty times seeking to persuade the enemies in Berlin to allow food to reach the war's victims. Long before the Armistice of November, 1918, he was an international hero. The Belgian city of Leuven named a prominent square after him.

After the United States entered the war in April 1917, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] appointed Hoover head of the American [[Food Administration]], with headquarters in Washington. It became a major federal emergency agency, standing far above the others in terms of efficiency and success. Hoover cut American consumption of food needed overseas and avoided rationing at home.

After war ended in late 1918, Hoover, a member of the Supreme Economic Council and head of the American Relief Administration, organized shipments of food for millions of starving people in Central Europe. To this end, he employed a newly formed Quaker organization, the [[American Friends Service Committee]] to carry out much of the logistical work in Europe. He extended aid to famine-stricken Communist Russia in 1921. When a critic inquired if he was not thus helping Bolshevism, Hoover retorted, "Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!"

===Hoover Library at Stanford===
During this time, Hoover realized that he was in a unique position to collect information about the Great War and its aftermath. He worked with Stanford to support his Hoover War Collection and donated to it the extensive files of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, the U.S. Food Administration, and the American Relief Administration. Scholars were sent to Europe to collect pamphlets, society publications, government documents, newspapers, posters, proclamations, and other ephemeral materials related to the war and the revolutions and political movements that had followed it. The collection was later renamed the Hoover War Library, and the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace.

==Commerce Secretary==
By 1920 both parties considered Hoover for president. He announced he was a Republican and following the convention supported [[Warren Harding]]. Harding appointed him as Secretary of Commerce, until then a minor job. Hoover, already one of the most famous people in the world (and far more famous than harding or Coolidge) transformed it the most visible, imaginative and path-breaking agency of government.<ref> After Hoover left Commerce relapsed into obscurity again.</ref>

As secretary (and later as President), Hoover revolutionized the relations between business and government. Rejecting the adversarial anti-business stance of [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[William Howard Taft]], and [[Woodrow Wilson]], he sought to make the Commerce Department a powerful service organization, empowered to forge cooperative voluntary partnerships between government and business. This philosophy is often called "associationalism."

Many of Hoover's efforts as Commerce Secretary centered on the elimination of waste and the increase of efficiency in business and industry. It was the climax of the [[Efficiency Movement]]--always a centerpiece of the [[Progressive Era]] and now its central feature. Efficiency meant reducing labor losses from trade disputes and seasonal fluctuations, reducing industrial losses from accident and injury, and reducing the amount of crude oil spilled during extraction and shipping. One major achievement was to promote progressive ideals in the areas of standardization products and designs. He energetically promoted international trade by opening offices overseas that gave advice and practical help to businessmen. He was especially eager to promote [[Hollywood]] films overseas. <ref>David M. Hart, "Herbert Hoover's Last Laugh: the Enduring Significance of the 'Associative State' in the United States." ''Journal of Policy History'' 1998</ref>

Hoover's "Own Your Own Home" campaign was a collaboration with organizations working to promote ownership of single-family dwellings, including the Better Houses in America movement, the Architects' Small House Service Bureau, and the Home Modernizing Bureau. He worked with bankers and the savings and loan industry to promote the new long term home mortgage, which dramatically stimulated home construction. <ref>Janet Hutchison, "Building for Babbitt: the State and the Suburban Home Ideal" ''Journal of Policy History'' 1997</ref>

Among Hoover's other successes were the [[radio]] conferences, which played a key role in the early organization, development and regulation of radio broadcasting. Hoover played a key role in major projects for navigation, irrigation of dry lands, electrical power, and flood control.

As the new air transport industry developed, Hoover held a conference on aviation to promote codes and regulations.

He became president of the American Child Health Organization, and he raised private funds to promote health education in schools and communities.

In the spring of 1927, the Great Mississippi Flood broke the banks and levees and flooded millions of acres on which people lived. The governors of six states called for Hoover in the emergency, so President Coolidge sent Hoover to mobilize state and local authorities, militia, army engineers, Coast Guard, and the [[American Red Cross]]. Hoover set up health units, with a grant from the [[Rockefeller Foundation]], to work in the flooded regions for a year. These workers stamped out [[malaria]], [[pellagra]] and [[typhoid fever]] from many areas. His work during the flood brought Herbert Hoover to the front page of newspapers almost everywhere.

==Election to Presidency==
[[Image:Gop1928.jpg|thumb|300px]]

Coolidge stunned the nation with 12 words announcing he did not choose to run again in 1928. Hoover was the obvious choice of the party and easily won nomination, against the popular governor of New York, [[Al Smith]]. Smith was a Catholic, which alarmed fundamentalist Baptist in the South and Lutherans in the Midwest. Smith was honest but was the product of the notoriously corrupt [[Tammany Hall]] machine. Smith wanted to repeal prohibition and allow saloons to reopen; Hoover, calling prohibition an "experiment" ("a noble experiment") opposed repeal.

Hoover’s reputation, experience, and popularity together, along with the GOP record of peace and prosperity, made him the overwhelming favorite, especially since the Democrats were deeply split north and south over prohibition. Hoover avoided the religious issue. (Quakers were themselves sometimes under attack as pacifists.) Historians agree that Hoover's reputation nationwide and the economic boom, combined with the deep chasm among the Democrats over religion and prohibition, led to his landslide victory.

On the issue of poverty Hoover optimistically promised, "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land."

Hoover won by a smashing landslide, carrying the more urban middle class areas of the South and nearly the entire North, apart from Catholic strongholds like New York City and Boston.
==Presidency: Great Depression==
Although Hoover later came under sustained and intense attack that he did nothing to reverse the depression, the charges were false. He tried any number of approached--but none worked and the economy continued to spiral downward. His basic assumption, from 1929 to 1931, was that it was a temporary short cycle, and like all previous downturns would end shortly. Meanwhile his job was to maintain public optimism, because pessimism would make people cut back further and prolong the downturn. Hoover was using the best available economic knowledge.
===Expanding public works===
Hoover in late 1930 created The President's Emergency Committee on Employment (PECE), as unemployment reached 11%.<ref> Estimates of unemployment were only roughly approximate before 1933.</ref> PECE tried to mobilize private charity and encouraged states, cities and Congress to increase public works spending as a stimulus. They did so, and soon the states and cities were nearly bankrupt on their own. In August 1931, finally realizing this was not a normal cycle, Hoover replaced PECE with the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief (POUR), headed by Walter S. Gifford, president of American Telephone and Telegraph, the nation's largest private company. POUR expanded, coordinated, and improved local and state relief efforts; but the economy relentlessly went lower.

In early 1931 Hoover signed the Wagner-Graham Stabilization Act, which set up the Federal Stabilization Board to initiate public works such as dams and highways. Public works did increase throughout the decade after 1929, but not enough to cover the downturn in private construction, let alone all the other negative sectors. In 1931 the mood in Congress --equally divided after the GOP lost seats in 1930--remained strongly opposed to federal relief; even the National Council of Social Workers refused to endorse relief as a principle at their convention in May. New urban slums--shantytowns derisively called Hoovervilles by the Democrats--were rising in the nation's largest cities.
===Mortgages===
Hoover had played a major role in creating the long-term (20-year) mortgage in the 1920s. In times of prosperity mortgages accelerated national growth, as houses were built and lived in before people had saved enough to pay cash for one. But in a downturn mortgages debt hurt the economy. people sacrificed current consumption to pay the mortgage so they would not lose the house and all the money they put in it. To pay the mortgage they gave up luxuries (like a telephone or new car), made do with old clothes, canceled vacations. The foreclosure rate pushed up and construction of new houses ceased. It was much like 2008-09. Like President Obama, Hoover moved to resolve the mortgage crisis. He called for the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (passed in July 1932), that created a system of federal home loan banks to discount home mortgages. The Federal Home Loan Banks received $125 million in capital (comparable to $32 billion in 2009) to fund the home mortgages held by financial concerns.<ref> The "comparable" figures here are calculating by taking the same % of the GDP in 2009 as the sum was a % of GDP in 1930, 1931 or 1932. This can be found by using these multipliers: to compare spending in 1929 versus 2009, multiply by 146; use 167 in 1930; 197 in 1931; 259 in 1932, and 268 in 1933.</ref> Hoover believed that the ability of private lending institutions to secure new sources of capital would encourage them to make more construction loans and revive the industry. But it had little effect.

===RFC===
The most successful Hoover program--one that continued under FDR--was the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]], proposed by Hoover and created by Congress in early 1932. The collapse in the value of assets combined with demands from panicky depositors to get their money out meant that many banks that were otherwise solvent, hoarded their money and refused to make loans. It was much like the [[Financial Crisis of 2008]]. The RFC could make loans to banks, insurance companies and railroads. The Emergency Relief and Construction Act of July 21, 1932, enlarged its power to allow for loans to state government and to farm agencies. The immediate aim was to restore confidence in financial institutions generally and encourage them to start lending again, prevent ruinous bankruptcies that would further destabilize the shaky economy, and--hopefully-- revive the economy through the restoration of credit. The RFC was capitalized at $500 million (comparable in size to $130 billion in 2009), provided by the federal government, and it was empowered to sell $3.3 billion (comparable to $850 billion in 2009) of debentures. Through the end of the Hoover administration $2.2 billion was actually loaned to authorized borrowers (comparable to $590 billion). The RFC saved many railroads, banks, and insurance companies. Democrats limited its effectiveness by overly stringent security requirements for loans and by the decision of Congress to require public disclosure of borrowers, which virtually forced a bank to admit publicly it was in trouble.

==Presidency: Other actions==
===Reforms===
Hoover was a reformer who expanded [[civil service]], canceled private oil leases on government lands, and prosecuted notorious criminals, most notably [[Al Capone]]. He negotiated a treaty with Canada on the [[St. Lawrence Seaway]]; it in the Senate. He wrote a Children's Charter that advocated protection of every child regardless of race or gender, built the [[San Francisco Bay Bridge]], created an antitrust division in the [[Justice Department]], required air mail carriers to improve service, and proposed federal loans for clearance of urban [[slum]]s.

Hoover organized the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]], reorganized the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]], proposed a federal [[United States Department of Education|Department of Education]], advocated fifty-dollar-per-month [[pension]]s for Americans over 65, chaired [[White House]] conferences on child health, protection, homebuilding and homeownership, and signed the [[Norris-La Guardia Act]] that limited judicial intervention in labor disputes.
===Indians===
Hoover's Quaker upbringing influenced his views that Native Americans needed to achieve economic self-sufficiency. He chose Senator [[Charles Curtis]], an Indian--as his Vice President. (Curtis was the first and last Indian to hold high national office, but he was a figurehead, not a policy maker.) Hoover appointed Charles J. Rhoads as commissioner of Indian affairs. He supported Rhoads' efforts to achieve Indian assimilation and sought to reduce the federal role in Indian affairs to the minimum. He wanted to have Indians acting as individuals instead of as tribes, and assuming the responsibilities of citizenship which had been granted pursuant to [[Indian Citizenship Act of 1924]].<ref>Thomas A. Britten, "Hoover and the Indians: the Case for Continuity in Federal Indian Policy, 1900-1933" Historian 1999 61(3): 518-538. Issn: 0018-2370 </ref>
===Foreign Policy===
Regarding to foreign policy, Hoover originated what Roosevelt later called "the [[Good Neighbor Policy]]" by withdrawing American troops from [[Nicaragua]] and [[Haiti]]. He proposed an arms embargo on [[Latin America]] and a one-third reduction in the world's naval, which was called the [[Hoover Plan]]. The [[Roosevelt Corollary]] was dropped as a part of U.S. foreign policy. He and his powerful Secretary of State [[Henry Stimson]] formulated the [[Stimson Doctrine]] that said the United States would not recognize territories gained by force. This meant the U.S. refused to recognize Japan's seizure of Manchuria.

==Hoover's popularity takes a hit==
Many people lost their jobs during the Great Depression and were forced to move into "shantytowns" that became known as "Hoovervilles", a mocking tribute to the President whom they blamed for their financial woes. <ref>http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/depwwii/depress/hoovers.html</ref> (This link contains pictures of several "Hoovervilles".) Hoover's popularity took a further hit when a group of veterans from [[World War I]] known as the [[Bonus Army]] marched on [[Washington, D.C.]] to demand their cash bonuses that they were to receive in 1945 for their military service. <ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/bonusarmy.htm</ref> Hoover deployed the Army to drive out these marchers, of whom there were up to 10,000, which was a further public relations nightmare. Hoover lost the [[United States presidential election of 1932]] election by a landslide to [[Democrat]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], winning only 59 electoral votes. <ref>http://www.statemaster.com/graph/pre_1932_ele_vot_for_her_hoo-1932-electoral-votes-herbert-hoover</ref>

==Miscellaneous==
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is located in West Branch, Iowa. <ref>http://hoover.archives.gov/</ref>

Hoover's wife, Lou Henry Hoover, served as the president of the Girl Scouts. <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/lh31.html</ref>

==Bibliography==
===Basic readings===
* Best, Gary Dean. ''The Politics of American Individualism: Herbert Hoover in Transition, 1918-1921'' (1975) [http://www.questia.com/read/15384473 online edition], by a conservative scholar
* Bornet, Vaughn Davis, ''An Uncommon President.'' In: Herbert Hoover Reassessed. (1981), pp. 71-88, by conservative scholar
* Burner, David. ''Herbert Hoover: A Public Life''. (1979). good one-volume biography by a liberal historian
* Fausold, Martin L. ''The Presidency of Herbert C. Hoover.'' (1985) standard scholarly overview.
* Fausold Martin L. and George Mazuzan, eds. ''The Hoover Presidency: A Reappraisal'' (1974).
* Hawley, Ellis. ''Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce: Studies in New Era Thought and Practice'' (1981). A major reinterpretation.
* Hawley, Ellis. "Herbert Hoover, the Commerce Secretariat, and the Vision of an 'Associative State,' 1921-1928." ''Journal of American History'' 61 (1974): 116-140. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1918256 in JSTOR]
* Hoff-Wilson, Joan. ''Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive.'' (1975). short favorable biography
* Kennedy, David M. ''Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945'' (1999), the major scholarly synthesis [http://www.questia.com/read/52284041 online edition]
* Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: The Engineer 1874-1914'' (1983), the definitive scholarly biography, by a leading conservative scholar
** Nash, George H. ''Life of Herbert Hoover: The Humanitarian, 1914-1917'' (1988), vol. 2. [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Herbert-Hoover-Humanitarian-1914-1917/dp/0393025500/ref=sr_1_7/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933296&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]
** Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: Master of Emergencies, 1917-1918'' (1996), vol. 3
* Robinson, Edgar Eugene and Vaughn Davis Bornet. ''Herbert Hoover: President of the United States.'' (1976), conservative views
* Romasco, Albert U. ''The Poverty of Abundance: Hoover, the Nation, the Depression'' (1965).
* Smith, Richard Norton. ''An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover'', (1987), major biography, especially useful for 1933-64.
* Wilbur, Ray Lyman, and Arthur Mastick Hyde. ''The Hoover Policies.'' (1937). In depth description of his administration by two cabinet members.

===Major studies ===
* [http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/reference/bibliographies/hoover.html Long annotated bibliography] via [[University of Virginia]].
* Barber, William J. ''From New Era to New Deal: Herbert Hoover, the Economists, and American Economic Policy, 1921-1933.'' (1985). [http://www.amazon.com/New-Era-Deal-Economists-Perspectives/dp/0521367379/ref=sr_1_21/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933346&sr=1-21 excerpt and text search]
* Barry, John M. ''Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America'' (1998), Hoover played a major role.
* Best, Gary Dean. ''The Politics of American Individualism: Herbert Hoover in Transition, 1918-1921'' (1975) [http://www.questia.com/read/15384473 online edition]
* Bornet, Vaughn Davis, ''An Uncommon President.'' In: Herbert Hoover Reassessed. (1981), pp. 71-88.
*Britten, Thomas A. "Hoover and the Indians: the Case for Continuity in Federal Indian Policy, 1900-1933" ''Historian'' 1999 61(3): 518-538. Issn: 0018-2370
* Burner, David. ''Herbert Hoover: A Public Life''. (1979). good one-volume biography.
* Calder, James D. ''The Origins and Development of Federal Crime Control Policy: Herbert Hoover's Initiatives'' Praeger, 1993.
* Carcasson, Martin. "Herbert Hoover and the Presidential Campaign of 1932: the Failure of Apologia" ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1998 28(2): 349-365. [http://www.questia.com/read/5001348651?title=Herbert%20Hoover%20and%20the%20Presidential%20Campaign%20of%201932%3a%20The%20Failure%20of%20Apologia online edition]
* Clements, Kendrick A. ''Hoover, Conservation, and Consumerism: Engineering the Good Life.'' U. Press of Kansas, 2000.
* Darling, Jay N. ''As Ding Saw Herbert Hoover'' (1996) editorial cartoons by Darling (mostly pro-Hoover) [http://www.amazon.com/Ding-Herbert-Hoover-Heritage-Collection/dp/0813823439/ref=sr_1_34/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933525&sr=1-34 excerpt and text search]
* DeConde, Alexander. ''Herbert Hoover's Latin American Policy.'' (1951).
* Dodge, Mark M., ed. ''Herbert Hoover and the Historians.'' (1989).
* Doenecke, Justus D. "Anti-Interventionism of Herbert Hoover" Journal of Libertarian Studies, Summer 1987, 8(2), pp. 311-340. [http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/8_2/8_2_10.pdf online version]
* Fausold, Martin L. ''The Presidency of Herbert C. Hoover.'' (1985) standard scholarly overview.
* Fausold Martin L. and George Mazuzan, eds. ''The Hoover Presidency: A Reappraisal'' (1974).
* Ferrell, Robert H. ''American Diplomacy in the Great Depression: Hoover-Stimson Foreign Policy, 1929-1933.'' (1957).
* Freidel, Frank. "Election of 1932," in ''History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-1968'', ed. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and Fred L. Israel (1971), vol. 3
* Gaddis, Vincent. ''Herbert Hoover, Unemployment, and the Public Sphere: A Conceptual History, 1919–1933.'' (University Press of America, 2005. xxx, 180 pp. isbn 0-7618-3235-1.)
* Gelfand, Lawrence E. ed., ''Herbert Hoover: The Great War and Its Aftermath, 1914-1923'' (1979).
* Goodman, Mark and Gring, Mark. "The Ideological Fight over Creation of the Federal Radio Commission in 1927" ''Journalism History'' 2000 26(3): 117-124.
* Hamilton, David E. ''From New Day to New Deal: American Farm Policy from Hoover to Roosevelt, 1928-1933.'' (1991).
* Hart, David M. "Herbert Hoover's Last Laugh: the Enduring Significance of the 'Associative State' in the United States." ''Journal of Policy History'' 1998 10(4): 419-444.
* Hatfield, Mark. ed. ''Herbert Hoover Reassessed'' (2002).
* Hawley, Ellis. ''Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce: Studies in New Era Thought and Practice'' (1981). A major reinterpretation by leading conservative historian
* Hawley, Ellis. ''Herbert Hoover and the Historians'' (1989).
* Hawley, Ellis. "Herbert Hoover, the Commerce Secretariat, and the Vision of an 'Associative State,' 1921-1928." ''Journal of American History'' 61 (1974): 116-140.
* Hawley, Ellis. "Herbert Hoover and Modern American History: Fifty Years Later," in ''Herbert Hoover Reassessed'',
* Hoff-Wilson, Joan. ''Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive.'' (1975). short biography
* Houck, Davis W. "Rhetoric as Currency: Herbert Hoover and the 1929 Stock Market Crash" ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 2000 3(2): 155-181. Issn: 1094-8392
* Hutchison, Janet. "Building for Babbitt: the State and the Suburban Home Ideal" ''Journal of Policy History'' 1997 9(2): 184-210
* Lee, David D. "Herbert Hoover and the Development of Commercial Aviation, 1921-1926," ''Business History Review'', Vol. 58, No. 1, Transportation (Spring, 1984), pp. 78-102 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3114529 in JSTOR]
* Lichtman, Allan J. ''Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928'' (1979), statistical analysis of voting patterns
* Liebovich, Louis W. ''Bylines in Despair: Herbert Hoover, the Great Depression, and the U.S. News Media'' (1994) [http://www.amazon.com/Bylines-Despair-Herbert-Hoover-Depression/dp/0275948439/ref=sr_1_35/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933525&sr=1-35 excerpt and text search]
* Lisio, Donald J. ''The President and Protest: Hoover, MacArthur, and the Bonus Riot,'' 2d ed. (1994).
* Lisio, Donald J. ''Hoover, Blacks, and Lily-whites: A Study of Southern Strategies'' (1985)
* Lloyd, Craig. ''Aggressive Introvert: A Study of Herbert Hoover and Public Relations Management, 1912-1932'' (1973).
* Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: The Engineer 1874-1914'' (1983), the definitive scholarly biography.
* Nash, George H. ''Life of Herbert Hoover: The Humanitarian, 1914-1917'' (1988), vol. 2. [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Herbert-Hoover-Humanitarian-1914-1917/dp/0393025500/ref=sr_1_7/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193933296&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]
* Nash, George H. ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: Master of Emergencies, 1917-1918'' (1996), vol. 3
* Nash, Lee, ed. ''Understanding Herbert Hoover: Ten Perspectives'' (1987)
* Olson, James S. ''Herbert Hoover and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1931-1933'' (1977).
* Ortiz, Stephen R. "Rethinking the Bonus March: Federal Bonus Policy, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Origins of a Protest Movement," ''Journal of Policy History,'' 18 (no. 3, 2006), 275–303.
* Peel, Roy V., and Thomas C. Donnelly. ''The 1932 Campaign: An Analysis'' (1935)
* Robinson, Edgar Eugene and Vaughn Davis Bornet. ''Herbert Hoover: President of the United States.'' (1976).
* Romasco, Albert U. ''The Poverty of Abundance: Hoover, the Nation, the Depression'' (1965).
* Schwarz, Jordan A. ''The Interregnum of Despair: Hoover, Congress, and the Depression.'' (1970). Hostile to Hoover.
* Short, Brant. "The Rhetoric of the Post-Presidency: Herbert Hoover's Campaign against the New Deal, 1934-1936," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 21, no. 1 (1991): 33-50.
* Smith, Richard Norton. ''An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover'', (1987) covers 1933-64.
* Sobel, Robert. ''Herbert Hoover and the Onset of the Great Depression 1929-1930'' (1975).
* Spragens, William, and Linda J. Lear, "Herbert Hoover," in ''Popular Images of American Presidents,'' ed. William Spragens (1988)
* Tracey, Kathleen. ''Herbert Hoover--A Bibliography.'' His Writings and Addresses (1977).
* Walch, Timothy. ed. ''Uncommon Americans: The Lives and Legacies of Herbert and Lou Henri Hoover'' Praeger, 2003.
* Weissman, Benjamin M. ''Herbert Hoover and Famine Relief to Soviet Russia: 1921-1923'' (1974)
* Wilbur, Ray Lyman, and Arthur Mastick Hyde. ''The Hoover Policies.'' (1937). In depth description of his administration by two cabinet members.
* Wueschner, Silvano A. ''Charting Twentieth-Century Monetary Policy: Herbert Hoover and Benjamin Strong, 1917-1927.'' Greenwood, 1999. [http://www.questia.com/read/37781264online edition]
* Zalewski, David A. "A Reconsideration of the Revenue Act of 1932," ''Essays in Economic and Business History,'' 24 (2006), 56–68.

===Primary sources===
* Myers, William Starr and Walter H. Newton, eds. ''The Hoover Administration; a documented narrative''. 1936.
* Hawley, Ellis, ed. ''Herbert Hoover: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President,'' 4 vols. (1974-1977)
** [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/ available online]
* Hoover, Herbert Clark and Lou Henry Hoover, trans., ''De Re Metallica'', by Agricola, G., The Mining magazine, London, 1912
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''The Challenge to Liberty'', 1934
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Addresses Upon The American Road, 1933-1938'', 1938
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Addresses Upon The American Road, 1940-41'', (1941) [http://www.questia.com/read/91318277 online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''The Problems of Lasting Peace'', with Hugh Gibson, 1942
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Addresses Upon The American Road, 1945-48'', (1949) [http://www.questia.com/read/74021135 online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''The Hoover Commission Report on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government'' (1949) [http://www.questia.com/read/8883839?title=The%20Hoover%20Commission%20Report%20on%20Organization%20of%20the%20Executive%20Branch%20of%20the%20Government online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''40 Key Questions about Our Foreign Policy: Answered in Important Addresses and Statements Delivered between 1941 and 1952'' (1952) [http://www.questia.com/read/61545061 online edition]
* Hoover, Herbert C. ''Memoirs.'' New York, 1951–52. 3 vol; ''v. 1. Years of adventure, 1874–1920; v. 2. The Cabinet and the Presidency, 1920–1933; v. 3. The Great Depression, 1929–1941.'' [http://www.questia.com/read/7721788 vol 2 online edition]
* Dwight M. Miller and Timothy Walch, eds; ''Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Documentary History.'' Greenwood Press. 1998. [http://www.questia.com/read/15310403 online edition]

==External links==
* [http://hoover.archives.gov/ Herbert Hoover Presidential Library]
* [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/hoover.htm Inaugural Address]
* [http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/showfindingaid.cfm?findaidid=HooverH Audio clips of Hoover's speeches]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-1.html Herbert Hoover First State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-2.html Herbert Hoover Second State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-3.html Herbert Hoover Third State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/hoover-4.html Herbert Hoover Fourth State of the Union Address]
* [http://www.davidpietrusza.com/Herbert-Hoover-links.html Herbert Hoover Links]
* Herbert Hoover's 1946 - 1947 factfinding mission to Germany. [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?pagenumber=1&documentid=24&documentdate=1947-02-28&studycollectionid=mp&nav=OK (Report No.1)], [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?pagenumber=1&documentid=22&documentdate=1947-03-24&studycollectionid=mp&nav=OK (Report No.3)]
* [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hoover/book.htm Hoover and Truman]

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoover, Herbert}}
[[Category:Progressive Era]]
{{USPresidents}}
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Great Depression]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:New Deal]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Quakers]]

Calvin Coolidge

2010-01-09T15:12:42Z

Reservoir: /* Bibliography */

{{President|
|name=John Calvin Coolidge Jr.
|image=460px-Calvin Coolidge photo portrait head and shoulders.jpg
|country=the United States
|seq=30
|party=Republican
|term_start=August 2, 1923
|term_end=March 4, 1929<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|vp=None
|vp_dates=1923-1925
|2vp=Charles G.Dawes
|2vp_dates=1925-1929
|previous=Warren G. Harding
|next=Herbert Hoover
|seq2=29
|office2=vice
|term_start2=March 4, 1921
|term_end2=August 2, 1923
|pres2=Warren G. Harding
|previous2=Thomas R. Marshall
|next2=Charles G. Dawes
|birth_date=July 4, 1872
|birth_place=Plymouth, Vermont
|death_date=January 5, 1933
|death_place=Northampton, Massachusetts
|spouse=Grace Goodhue Coolidge
|spouse2=
|religion=Congregationalist
}}

'''Calvin Coolidge''' was the 30th [[President of the United States of America]] from 1923 to 1929, an era of peace and prosperity. He was elected Vice President in 1920 as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] and took office in August 1923 upon the death of President [[Warren G. Harding]]; he was reelected by a landslide in 1924, but in 1928 at the peak of his popularity he announced in typical laconical fashion that he did not choose to run again.

==Early Career==
Coolidge was born in Plymouth, Vermont, July 4, 1872, the son of John and Victoria Moor Coolidge. Both parents were Yankees; his ancestors came from England to New England in the early seventeenth century. Coolidge's father was a farmer and a successful country storekeeper who dabbled in local and state politics. Young Calvin was educated in the local school and later at Black River and St. Johnsbury academies. In 1891 he entered [[Amherst College]] in Massachusetts, where he showed an interest in philosophy. Reserved and reticent, he did not mix readily with his fellows. In his senior year, however, he was selected as class speaker.
==Early Public Life==
After his graduation in 1895 Coolidge studied law, was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1897, and began to practice in the city of Northampton, where he became active in local GOP politics. In 1898 he was elected to the common council. Thereafter he was seldom out of public office. He was elected to the Massachusetts General Court (legislature) in 1907. After two terms he was elected mayor of Northampton and then was elected to the state senate; during 1914-1915 he was president of that body. He had also served as chairman of the Republican State Committee, and he spent three terms as lieutenant governor of the state.

In 1905 Coolidge married Grace Anna Goodhue of Burlington, Vt. The couple had two sons, John and Calvin, the younger of whom, Calvin, died on July 7, 1924, from blood poisoning.

==Governor and Vice President==
When Governor Samuel W. McCall retired in 1918, Coolidge became the unanimous choice of the Republican Party for the governorship; he was elected and took office in January 1919. As governor, Coolidge made no radical innovations nor did he sponsor a legislative program. A conservative, he devoted himself to a program of economy in government. The Boston police strike, and his handling of it, first brought him to national attention. On Sept. 9, 1919, the police struck in protest against the police commissioner's refusal to permit them to join an American Federation of Labor union. Immediately there were riots and disorder. After some urging Governor Coolidge called out the state guard to preserve order and personally took charge. The governor answered Samuel Gompers' objections to his actions with the statement: "There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, at any time." The statement received nationwide publicity. After the nomination of Warren G. Harding by the Republican national convention in 1920, the members of the convention rebelled against the dominant senatorial clique. They nominated Coolidge for second place on the ticket after his name had been presented by a comparatively unknown delegate. Coolidge was elected along with Harding in 1920 and became president on Aug. 2, 1923, when Harding died of natural causes. Coolidge was at his father's house in Vermont when the momentous news arrived. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office.

==Presidency==
The elections in 1922 had reduced the party's numbers in Congress to a scant majority. Moreover, the scandals connected with the Harding administration were in the process of being made public by a congressional committee. Yet, a little over a year later, Coolidge was elected for another term by a landslide over both [[John W. Davis]], [[U.S. Democratic Party, History|Democrat]], and [[Robert M. LaFollette]], Progressive. Davis got 29% of the popular vote, carrying the South from Virginia to Texas, and 136 electoral votes, LaFollette carried Wisconsin and many German and railroad centers, but Coolidge won easily with 382 electoral votes. Four years later, when he left office, his party was in a much stronger position than it had been in 1924.

Felzenberg (19978) shows that Coolidge battled intolerance, lynching and especially the [[Ku Klux Klan]], which lost all its influence during his term.

In 1924 he appointed a commission to investigate the circumstances of the Teapot Dome oil lease, a scandal inherited from the Harding administration. By focusing all the blame on Harding, he permanently tarnished Harding's name and promoted himself.
===Economic policies===
Coolidge famously said, "The business of America is business."

The Coolidge policy was a simple one, made easier by the continuous prosperity and the weakness of the liberal opposition. He believed in government economy, reduced taxation, and gave aid to private business without accompanying restrictive regulation. In 1927 he vetoed the soldiers' bonus bill. Coolidge opposed any government control in interstate electrical power and was against the proposal for government operation of the Wilson Dam at Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River; in 1933 it became part of the [[New Deal]]'s [[TVA]].

Throughout the farming regions of the traditionally Republican Middle West loud complaints were heard about the farm crisis. It was characterized by low prices for crops and the overhang of the land bubble that burst in 1920, leaving many farmers deeply in debt for new lands they purchased at high price during the war. The farmers wanted the federal government to intervene in the market, by buying crops at high prices and dumping them abroad cheaply. Congress passed the legislation, known as the and the [[McNary-Haugen Bill]], a farm relief bill, but Coolidge vetoed it. He supported the alternative program of Hoover and Jardine to modernize farming, by bringing in more electricity, more efficient equipment, better seeds and breeds, and better business practices.
===Foreign Affairs===
In the realm of foreign affairs the president urged the nation to become a member of the World Court, but the bill authorizing it was hedged with so many qualifications that the other member nations refused to admit the United States. Under the direction of Secretary of the Treasury [[Andrew W. Mellon]], plans for the payment of foreign government debts to the United States were negotiated and approved. During the Coolidge administration the Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of national policy, was signed by most of the important nations of the world. The appointment of Dwight W. Morrow as ambassador to Mexico did much to restore good relations with that country, although the policy pursued elsewhere in Latin America in the interest of American investors helped maintain the Latin-American distrust of their northern neighbor.
===Evaluations===
In the short view, the Coolidge administration was a preeminently successful one. Income taxes and corporate taxes were greatly reduced, a major part of the national debt was retired, and the nation experienced some of the most prosperous years in its history. The Coolidge policies were in part responsible for these benefits, but some hostile historians claim they were probably responsible, in part, for the great depression that followed.

Coolidge's image was to a degree shaped by Madison Avenue. Buckley (2003) reveals the role of advertising giant [[Bruce Barton]] in the remaking of the public persona or image of Coolidge during 1919-26 and, in so doing, guiding a dramatic shift in politics and the wide acceptance of consumer culture. The dominance of the political party bosses, who selected Harding in 1920, ended when the business elite wrested control from the party, using their ability to raise money for advertising and ultimately commodifying the political process. Members of this elite suggested that Barton refashion Coolidge from an aloof man driven by the advancement of his career into a voice of the masses, the "silent majority," which Barton accomplished with press coverage, exploiting the new technology of radio for political speeches, newsreels, an exclusive "spontaneous" interview with Coolidge, and by arranging events that would be covered free, as news. Coolidge's election to the presidency in 1924 was the first campaign of personality, in which style was promoted over substance, tapping into "intense private longings" of a public uncertain of its moorings in a rapidly modernizing society. Gilbert (2003) and Gilbert (2005) argues that Coolidge suffered from clinical depression throughout his life. Gilbert discusses the major symptoms of the disorder as evidenced in Coolidge's personal and political behavior. He exhibited symptoms from a very early age, beginning with his grandfather's death when he was six and again with the deaths of his mother and sister during his adolescence. Ascending to the presidency in 1923, Coolidge at first was diligent, effective, and respectful of others. After the death of his teenage son in 1924, however, his demeanor and degree of political engagement changed drastically. He developed hypersomnia, sleeping as much as 15 hours per day, and he began to treat White House staffers and his wife rudely, often publicly humiliating them. Moreover, he became far less effective as a decision-maker and grew increasingly detached from political issues.

==Silent Cal==
A woman once told Coolidge that she had bet someone that she could get him to say more than two words. He told her, "You lose."
===Retirement===
In the summer of 1927 Coolidge made the statement, "I do not chose to run for president in 1928." He did not indicate his choice of his successor. Coolidge left the White House on Mar. 4, 1929, amid the acclaim of the nation. Returning to Northampton, he published his autobiography and wrote articles for newspapers and periodicals. These and his business activities kept him engaged until his death on Jan. 5, 1933, in the midst of the [[Great Depression]].

==Quotes==
*"Nothing is easier than spending the public money. It doesn't appear to belong to anybody."
==Bibliography==
* Buckley, Kerry W. "'A President for the "Great Silent Majority': Bruce Barton's Construction of Calvin Coolidge." ''New England Quarterly'' 2003 76(4): 593-626. Issn: 0028-4866 Fulltext: in Jstor
* Felzenberg, Alvin S. "Calvin Coolidge and Race: His Record in Dealing with the Racial Tensions of the 1920s." ''New England Journal of History'' 1998 55(1): 83-96.
* Ferrell, Robert H. ''The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge.'' U. Press of Kansas, 1998. 244 pp. The standard scholarly study.
* Gilbert, Robert E. "Calvin Coolidge's Tragic Presidency: the Political Effects of Bereavement and Depression." ''Journal of American Studies'' 2005 39(1): 87-109. Issn: 0021-8758 Fulltext: in Cambridge and Swetswise
* Gilbert, Robert E. ''The Tormented President: Calvin Coolidge, Death, and Clinical Depression.'' Praeger, 2003. 288pp
* Greenberg, David. ''Calvin Coolidge'' (2006), short biography. [http://www.amazon.com/Calvin-Coolidge-David-Greenberg/dp/0805069577/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194420081&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Haynes, John Earl, ed. ''Calvin Coolidge and the Coolidge Era: Essays on the History of the 1920s.'' Library of Congress, 1998. 329 pp. essays by scholars
* McCoy, Donald R. ''Calvin Coolidge: A Biography'' (1967), 447pp, the standard scholarly biography
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New york: Carroll & Graf, 2007
* Pietrusza, David (ed.) ''Silent Cal's Almanack: The Homespun Wit and Wisdom of Vermont's Calvin Coolidge'' createspace: 2008.
* William Allen White; ''A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge,'' (1938) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=1105748 online edition]

===Primary sources===
* Calvin Coolidge. ''The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge'' (1929), [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=82302633 online edition]
* Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell, eds. ''The Talkative President: The Off-The-Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge,'' (1964), 276pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=77365439 online edition]
* Calvin Coolidge Telegram to Samuel Gompers re: Boston Police Strike [http://www.davidpietrusza.com/coolidge-gompers-telegram.html online edition]

==External Sources==
*[http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/americanpresident/coolidge excellent essays & documents from Miller Center U Virginia]]

====notes====
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{USVicePresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coolidge, Calvin}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Governors]]
[[Category:Fiscal Conservatives]]

Warren G. Harding

2010-01-09T15:12:03Z

Reservoir: /* Teapot Dome Scandal */

{{President
|image=Jgftyr.jpg
|seq=29
|term_start=March 4, 1921
|term_end=August 2, 1923<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Republican
|vp=Calvin Coolidge
|previous=Woodrow Wilson
|next=Calvin Coolidge
|birth_date=November 2, 1865
|birth_place=Near Blooming Groove, Ohio
|death_date=August 2, 1923
|death_place=San Francisco, California
|spouse=Florence Kling Harding
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Baptist]]
}}

'''Warren G. (Gamaliel) Harding''' (November 2, 1865 - August 2, 1923) was the 29th [[President of the United States of America]], elected in a [[Republican Party|Republican]] landslide in 1920 and serving from 1921 until his sudden death in 1923. After the [[First World War]]. His conservative presidency was marked as a "return to normalcy", with an end to strikes and race riots, broad-scale prosperity, and peace abroad. He looked like a president, and was highly popular; after his deaths any number of scandals were blamed on him, by Democrats and by his Republican successor [[Calvin Coolidge]], so that his reputation among both conservative and liberal scholars is near the bottom.

Despite his ethical weaknesses, Harding deserves praise for winding down World War I and the animosities, hatreds, strikes, race riots, and economic depression it caused, and for his appointments of strong conservatives to the highest positions, especially [[Charles Evans Hughes]] at State, [[Andrew Mellon]] at Treasury, [[Herbert Hoover]] at Commerce, as well as [[William Howard Taft]] as Chief Justice and [[Charles G. Dawes]] as budget director (a new position)

==Career==
Harding's undeviating Republicanism and vibrant speaking voice, plus his willingness to let the machine bosses set policies, led him far in Ohio politics. He served in the state Senate and as Lieutenant Governor, and unsuccessfully ran for Governor. He delivered the nominating address for President [[William Howard Taft|Taft]] at the 1912 Republican Convention. In 1914 he was elected to the U.S. Senate. An Ohio admirer, Harry Daugherty, began to promote Harding for the 1920 Republican nomination because, he later explained, "He looked like a President." <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh29.html</ref>

==1920 Election==
Harding won a sweeping landslide victory over fellow Ohioan James Cox (with [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] as the defeated nominee for Vice President). Harding succeeded by promising to end the highly emotional debates of the Wilson years, and promising realism instead of idealism in foreign policy. Irish Catholics, angry at Wilson for not promoting the independence of Ireland as he had promised, were in control of the Democratic party in most large cities. They sat out the election allowing the GOP sweep all the major cities.

Morello (2001) shows that advertising genius [[Albert Lasker]] sold candidate Harding to the American people by using new advertising strategies and techniques, borrowed from business and from the wartime bond campaigns. Lasker used the three pillars of consumer advertising: "reason why" selling, which compared products directly--aided especially by Harding's photogenic image; testimonial advertising, using endorsements by famous people; and "preemptive advertising," which rushed to claim common characteristics as unique features of the advertised commodity. Lasker used new technology such as movies. He adjusted the front porch campaign style used by [[William McKinley]] in 1896 to shield his weak candidate from uncontrolled public scrutiny. Lasker launched a sharp, relentlessly negative campaign against the policy failures of incumbent Democrat [[Woodrow Wilson]]. The result, Morello concludes, was a triumph of modern advertising technique which propelled the Republicans back into the White House and furthered the commodification of candidates in modern electoral contests.

==Presidency==
=== Key Accomplishments ===
*Eliminated wartime controls
*Slashed taxes
*Established a Federal budget system,
*Restored the high protective tariff
*Imposed tight limitations upon immigration
*Ended the Depression of 1921
*Launched the Roaring Twenties
*Fought the KKK.

=== Immigration Control ===

Mr. Harding signed into law the [[Emergency Quota Act]]<ref>http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1920s/QuotaAct1918.html</ref> which sought to control immigration following [[World War I]] and preserve the distinctive American culture by ensuring the majority of immigrants came from the historically compatible cultures of Northern Europe. This law aimed to bring wages of hard working Americans under control by limiting immigration to 3% of the 1910 census. It was followed on by a similar act in 1924, after Mr. Harding's death.<ref>http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/Race/quota_acts.htm</ref>

=== Justice ===

Harding pardoned the [[socialist]] [[Eugene Debs]] who was imprisoned in 1918 for inciting resistance to the draft during World War I. Despite their political differences, Harding was cordial to him and met with him in the [[White House]], "I have heard so damned much about you, Mr Debs, that I am very glad to meet you personally."<ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/vodebs.htm</ref>

Harding defined the [[Supreme Court]] for two decades, appointing four solidly conservative justices. Harding's appointments included former President [[William Howard Taft]] to be Chief Justice (1921), [[George Sutherland]] (1922), [[Pierce Butler]] (1923) and [[Edward Terry Sanford]] (1923). Two of these justices (Taft and Sanford) served until 1930. The other two (Sutherland and Butler) served until the late 1930s and stood up to the liberal policies of President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]].

In selecting Pierce for the bench, Harding broke with tradition by picking a conservative Democrat even though Harding was a Republican.

Harding sought to calm race relations during the 1921 [[Tulsa Race Riot]]. <ref>see [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3812/is_199911/ai_n8854233 online]</ref>

=== Economics ===
Harding cut federal spending, lowered taxes, and began paying off the wartime national debt. He restored prosperity by 1921, opening a decade of rapid growth known as the ''Roaring 20s''.

Harding created the Bureau of the Budget to allow the White House to monitor all federal spending. Shortly after taking office, Harding also successfully passed promotion of US Agriculture, repeal of the wartime "excess profits" tax and reduction of rail rates.

Rader (1971) challenges the view that the tax policies of Harding's Treasury Secretary [[Andrew Mellon]], reversed the progressive policies of the Wilson years and allowed the wealthy to become wealthier. A congressional coalition of Democrats and insurgent Republicans shared responsibilities with Mellon for the tax legislation of that period, which was written by civil servants in the Treasury. The new rates were very low for most people, and yet were high enough to retire the war debt and generate a budget surplus. The net effect of this legislation, Rader argues, was to "impose more progressivity on the federal income tax structure than has existed in any other peace-time period of American history."

Winters (1990) examines Harding's farm policies and those of Henry Cantwell Wallace, the Secretary of Agriculture (1921-24). Wallace's handling of the postwar collapse of land values and the weakening of the farm economy was inconsistent and largely ineffective because of conflicting views of the value of agriculture in society. On one hand, he saw farming as a business that needed to improve its efficiency; on the other hand, he saw farmers as "yeoman," a special group, embodying republican virtues of independence, which deserved to be subsidized. Programs based on one view often negated those based on the other. Hoover meanwhile argued that the long-term solution lay in modernizing agricultural machinery, seeds, animal breeding and, especially, business practices.
===Foreign and military affairs===
Grant (1995) shows that during World War I the U.S. loaned over $4 billion to Britain. This British war debt was not part of the agenda of the Paris Peace Conference or the 1921 settlement of the Reparation Commission. In response to an appeal by President Harding in his 1921 state of the union address, Congress passed the World War Foreign Debt Commission Act in 1922. The commission was mandated to determine each European nation's debt and negotiate payment over a period up to 25 years. In 1923 the British government agreed to pay $4.6 billion, with an initial payment of $4.1 million, the remainder to be paid over 62 years at 3% interest for the first ten years, 3.5% thereafter. Britain was able to pay because it received large war repoarations annually from Germany. Germany in turn borrowed the money from the U.S. During the [[Great Depression]] President [[Herbert Hoover]] suspended all payyments, and they were never resumed.

Irwin (2003) shows that the Harding Navy department oversaw or initiated the development of fleets of aircraft carriers, the strengthening of submarine forces and naval aviation, and the Marine Corps' adoption of amphibious assault strategies, all of which contributed significantly to US naval success in World War II.

=== Labor and economic issues ===
Labor unions were very weak in the Harding years. Under [[Andrew Mellon]] the Treasuty systematically reduced federal income taxes, which had soared during the war, and sumultaneously paid off most of the wartime debt. Harding today has come under criticism by both liberal economists and free trade advocates for [[protectionist]] policies--high tariffs.

==Scandals==
=== Teapot Dome Scandal===
Harding appointed a close friend and drinking partner Senator Albert B. Fall of New Mexico as his Secretary of the Interior. Fall had charge of valuable oil lands known as "Teapot Dome" and Elk Hills that were for the long-term use of the Navy. Fall secretly leased oil rights to an old friend, who paid bribes to Fall of over $400,000. The scandal was discovered after Harding's death by Harding's enemies in Congress in late 1923. Fall had entangled other businessmen and politicians into his wrongdoing which lead to other indictments of both Democrats and Republicans and continued into the Coolidge administration. Harding did not know about these dealings until shortly before his death.

===Interpretation===
Fine (1990) explains why Harding's reputation took a nose dive, as the new president Calvin Coolidge blamed the troubles of the day on his dead predecessor. "Reputational entrepreneurs" attempt to control the memory of historical figures through motivation, narrative facility, and institutional placement, says Fine. Men remembered as great heroes or great vilains or evil are explained by the Durkheimian theory of consensus and cohesion, but this does not explain the memory of the "incompetent" like Harding. Reputational politics is an arena in which forces compete to control memory. Reputations are grounded in a social construction of character, subsequently generalized to policy and the character of the society. In the case of Harding, the president rated lowest by historians and the public, political opponents set the agenda, while potential supporters did not defend him, given their political interests, structural positions, and a lack of credible narrative.
== Strange Death ==
Harding appeared to be in good health until his collapse and death. The surprise soon gave rise to a savage case of character assassination by insinuations of murder, all thoroughly unfounded. <ref>Ferrell, Robert H. (1996), The Strange Deaths of President Harding, University of Missouri Press p.31</ref>

Shaken by the talk of corruption among the friends he had appointed to office, he began a tour on June 20, 1923 of the West and Alaska. Although suffering from high blood pressure and an enlarged heart, he seemed to enjoy himself and the food -- especially the seafood in Alaska. On his return journey, he became ill with food poisoning. The Presidential train rushed to [[San Francisco]], where his condition worsened. He developed [[pneumonia]], and complicated by his heart ailment, died suddenly on August 23, he suffered a [[heart attack]] in the evening, while his wife was reading to him. He died quietly and instantaneously.

After Harding’s death, the reputation of his administration was ruined by revelations of scandal, primarily the Teapot Dome scandal and a scandal in the [[Veteran’s Administration]] which was particularly distasteful in that post World War I period. The scandals were pushed forward by congressional hearings, but were greeted by the public with what historian Frederick Lewis Allen concedes was brief resentment at both scandals and scandalmongers, followed by apathy.<ref>see [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/ALLEN/ch6.html Allen, ''Only Yesterday'']</ref>

In 1926, author [[Samuel Hopkins Adams]] published the novel “Revelry”, with characters which appeared to be thinly disguised members of the Harding administration. The president in the novel, “Willis Markham” poisons himself by accident, but does not take an available antidote, because he realizes that his death “will wipe out the whole score” of soon to be revealed scandals involving oil and the Veteran’s Administration. The novel was later dramatized .<ref>Ferrell, ''The Strange Deaths of President Harding,'' p.33</ref>.

In 1928, Nan Britton published a book entitled "The President's Daughter" claiming that she and Harding had been lovers and had conceived a child in 1919. According to her, the affair continued for six years, and the lovers' meeting-places included a coat closet in the executive offices of the White House. Historians generally agree she was indeed his lover.

In 1930, Gaston B. Means, who served briefly as an FBI agent during the Harding administration, published ''The Strange Death of President Harding, by Gaston B. Means as told to May Dixon Thacker'', in which he alleged that Mrs. Harding murdered her husband out of jealousy of Ms. Britton, and out of fear of the soon to be revealed Teapot Dome and Veteran’s Administration scandals. Means, who had a long criminal record, provided no evidence and historians dismiss his outlandish claims.

No evidence has ever been found to suggest that Harding had been poisoned by anyone, let alone his wife. The suggestion that she had a motivation to kill the president because of Florence Harding’s jealousy over an affair with Nan Britton makes little sense since she had long known her husband was a womanizer. The suggestion that she would murder the President to somehow deflect scandals that would be met by public apathy is similarly unlikely. Yet despite the source of these charges, their utter lack of factual support, and the unlikeliness of the alleged motives of the First Lady, Frederick Lewis Allen repeated these charges in his very successful book ''Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s'' in 1931. Coming as it did in the deepest part of the [[Great Depression]], Allen’s book, which depicted all of the Republican presidents of the 1920s as bumbling incompetents, was eagerly accepted by a public looking for someone to blame.

== Trivia ==
* Out of all of the Presidents of the U.S. he had the largest feet.
* He was the first president to visit Alaska.
* He was the first President to speak on the radio and the first to have a radio in the White House.
* Harding, [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Barack Obama]] are the only three sitting United States Senators elected to the Presidency.

==Bibliography==
* Anthony, Carl S. ''Florence Harding: The First Lady, the Jazz Age, and the Death of America's Most Scandalous President.'' (1998)
* Downes Randolph C. ''The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865-1920.'' (1970), standard biograpohy to 1920
* Fine, Gary Alan. "Reputational Entrepreneurs and the Memory of Incompetence: Melting Supporters, Partisan Warriors, and Images of President Harding." ''American Journal of Sociology'' 1996 101(5): 1159-1193. Issn: 0002-9602 Fulltext: in Jstor and Ebsco
* Grant, Philip A., Jr. "President Warren G. Harding and the British War Debt Question, 1921-1923." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1995 25(3): 479-487. Issn: 0360-4918
* Grieb, Kenneth J. ''The Latin American Policy of Warren G. Harding'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=2970223 1976 online]
* Irwin, Manley R. "Harding Policies Foster Future Naval Success." ''Naval History'' 2003 17(4): 28-31. Issn: 1042-1920 Fulltext: at Ebsco
* Malin, James C. ''The United States after the World War'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5260560 1930. online] detailed analysis of foreign and economic policies by a conservative historian
* Morello, John A. ''Selling the President, 1920: Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding.'' Praeger, 2001. [http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=201811039533562 online review]
* Murray, Robert K. ''The Harding Era 1921-1923: Warren G. Harding and his Administration.'' (1969), the standard academic study; by a conservative historian
* Payne, Phillip. "Instant History and the Legacy of Scandal: the Tangled Memory of Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon, and William Jefferson Clinton." ''Prospects'' 2003 28: 597-625. Issn: 0361-2333
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New York: Carroll & Graf, 2007.
* Rader, Benjamin G. "Federal Taxation in the 1920s: a Re-examination." ''Historian'' 1971 33(3): 415-435. Issn: 0018-2370
* Russell, Francis. ''The Shadow of Blooming Grove'' , 1968. biography
* Sinclair, Andrew. ''The Available Man: The Life behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding'' (1965) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=8550753 online full-scale biography]
* Winters, Donald L. "Ambiguity and Agricultural Policy: Henry Cantwell Wallace as Secretary of Agriculture." ''Agricultural History'' 1990 64(2): 191-198. Issn: 0002-1482
===Primary sources===
* Warren G. Harding, ''Our Common Country: Mutual Good Will in America.'' 2003; essays written in late 1920; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109794562 online edition]

==References==
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Warren G.}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Corruption]]

Warren G. Harding

2010-01-09T15:11:04Z

Reservoir: /* Labor and economic issues */

{{President
|image=Jgftyr.jpg
|seq=29
|term_start=March 4, 1921
|term_end=August 2, 1923<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Republican
|vp=Calvin Coolidge
|previous=Woodrow Wilson
|next=Calvin Coolidge
|birth_date=November 2, 1865
|birth_place=Near Blooming Groove, Ohio
|death_date=August 2, 1923
|death_place=San Francisco, California
|spouse=Florence Kling Harding
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Baptist]]
}}

'''Warren G. (Gamaliel) Harding''' (November 2, 1865 - August 2, 1923) was the 29th [[President of the United States of America]], elected in a [[Republican Party|Republican]] landslide in 1920 and serving from 1921 until his sudden death in 1923. After the [[First World War]]. His conservative presidency was marked as a "return to normalcy", with an end to strikes and race riots, broad-scale prosperity, and peace abroad. He looked like a president, and was highly popular; after his deaths any number of scandals were blamed on him, so that his reputation among both conservative and liberal scholars is near the bottom.

Despite his ethical weaknesses, Harding deserves praise for winding down World War I and the animosities, hatreds, strikes, race riots, and economic depression it caused, and for his appointments of strong conservatives to the highest positions, especially [[Charles Evans Hughes]] at State, [[Andrew Mellon]] at Treasury, [[Herbert Hoover]] at Commerce, as well as [[William Howard Taft]] as Chief Justice and [[Charles G. Dawes]] as budget director (a new position)

==Career==
Harding's undeviating Republicanism and vibrant speaking voice, plus his willingness to let the machine bosses set policies, led him far in Ohio politics. He served in the state Senate and as Lieutenant Governor, and unsuccessfully ran for Governor. He delivered the nominating address for President [[William Howard Taft|Taft]] at the 1912 Republican Convention. In 1914 he was elected to the U.S. Senate. An Ohio admirer, Harry Daugherty, began to promote Harding for the 1920 Republican nomination because, he later explained, "He looked like a President." <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh29.html</ref>

==1920 Election==
Harding won a sweeping landslide victory over fellow Ohioan James Cox (with [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] as the defeated nominee for Vice President). Harding succeeded by promising to end the highly emotional debates of the Wilson years, and promising realism instead of idealism in foreign policy. Irish Catholics, angry at Wilson for not promoting the independence of Ireland as he had promised, were in control of the Democratic party in most large cities. They sat out the election allowing the GOP sweep all the major cities.

Morello (2001) shows that advertising genius [[Albert Lasker]] sold candidate Harding to the American people by using new advertising strategies and techniques, borrowed from business and from the wartime bond campaigns. Lasker used the three pillars of consumer advertising: "reason why" selling, which compared products directly--aided especially by Harding's photogenic image; testimonial advertising, using endorsements by famous people; and "preemptive advertising," which rushed to claim common characteristics as unique features of the advertised commodity. Lasker used new technology such as movies. He adjusted the front porch campaign style used by [[William McKinley]] in 1896 to shield his weak candidate from uncontrolled public scrutiny. Lasker launched a sharp, relentlessly negative campaign against the policy failures of incumbent Democrat [[Woodrow Wilson]]. The result, Morello concludes, was a triumph of modern advertising technique which propelled the Republicans back into the White House and furthered the commodification of candidates in modern electoral contests.

==Presidency==
=== Key Accomplishments ===
*Eliminated wartime controls
*Slashed taxes
*Established a Federal budget system,
*Restored the high protective tariff
*Imposed tight limitations upon immigration
*Ended the Depression of 1921
*Launched the Roaring Twenties
*Fought the KKK.

=== Immigration Control ===

Mr. Harding signed into law the [[Emergency Quota Act]]<ref>http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1920s/QuotaAct1918.html</ref> which sought to control immigration following [[World War I]] and preserve the distinctive American culture by ensuring the majority of immigrants came from the historically compatible cultures of Northern Europe. This law aimed to bring wages of hard working Americans under control by limiting immigration to 3% of the 1910 census. It was followed on by a similar act in 1924, after Mr. Harding's death.<ref>http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/Race/quota_acts.htm</ref>

=== Justice ===

Harding pardoned the [[socialist]] [[Eugene Debs]] who was imprisoned in 1918 for inciting resistance to the draft during World War I. Despite their political differences, Harding was cordial to him and met with him in the [[White House]], "I have heard so damned much about you, Mr Debs, that I am very glad to meet you personally."<ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/vodebs.htm</ref>

Harding defined the [[Supreme Court]] for two decades, appointing four solidly conservative justices. Harding's appointments included former President [[William Howard Taft]] to be Chief Justice (1921), [[George Sutherland]] (1922), [[Pierce Butler]] (1923) and [[Edward Terry Sanford]] (1923). Two of these justices (Taft and Sanford) served until 1930. The other two (Sutherland and Butler) served until the late 1930s and stood up to the liberal policies of President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]].

In selecting Pierce for the bench, Harding broke with tradition by picking a conservative Democrat even though Harding was a Republican.

Harding sought to calm race relations during the 1921 [[Tulsa Race Riot]]. <ref>see [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3812/is_199911/ai_n8854233 online]</ref>

=== Economics ===
Harding cut federal spending, lowered taxes, and began paying off the wartime national debt. He restored prosperity by 1921, opening a decade of rapid growth known as the ''Roaring 20s''.

Harding created the Bureau of the Budget to allow the White House to monitor all federal spending. Shortly after taking office, Harding also successfully passed promotion of US Agriculture, repeal of the wartime "excess profits" tax and reduction of rail rates.

Rader (1971) challenges the view that the tax policies of Harding's Treasury Secretary [[Andrew Mellon]], reversed the progressive policies of the Wilson years and allowed the wealthy to become wealthier. A congressional coalition of Democrats and insurgent Republicans shared responsibilities with Mellon for the tax legislation of that period, which was written by civil servants in the Treasury. The new rates were very low for most people, and yet were high enough to retire the war debt and generate a budget surplus. The net effect of this legislation, Rader argues, was to "impose more progressivity on the federal income tax structure than has existed in any other peace-time period of American history."

Winters (1990) examines Harding's farm policies and those of Henry Cantwell Wallace, the Secretary of Agriculture (1921-24). Wallace's handling of the postwar collapse of land values and the weakening of the farm economy was inconsistent and largely ineffective because of conflicting views of the value of agriculture in society. On one hand, he saw farming as a business that needed to improve its efficiency; on the other hand, he saw farmers as "yeoman," a special group, embodying republican virtues of independence, which deserved to be subsidized. Programs based on one view often negated those based on the other. Hoover meanwhile argued that the long-term solution lay in modernizing agricultural machinery, seeds, animal breeding and, especially, business practices.
===Foreign and military affairs===
Grant (1995) shows that during World War I the U.S. loaned over $4 billion to Britain. This British war debt was not part of the agenda of the Paris Peace Conference or the 1921 settlement of the Reparation Commission. In response to an appeal by President Harding in his 1921 state of the union address, Congress passed the World War Foreign Debt Commission Act in 1922. The commission was mandated to determine each European nation's debt and negotiate payment over a period up to 25 years. In 1923 the British government agreed to pay $4.6 billion, with an initial payment of $4.1 million, the remainder to be paid over 62 years at 3% interest for the first ten years, 3.5% thereafter. Britain was able to pay because it received large war repoarations annually from Germany. Germany in turn borrowed the money from the U.S. During the [[Great Depression]] President [[Herbert Hoover]] suspended all payyments, and they were never resumed.

Irwin (2003) shows that the Harding Navy department oversaw or initiated the development of fleets of aircraft carriers, the strengthening of submarine forces and naval aviation, and the Marine Corps' adoption of amphibious assault strategies, all of which contributed significantly to US naval success in World War II.

=== Labor and economic issues ===
Labor unions were very weak in the Harding years. Under [[Andrew Mellon]] the Treasuty systematically reduced federal income taxes, which had soared during the war, and sumultaneously paid off most of the wartime debt. Harding today has come under criticism by both liberal economists and free trade advocates for [[protectionist]] policies--high tariffs.

==Scandals==
=== Teapot Dome Scandal===
Harding appointed a close friend anddrinking partner Senator Albert B. Fall of New Mexico as his Secretary of the Interior. Fall had charge of valuable oil lands known as "Teapot Dome" that were for the long-term use of the Navy. Fall secretly leased oil rights to an old friend, who paid bribes to Fall of over $400,000. The scandal was discovered after Harding's death by Harding's enemies in Congress in late 1923. Fall had entangled other businessmen and politicians into his wrongdoing which lead to other indictments of both Democrats and Republicans and continued into the Coolidge administration. Harding did not know about these dealings until shortly before his death.
===Interpretation===
Fine (1990) explains why Harding's reputation took a nose dive, as the new president Calvin Coolidge blamed the troubles of the day on his dead predecessor. "Reputational entrepreneurs" attempt to control the memory of historical figures through motivation, narrative facility, and institutional placement, says Fine. Men remembered as great heroes or great vilains or evil are explained by the Durkheimian theory of consensus and cohesion, but this does not explain the memory of the "incompetent" like Harding. Reputational politics is an arena in which forces compete to control memory. Reputations are grounded in a social construction of character, subsequently generalized to policy and the character of the society. In the case of Harding, the president rated lowest by historians and the public, political opponents set the agenda, while potential supporters did not defend him, given their political interests, structural positions, and a lack of credible narrative.
== Strange Death ==
Harding appeared to be in good health until his collapse and death. The surprise soon gave rise to a savage case of character assassination by insinuations of murder, all thoroughly unfounded. <ref>Ferrell, Robert H. (1996), The Strange Deaths of President Harding, University of Missouri Press p.31</ref>

Shaken by the talk of corruption among the friends he had appointed to office, he began a tour on June 20, 1923 of the West and Alaska. Although suffering from high blood pressure and an enlarged heart, he seemed to enjoy himself and the food -- especially the seafood in Alaska. On his return journey, he became ill with food poisoning. The Presidential train rushed to [[San Francisco]], where his condition worsened. He developed [[pneumonia]], and complicated by his heart ailment, died suddenly on August 23, he suffered a [[heart attack]] in the evening, while his wife was reading to him. He died quietly and instantaneously.

After Harding’s death, the reputation of his administration was ruined by revelations of scandal, primarily the Teapot Dome scandal and a scandal in the [[Veteran’s Administration]] which was particularly distasteful in that post World War I period. The scandals were pushed forward by congressional hearings, but were greeted by the public with what historian Frederick Lewis Allen concedes was brief resentment at both scandals and scandalmongers, followed by apathy.<ref>see [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/ALLEN/ch6.html Allen, ''Only Yesterday'']</ref>

In 1926, author [[Samuel Hopkins Adams]] published the novel “Revelry”, with characters which appeared to be thinly disguised members of the Harding administration. The president in the novel, “Willis Markham” poisons himself by accident, but does not take an available antidote, because he realizes that his death “will wipe out the whole score” of soon to be revealed scandals involving oil and the Veteran’s Administration. The novel was later dramatized .<ref>Ferrell, ''The Strange Deaths of President Harding,'' p.33</ref>.

In 1928, Nan Britton published a book entitled "The President's Daughter" claiming that she and Harding had been lovers and had conceived a child in 1919. According to her, the affair continued for six years, and the lovers' meeting-places included a coat closet in the executive offices of the White House. Historians generally agree she was indeed his lover.

In 1930, Gaston B. Means, who served briefly as an FBI agent during the Harding administration, published ''The Strange Death of President Harding, by Gaston B. Means as told to May Dixon Thacker'', in which he alleged that Mrs. Harding murdered her husband out of jealousy of Ms. Britton, and out of fear of the soon to be revealed Teapot Dome and Veteran’s Administration scandals. Means, who had a long criminal record, provided no evidence and historians dismiss his outlandish claims.

No evidence has ever been found to suggest that Harding had been poisoned by anyone, let alone his wife. The suggestion that she had a motivation to kill the president because of Florence Harding’s jealousy over an affair with Nan Britton makes little sense since she had long known her husband was a womanizer. The suggestion that she would murder the President to somehow deflect scandals that would be met by public apathy is similarly unlikely. Yet despite the source of these charges, their utter lack of factual support, and the unlikeliness of the alleged motives of the First Lady, Frederick Lewis Allen repeated these charges in his very successful book ''Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s'' in 1931. Coming as it did in the deepest part of the [[Great Depression]], Allen’s book, which depicted all of the Republican presidents of the 1920s as bumbling incompetents, was eagerly accepted by a public looking for someone to blame.

== Trivia ==
* Out of all of the Presidents of the U.S. he had the largest feet.
* He was the first president to visit Alaska.
* He was the first President to speak on the radio and the first to have a radio in the White House.
* Harding, [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Barack Obama]] are the only three sitting United States Senators elected to the Presidency.

==Bibliography==
* Anthony, Carl S. ''Florence Harding: The First Lady, the Jazz Age, and the Death of America's Most Scandalous President.'' (1998)
* Downes Randolph C. ''The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865-1920.'' (1970), standard biograpohy to 1920
* Fine, Gary Alan. "Reputational Entrepreneurs and the Memory of Incompetence: Melting Supporters, Partisan Warriors, and Images of President Harding." ''American Journal of Sociology'' 1996 101(5): 1159-1193. Issn: 0002-9602 Fulltext: in Jstor and Ebsco
* Grant, Philip A., Jr. "President Warren G. Harding and the British War Debt Question, 1921-1923." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1995 25(3): 479-487. Issn: 0360-4918
* Grieb, Kenneth J. ''The Latin American Policy of Warren G. Harding'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=2970223 1976 online]
* Irwin, Manley R. "Harding Policies Foster Future Naval Success." ''Naval History'' 2003 17(4): 28-31. Issn: 1042-1920 Fulltext: at Ebsco
* Malin, James C. ''The United States after the World War'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5260560 1930. online] detailed analysis of foreign and economic policies by a conservative historian
* Morello, John A. ''Selling the President, 1920: Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding.'' Praeger, 2001. [http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=201811039533562 online review]
* Murray, Robert K. ''The Harding Era 1921-1923: Warren G. Harding and his Administration.'' (1969), the standard academic study; by a conservative historian
* Payne, Phillip. "Instant History and the Legacy of Scandal: the Tangled Memory of Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon, and William Jefferson Clinton." ''Prospects'' 2003 28: 597-625. Issn: 0361-2333
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New York: Carroll & Graf, 2007.
* Rader, Benjamin G. "Federal Taxation in the 1920s: a Re-examination." ''Historian'' 1971 33(3): 415-435. Issn: 0018-2370
* Russell, Francis. ''The Shadow of Blooming Grove'' , 1968. biography
* Sinclair, Andrew. ''The Available Man: The Life behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding'' (1965) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=8550753 online full-scale biography]
* Winters, Donald L. "Ambiguity and Agricultural Policy: Henry Cantwell Wallace as Secretary of Agriculture." ''Agricultural History'' 1990 64(2): 191-198. Issn: 0002-1482
===Primary sources===
* Warren G. Harding, ''Our Common Country: Mutual Good Will in America.'' 2003; essays written in late 1920; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109794562 online edition]

==References==
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Warren G.}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Corruption]]

Warren G. Harding

2010-01-09T15:10:42Z

Reservoir: /* Foreign and military affairs */

{{President
|image=Jgftyr.jpg
|seq=29
|term_start=March 4, 1921
|term_end=August 2, 1923<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Republican
|vp=Calvin Coolidge
|previous=Woodrow Wilson
|next=Calvin Coolidge
|birth_date=November 2, 1865
|birth_place=Near Blooming Groove, Ohio
|death_date=August 2, 1923
|death_place=San Francisco, California
|spouse=Florence Kling Harding
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Baptist]]
}}

'''Warren G. (Gamaliel) Harding''' (November 2, 1865 - August 2, 1923) was the 29th [[President of the United States of America]], elected in a [[Republican Party|Republican]] landslide in 1920 and serving from 1921 until his sudden death in 1923. After the [[First World War]]. His conservative presidency was marked as a "return to normalcy", with an end to strikes and race riots, broad-scale prosperity, and peace abroad. He looked like a president, and was highly popular; after his deaths any number of scandals were blamed on him, so that his reputation among both conservative and liberal scholars is near the bottom.

Despite his ethical weaknesses, Harding deserves praise for winding down World War I and the animosities, hatreds, strikes, race riots, and economic depression it caused, and for his appointments of strong conservatives to the highest positions, especially [[Charles Evans Hughes]] at State, [[Andrew Mellon]] at Treasury, [[Herbert Hoover]] at Commerce, as well as [[William Howard Taft]] as Chief Justice and [[Charles G. Dawes]] as budget director (a new position)

==Career==
Harding's undeviating Republicanism and vibrant speaking voice, plus his willingness to let the machine bosses set policies, led him far in Ohio politics. He served in the state Senate and as Lieutenant Governor, and unsuccessfully ran for Governor. He delivered the nominating address for President [[William Howard Taft|Taft]] at the 1912 Republican Convention. In 1914 he was elected to the U.S. Senate. An Ohio admirer, Harry Daugherty, began to promote Harding for the 1920 Republican nomination because, he later explained, "He looked like a President." <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh29.html</ref>

==1920 Election==
Harding won a sweeping landslide victory over fellow Ohioan James Cox (with [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] as the defeated nominee for Vice President). Harding succeeded by promising to end the highly emotional debates of the Wilson years, and promising realism instead of idealism in foreign policy. Irish Catholics, angry at Wilson for not promoting the independence of Ireland as he had promised, were in control of the Democratic party in most large cities. They sat out the election allowing the GOP sweep all the major cities.

Morello (2001) shows that advertising genius [[Albert Lasker]] sold candidate Harding to the American people by using new advertising strategies and techniques, borrowed from business and from the wartime bond campaigns. Lasker used the three pillars of consumer advertising: "reason why" selling, which compared products directly--aided especially by Harding's photogenic image; testimonial advertising, using endorsements by famous people; and "preemptive advertising," which rushed to claim common characteristics as unique features of the advertised commodity. Lasker used new technology such as movies. He adjusted the front porch campaign style used by [[William McKinley]] in 1896 to shield his weak candidate from uncontrolled public scrutiny. Lasker launched a sharp, relentlessly negative campaign against the policy failures of incumbent Democrat [[Woodrow Wilson]]. The result, Morello concludes, was a triumph of modern advertising technique which propelled the Republicans back into the White House and furthered the commodification of candidates in modern electoral contests.

==Presidency==
=== Key Accomplishments ===
*Eliminated wartime controls
*Slashed taxes
*Established a Federal budget system,
*Restored the high protective tariff
*Imposed tight limitations upon immigration
*Ended the Depression of 1921
*Launched the Roaring Twenties
*Fought the KKK.

=== Immigration Control ===

Mr. Harding signed into law the [[Emergency Quota Act]]<ref>http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1920s/QuotaAct1918.html</ref> which sought to control immigration following [[World War I]] and preserve the distinctive American culture by ensuring the majority of immigrants came from the historically compatible cultures of Northern Europe. This law aimed to bring wages of hard working Americans under control by limiting immigration to 3% of the 1910 census. It was followed on by a similar act in 1924, after Mr. Harding's death.<ref>http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/Race/quota_acts.htm</ref>

=== Justice ===

Harding pardoned the [[socialist]] [[Eugene Debs]] who was imprisoned in 1918 for inciting resistance to the draft during World War I. Despite their political differences, Harding was cordial to him and met with him in the [[White House]], "I have heard so damned much about you, Mr Debs, that I am very glad to meet you personally."<ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/vodebs.htm</ref>

Harding defined the [[Supreme Court]] for two decades, appointing four solidly conservative justices. Harding's appointments included former President [[William Howard Taft]] to be Chief Justice (1921), [[George Sutherland]] (1922), [[Pierce Butler]] (1923) and [[Edward Terry Sanford]] (1923). Two of these justices (Taft and Sanford) served until 1930. The other two (Sutherland and Butler) served until the late 1930s and stood up to the liberal policies of President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]].

In selecting Pierce for the bench, Harding broke with tradition by picking a conservative Democrat even though Harding was a Republican.

Harding sought to calm race relations during the 1921 [[Tulsa Race Riot]]. <ref>see [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3812/is_199911/ai_n8854233 online]</ref>

=== Economics ===
Harding cut federal spending, lowered taxes, and began paying off the wartime national debt. He restored prosperity by 1921, opening a decade of rapid growth known as the ''Roaring 20s''.

Harding created the Bureau of the Budget to allow the White House to monitor all federal spending. Shortly after taking office, Harding also successfully passed promotion of US Agriculture, repeal of the wartime "excess profits" tax and reduction of rail rates.

Rader (1971) challenges the view that the tax policies of Harding's Treasury Secretary [[Andrew Mellon]], reversed the progressive policies of the Wilson years and allowed the wealthy to become wealthier. A congressional coalition of Democrats and insurgent Republicans shared responsibilities with Mellon for the tax legislation of that period, which was written by civil servants in the Treasury. The new rates were very low for most people, and yet were high enough to retire the war debt and generate a budget surplus. The net effect of this legislation, Rader argues, was to "impose more progressivity on the federal income tax structure than has existed in any other peace-time period of American history."

Winters (1990) examines Harding's farm policies and those of Henry Cantwell Wallace, the Secretary of Agriculture (1921-24). Wallace's handling of the postwar collapse of land values and the weakening of the farm economy was inconsistent and largely ineffective because of conflicting views of the value of agriculture in society. On one hand, he saw farming as a business that needed to improve its efficiency; on the other hand, he saw farmers as "yeoman," a special group, embodying republican virtues of independence, which deserved to be subsidized. Programs based on one view often negated those based on the other. Hoover meanwhile argued that the long-term solution lay in modernizing agricultural machinery, seeds, animal breeding and, especially, business practices.
===Foreign and military affairs===
Grant (1995) shows that during World War I the U.S. loaned over $4 billion to Britain. This British war debt was not part of the agenda of the Paris Peace Conference or the 1921 settlement of the Reparation Commission. In response to an appeal by President Harding in his 1921 state of the union address, Congress passed the World War Foreign Debt Commission Act in 1922. The commission was mandated to determine each European nation's debt and negotiate payment over a period up to 25 years. In 1923 the British government agreed to pay $4.6 billion, with an initial payment of $4.1 million, the remainder to be paid over 62 years at 3% interest for the first ten years, 3.5% thereafter. Britain was able to pay because it received large war repoarations annually from Germany. Germany in turn borrowed the money from the U.S. During the [[Great Depression]] President [[Herbert Hoover]] suspended all payyments, and they were never resumed.

Irwin (2003) shows that the Harding Navy department oversaw or initiated the development of fleets of aircraft carriers, the strengthening of submarine forces and naval aviation, and the Marine Corps' adoption of amphibious assault strategies, all of which contributed significantly to US naval success in World War II.

=== Labor and economic issues ===
Labor unions were very weak in the Harding years. Under [[Andrew mellon]] the Treasuty systematically reduced federal income taxes, which had soared during the war, and sumultaneously paid off most of the wartime debt. Harding today has come under criticism by both liberal economists and free trade advocates for [[protectionist]] policies--high tariffs.

==Scandals==
=== Teapot Dome Scandal===
Harding appointed a close friend anddrinking partner Senator Albert B. Fall of New Mexico as his Secretary of the Interior. Fall had charge of valuable oil lands known as "Teapot Dome" that were for the long-term use of the Navy. Fall secretly leased oil rights to an old friend, who paid bribes to Fall of over $400,000. The scandal was discovered after Harding's death by Harding's enemies in Congress in late 1923. Fall had entangled other businessmen and politicians into his wrongdoing which lead to other indictments of both Democrats and Republicans and continued into the Coolidge administration. Harding did not know about these dealings until shortly before his death.
===Interpretation===
Fine (1990) explains why Harding's reputation took a nose dive, as the new president Calvin Coolidge blamed the troubles of the day on his dead predecessor. "Reputational entrepreneurs" attempt to control the memory of historical figures through motivation, narrative facility, and institutional placement, says Fine. Men remembered as great heroes or great vilains or evil are explained by the Durkheimian theory of consensus and cohesion, but this does not explain the memory of the "incompetent" like Harding. Reputational politics is an arena in which forces compete to control memory. Reputations are grounded in a social construction of character, subsequently generalized to policy and the character of the society. In the case of Harding, the president rated lowest by historians and the public, political opponents set the agenda, while potential supporters did not defend him, given their political interests, structural positions, and a lack of credible narrative.
== Strange Death ==
Harding appeared to be in good health until his collapse and death. The surprise soon gave rise to a savage case of character assassination by insinuations of murder, all thoroughly unfounded. <ref>Ferrell, Robert H. (1996), The Strange Deaths of President Harding, University of Missouri Press p.31</ref>

Shaken by the talk of corruption among the friends he had appointed to office, he began a tour on June 20, 1923 of the West and Alaska. Although suffering from high blood pressure and an enlarged heart, he seemed to enjoy himself and the food -- especially the seafood in Alaska. On his return journey, he became ill with food poisoning. The Presidential train rushed to [[San Francisco]], where his condition worsened. He developed [[pneumonia]], and complicated by his heart ailment, died suddenly on August 23, he suffered a [[heart attack]] in the evening, while his wife was reading to him. He died quietly and instantaneously.

After Harding’s death, the reputation of his administration was ruined by revelations of scandal, primarily the Teapot Dome scandal and a scandal in the [[Veteran’s Administration]] which was particularly distasteful in that post World War I period. The scandals were pushed forward by congressional hearings, but were greeted by the public with what historian Frederick Lewis Allen concedes was brief resentment at both scandals and scandalmongers, followed by apathy.<ref>see [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/ALLEN/ch6.html Allen, ''Only Yesterday'']</ref>

In 1926, author [[Samuel Hopkins Adams]] published the novel “Revelry”, with characters which appeared to be thinly disguised members of the Harding administration. The president in the novel, “Willis Markham” poisons himself by accident, but does not take an available antidote, because he realizes that his death “will wipe out the whole score” of soon to be revealed scandals involving oil and the Veteran’s Administration. The novel was later dramatized .<ref>Ferrell, ''The Strange Deaths of President Harding,'' p.33</ref>.

In 1928, Nan Britton published a book entitled "The President's Daughter" claiming that she and Harding had been lovers and had conceived a child in 1919. According to her, the affair continued for six years, and the lovers' meeting-places included a coat closet in the executive offices of the White House. Historians generally agree she was indeed his lover.

In 1930, Gaston B. Means, who served briefly as an FBI agent during the Harding administration, published ''The Strange Death of President Harding, by Gaston B. Means as told to May Dixon Thacker'', in which he alleged that Mrs. Harding murdered her husband out of jealousy of Ms. Britton, and out of fear of the soon to be revealed Teapot Dome and Veteran’s Administration scandals. Means, who had a long criminal record, provided no evidence and historians dismiss his outlandish claims.

No evidence has ever been found to suggest that Harding had been poisoned by anyone, let alone his wife. The suggestion that she had a motivation to kill the president because of Florence Harding’s jealousy over an affair with Nan Britton makes little sense since she had long known her husband was a womanizer. The suggestion that she would murder the President to somehow deflect scandals that would be met by public apathy is similarly unlikely. Yet despite the source of these charges, their utter lack of factual support, and the unlikeliness of the alleged motives of the First Lady, Frederick Lewis Allen repeated these charges in his very successful book ''Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s'' in 1931. Coming as it did in the deepest part of the [[Great Depression]], Allen’s book, which depicted all of the Republican presidents of the 1920s as bumbling incompetents, was eagerly accepted by a public looking for someone to blame.

== Trivia ==
* Out of all of the Presidents of the U.S. he had the largest feet.
* He was the first president to visit Alaska.
* He was the first President to speak on the radio and the first to have a radio in the White House.
* Harding, [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Barack Obama]] are the only three sitting United States Senators elected to the Presidency.

==Bibliography==
* Anthony, Carl S. ''Florence Harding: The First Lady, the Jazz Age, and the Death of America's Most Scandalous President.'' (1998)
* Downes Randolph C. ''The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865-1920.'' (1970), standard biograpohy to 1920
* Fine, Gary Alan. "Reputational Entrepreneurs and the Memory of Incompetence: Melting Supporters, Partisan Warriors, and Images of President Harding." ''American Journal of Sociology'' 1996 101(5): 1159-1193. Issn: 0002-9602 Fulltext: in Jstor and Ebsco
* Grant, Philip A., Jr. "President Warren G. Harding and the British War Debt Question, 1921-1923." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1995 25(3): 479-487. Issn: 0360-4918
* Grieb, Kenneth J. ''The Latin American Policy of Warren G. Harding'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=2970223 1976 online]
* Irwin, Manley R. "Harding Policies Foster Future Naval Success." ''Naval History'' 2003 17(4): 28-31. Issn: 1042-1920 Fulltext: at Ebsco
* Malin, James C. ''The United States after the World War'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5260560 1930. online] detailed analysis of foreign and economic policies by a conservative historian
* Morello, John A. ''Selling the President, 1920: Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding.'' Praeger, 2001. [http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=201811039533562 online review]
* Murray, Robert K. ''The Harding Era 1921-1923: Warren G. Harding and his Administration.'' (1969), the standard academic study; by a conservative historian
* Payne, Phillip. "Instant History and the Legacy of Scandal: the Tangled Memory of Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon, and William Jefferson Clinton." ''Prospects'' 2003 28: 597-625. Issn: 0361-2333
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New York: Carroll & Graf, 2007.
* Rader, Benjamin G. "Federal Taxation in the 1920s: a Re-examination." ''Historian'' 1971 33(3): 415-435. Issn: 0018-2370
* Russell, Francis. ''The Shadow of Blooming Grove'' , 1968. biography
* Sinclair, Andrew. ''The Available Man: The Life behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding'' (1965) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=8550753 online full-scale biography]
* Winters, Donald L. "Ambiguity and Agricultural Policy: Henry Cantwell Wallace as Secretary of Agriculture." ''Agricultural History'' 1990 64(2): 191-198. Issn: 0002-1482
===Primary sources===
* Warren G. Harding, ''Our Common Country: Mutual Good Will in America.'' 2003; essays written in late 1920; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109794562 online edition]

==References==
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Warren G.}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Corruption]]

Eugene V. Debs

2010-01-09T15:09:34Z

Reservoir: /* Bibliography */

'''Eugene V. Debs''' (1855-1926) was an American labor leader, Socialist politician and candidate for president in five elections 1900-1920; his strongest showing was in 1912. He led the [[Pullman Strike]] in 1894 and was imprisoned for disobeying a federal court order to desist. He was imprisoned again in World War I for encouraging men to avoid the draft, and ran for president in 1920 from his prison cell. Debs was a consensus figure in the deeply split socialist movement, moderating the radicals of the [[IWW]] and inspiring the "gas and water" socialists concerned with municipal reform. His tireless campaigning and passionate oratory made audiences had a quasi-religious tone that emphasized guilt feelings. Not an original thinker, Debs believed capitalism, with all its works, was evil, and Socialism, with all its promises, a true panacea. He briefly belonged to the [[IWW]], which called for a violent overthrow of capitalism, but drew back from such an extreme position. [[Image:Debs20.jpg|thumb|250px|Debs in 1920 in his prison cell in Atlanta]]

==Early career==
Debs was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, Nov. 5, 1855; he lived there all his life. He was eldest of ten children of French immigrants from Alsace. He worked as a locomotive fireman 1870-74, then quit permanently. In 1875 he helped form a lodge of the brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, and in 1880 he was made national secretary and treasurer of the brotherhood, as well as editor of its magazine. From 1879 to 1883 Debs also served as city clerk of Terre Haute, and in 1884 he was elected for a term in the Indiana state legislature as a Democrat.
==Pullman Strike, 1894==

see [[Pullman Strike]]

A persistent critic of the organization of labor by crafts (such as locomotive firemen), Debs in 1893 left his old union and created the [[American Railway Union]] to include all workers, even those belonging to other unions. Established unions denounced it as "dual unionism," but with the severe [[Panic of 1893|Depression of 1893]] underway, workers were angry and wanted an aggressive union. Its main success came in April 1894 when it won a strike against the Great Northern Railroad. When the Pullman factory strike erupted in Chicago in late spring 1894, the ARU organized the workers, but Pullman refused to negotiate with them. The ARU then ordered its members to refuse passage to trains using Pullman cars, even though the ARU had no grievances against the railroads. The result was a nationwide strike that shut down nearly all local and long-distance traffic west of Detroit; violence broke out in many cities. President [[Grover Cleveland]] intervened and obtained a court order to end the strike (because it was disrupting the mails). Debs and the ARU refused to obey. Debs was held in contempt of court for violating the federal injunction and served six months in jail. The strike and the ARU collapsed.

[[Image:1904SO.JPG|thumb|400px|Debs for President poster, 1904]]

==Socialist Party leader==
Long interested in socialism in the abstract, Debs read up on the subject while in prison, and in 1897 he transformed the remnants of the ARU into the Social Democratic Party of America, later called the [[Socialist Party of America]]. He never again engaged in union work. He served as associate editor of the Socialist weekly, the ''Appeal to Reason,'' (based in the coal mining town of of Girard, Kansas) and for years was a highly successful lecturer on behalf of socialism. In 1905, he helped found the [[Industrial Workers of the World]], but soon quit because of its extreme radicalism and proclivity to violence. The Socialist Party was splintered and Debs was one of the few leaders with an appeal to the intellectuals, the "gas-and-water" activists (who accepted capitalism but wanted cities to own the water and gas systems), the immigrant Germans and Jews, the militant coal miners, the ex-Populists from Kansas and Oklahoma, and the radicals who wanted to peacefully destroy capitalism.

===1912===
Debs ran for president of the United States on the Socialist Party ticket five times, 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920. In 1908 he toured both west and east in his own campaign train, the "Red Special." Debs' speeches aimed to provide but an education in Socialist views; he spoke to some 300,000 westerners and saw his vote in Colorado double. In 1908 he polled 420,000 votes (2.8%) and doubled that in 1912 to he polled 902,000 votes, 6.0% of the total cast.

In 1912 the more conservative "gas and water" socialists (who did not want to destroy capitalism) adopted a platform calling for cooperative organization of prisons, a national bureau of health, abolition of the Senate and the presidential veto, and a long list of progressive reforms. They nominated Debs, who saw his mission as keeping the disparate units together in the hope that someday a common goal would be found for all socialists.

There was little money--his campaign cost only $66,000, mostly for 3.5 million leaflets and travel to rallies organized by local groups. Debs criss-crossed the country, His biggest event was a speech to 15,000 in New York City. The crowd sang the "Marseillaise," and "International" as Emil Seidel, the vice-presidential candidate, boasted, "Only a year ago workingmen were throwing decayed vegetables and rotten eggs at us but now all is changed....Eggs are too high. There is a great giant growing up in this country that will someday take over the affairs of this nation. He is a little giant now but he is growing fast. The name of this little giant is socialism." Debs said that only the socialists represented labor; he condemned "Injunction Bill Taft"; ridiculed Roosevelt as "a charlatan, mountebank, and fraud, and his Progressive promises and pledges as the mouthings of a low and utterly unprincipled self seeker and demagogue." Debs insisted that the Democrats, Progressives and Republicans alike were financed by the trusts. Party newspapers spread the word.<ref> Chace (2005)</ref>

===Friend of workers?===
After the collapse of the ARU in 1894, Debs was no longer a labor leader. He had contacts with a few leftists leaders of a few unions. By contrast British and European socialist parties were strongly integrated with actual labor unions.

Corbin (1978) argues that Debs' favorable image as a friend of the workingman is undeserved, for his attitudes and actions concerning local affiliates and rank-and-file members actually hurt the development of the Socialist Party of America. This was especially critical in the West Virginia coal strike of 1912-14. Not only did the national office of the SPA ignore the strike for a year, but when Debs finally intervened with an investigating committee, he urged coal miners to accept a questionable compromise. He also exonerated Governor Hatfield of charges of having abused his power, even though a Congressional committee reached the opposite conclusion. By ignoring the wishes of the miners and by betraying local Socialist affiliates, Debs did considerable damage to Socialist solidarity in West Virginia's coal fields, according to Corbin.
==Jailed for antiwar speech in 1918==
When the U.S. entered World War I Debs supported the manifesto of the St. Louis convention of the Socialist party (April 1917), denouncing the war and counseling party members to oppose it by all means in their power. At the Socialist state convention in Canton, Ohio, June 16, 1918, he delivered a speech in which he bitterly assailed the Wilson administration for its prosecution of Socialists charged with sedition. He was indicted by a federal grand jury for a violation of the Sedition Act, and on Sept. 14, after a four-days trial, was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. The U.S. Supreme Court on Mar. 10, 1919, upheld the verdict, and Debs went to federal prison. In 1920 his vote for president again exceeded 900,000, but was only 3.4% of the total as women did not respond well to his appeals from his cell in Atlanta. At Christmas 1921 he was released by President [[Warren Harding]]. Debs then campaigned against prison conditions. He died in Elmhurst, Illinois, Oct. 20, 1926.

==Religious issues==
Religion posed a difficult problem for the socialist movement in America. In Europe socialists led the fight against established religion. In America, most of the industrial workers were Catholics, and the Catholic Church strongly opposed socialism and Debs. Indeed, the Catholic Church was the foremost enemy of socialism in America. Debs, however, was admired by some Protestant leaders (especially his successor [[Norman Thomas]]). Debs had a handful of followers in the [[Social Gospel]] movement, but most of the activists opposed socialism.

Personally Debs was a deist with little interest in theology or piety. He attacked organized churches, saying, "I do not know of any crime that the oppressors and their hirelings have not proven by the Bible."<ref>Debs (1908) p 487</ref> Debs employed religious symbolism effectively and his revivalistic style primarily appealed to his Protestant admirers. Debs condemned the use of religion as an instrument of class oppression, while admiring Jesus as a model agitator and identifying with His sense of martyrdom and role as Saviour.<ref>See Dorn (2003)</ref>

==Legacy and ideas==
Debs is best known for tireless campaigning and passionate oratory that made audiences feel guilty for not being more radical; he did not originate any new ideas or policies. Debs believed capitalism, with all its works, was evil, and Socialism, with all its promises, a true panacea.

==See also==
* [[Socialist Party of America]]
==Basic bibliography==
* Chace, James. ''1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs--The Election that Changed the Country'' (2005), popular history [http://www.amazon.com/1912-Roosevelt-Debs-Election-Changed/dp/0743273559/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227789396&sr=8-1 excerts and text search]
* Ginger, Ray. ''The Bending Cross: A Biography of Eugene Victor Debs''. (1949)
* Morgan, H. Wayne. ''Eugene V. Debs'' (1962) by leading scholar; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=7935245 online edition]
* Salvatore, Nick. ''Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist''. (1984), the standard scholarly biography
===Advanced scholarly sources===

==Bibliography==
* Almont, Lindsey. ''The Pullman Strike'' (1942)
* Almont, Lindsey. "Paternalism and the Pullman Strike." ''The American Historical Review,'' Vol. 44, No. 2 (Jan., 1939), pp. 272-289 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-8762(193901)44%3A2%3C272%3APATPS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23 online at JSTOR]
* Burwood, Stephen. "Debsian Socialism Through a Transnational Lens." ''Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era'' 2003 2(3): 253-282. Issn: 1537-7814 Fulltext: in [[History Cooperative]]. Shows Debsian rhetoric was similar to rhetoric of European socialists.
* Corbin, David A. "Betrayal in the West Virginia Coal Fields: Eugene V. Debs and the Socialist Party of America, 1912-1914." ''Journal of American History'' 1978 64(4): 987-1009. Issn: 0021-8723 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8723(197803)64%3A4%3C987%3ABITWVC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 in Jstor]
* Dorn, Jacob H. "'In Spiritual Communion': Eugene V. Debs and the Socialist Christians." ''Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era'' 2003 2(3): 303-325. Issn: 1537-7814 full text in [[History Cooperative]]
* Ginger, Roy. ''The Bending Cross: A Biography of Eugene Victor Debs'' (1949), a solid, favorable biography
* Gould, Lewis L. ''Four Hats in the Ring: The 1912 Election and the Birth of Modern American Politics'' (2008) by a leading scholar [http://www.amazon.com/Four-Hats-Ring-Presidential-Elections/dp/0700615644/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208766113&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search]
* Kipnis, Ira. ''The American Socialist Movement 1897-1912'' (1952) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=10490131 online edition]
* Lee, Ronald and Andrews, James R. "A Story of Rhetorical-ideological Transformation: Eugene V. Debs as Liberal Hero." ''Quarterly Journal of Speech'' 1991 77(1): 20-37. Issn: 0033-5630
* Morgan, H. Wayne. "The Utopia of Eugene V. Debs." ''American Quarterly'' 1959 11(2): 120-135. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0678(195922)11%3A2%3C120%3ATUOEVD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J in Jstor]
* Morgan, H. Wayne. ''Eugene V. Debs'' (1962) by leading scholar; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=7935245 online edition]
* Morgan, H. Wayne. ''Eugene v. Debs: Socialist for President'' (1973) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=104015304 online edition]
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New york: Carroll & Graf, 2007
* Quint; Howard H. ''The Forging of American Socialism: Origins of the Modern Movement'' (1964) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9299312 online edition]
* Papke, David Ray. ''The Pullman Case: The Clash of Labor and Capital in Industrial America.'' U. Press of Kansas, 1999. 118 pp.
* Salvatore, Nick. ''Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist'' (2007), the standard scholarly biography [http://www.historyebook.org/ online at ACLS e-books]

===Primary sources===
* Debs, Eugene. ''Debs: His Life, Writings and Speeches''. 544 pages. (1908) [http://books.google.com/books?id=1X3rXrzI5GgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:eugene+inauthor:debs&lr=&num=30&as_brr=3 complete text online]
* Debs, Eugene. ''Gentle Rebel: Letters of Eugene V. Debs''. Edited by J. Robert Constantine. (1995) 312 pages.

==References==
<references />

{{DEFAULTSORT: Debs, Eugene V.}}
[[Category:Labor Union Leaders]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Socialism]]
[[Category:Gilded Age]]
[[category:Progressive Era]]

Warren G. Harding

2010-01-09T15:07:24Z

Reservoir:

{{President
|image=Jgftyr.jpg
|seq=29
|term_start=March 4, 1921
|term_end=August 2, 1923<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Republican
|vp=Calvin Coolidge
|previous=Woodrow Wilson
|next=Calvin Coolidge
|birth_date=November 2, 1865
|birth_place=Near Blooming Groove, Ohio
|death_date=August 2, 1923
|death_place=San Francisco, California
|spouse=Florence Kling Harding
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Baptist]]
}}

'''Warren G. (Gamaliel) Harding''' (November 2, 1865 - August 2, 1923) was the 29th [[President of the United States of America]], elected in a [[Republican Party|Republican]] landslide in 1920 and serving from 1921 until his sudden death in 1923. After the [[First World War]]. His conservative presidency was marked as a "return to normalcy", with an end to strikes and race riots, broad-scale prosperity, and peace abroad. He looked like a president, and was highly popular; after his deaths any number of scandals were blamed on him, so that his reputation among both conservative and liberal scholars is near the bottom.

Despite his ethical weaknesses, Harding deserves praise for winding down World War I and the animosities, hatreds, strikes, race riots, and economic depression it caused, and for his appointments of strong conservatives to the highest positions, especially [[Charles Evans Hughes]] at State, [[Andrew Mellon]] at Treasury, [[Herbert Hoover]] at Commerce, as well as [[William Howard Taft]] as Chief Justice and [[Charles G. Dawes]] as budget director (a new position)

==Career==
Harding's undeviating Republicanism and vibrant speaking voice, plus his willingness to let the machine bosses set policies, led him far in Ohio politics. He served in the state Senate and as Lieutenant Governor, and unsuccessfully ran for Governor. He delivered the nominating address for President [[William Howard Taft|Taft]] at the 1912 Republican Convention. In 1914 he was elected to the U.S. Senate. An Ohio admirer, Harry Daugherty, began to promote Harding for the 1920 Republican nomination because, he later explained, "He looked like a President." <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh29.html</ref>

==1920 Election==
Harding won a sweeping landslide victory over fellow Ohioan James Cox (with [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] as the defeated nominee for Vice President). Harding succeeded by promising to end the highly emotional debates of the Wilson years, and promising realism instead of idealism in foreign policy. Irish Catholics, angry at Wilson for not promoting the independence of Ireland as he had promised, were in control of the Democratic party in most large cities. They sat out the election allowing the GOP sweep all the major cities.

Morello (2001) shows that advertising genius [[Albert Lasker]] sold candidate Harding to the American people by using new advertising strategies and techniques, borrowed from business and from the wartime bond campaigns. Lasker used the three pillars of consumer advertising: "reason why" selling, which compared products directly--aided especially by Harding's photogenic image; testimonial advertising, using endorsements by famous people; and "preemptive advertising," which rushed to claim common characteristics as unique features of the advertised commodity. Lasker used new technology such as movies. He adjusted the front porch campaign style used by [[William McKinley]] in 1896 to shield his weak candidate from uncontrolled public scrutiny. Lasker launched a sharp, relentlessly negative campaign against the policy failures of incumbent Democrat [[Woodrow Wilson]]. The result, Morello concludes, was a triumph of modern advertising technique which propelled the Republicans back into the White House and furthered the commodification of candidates in modern electoral contests.

==Presidency==
=== Key Accomplishments ===
*Eliminated wartime controls
*Slashed taxes
*Established a Federal budget system,
*Restored the high protective tariff
*Imposed tight limitations upon immigration
*Ended the Depression of 1921
*Launched the Roaring Twenties
*Fought the KKK.

=== Immigration Control ===

Mr. Harding signed into law the [[Emergency Quota Act]]<ref>http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1920s/QuotaAct1918.html</ref> which sought to control immigration following [[World War I]] and preserve the distinctive American culture by ensuring the majority of immigrants came from the historically compatible cultures of Northern Europe. This law aimed to bring wages of hard working Americans under control by limiting immigration to 3% of the 1910 census. It was followed on by a similar act in 1924, after Mr. Harding's death.<ref>http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/Race/quota_acts.htm</ref>

=== Justice ===

Harding pardoned the [[socialist]] [[Eugene Debs]] who was imprisoned in 1918 for inciting resistance to the draft during World War I. Despite their political differences, Harding was cordial to him and met with him in the [[White House]], "I have heard so damned much about you, Mr Debs, that I am very glad to meet you personally."<ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/vodebs.htm</ref>

Harding defined the [[Supreme Court]] for two decades, appointing four solidly conservative justices. Harding's appointments included former President [[William Howard Taft]] to be Chief Justice (1921), [[George Sutherland]] (1922), [[Pierce Butler]] (1923) and [[Edward Terry Sanford]] (1923). Two of these justices (Taft and Sanford) served until 1930. The other two (Sutherland and Butler) served until the late 1930s and stood up to the liberal policies of President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]].

In selecting Pierce for the bench, Harding broke with tradition by picking a conservative Democrat even though Harding was a Republican.

Harding sought to calm race relations during the 1921 [[Tulsa Race Riot]]. <ref>see [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3812/is_199911/ai_n8854233 online]</ref>

=== Economics ===
Harding cut federal spending, lowered taxes, and began paying off the wartime national debt. He restored prosperity by 1921, opening a decade of rapid growth known as the ''Roaring 20s''.

Harding created the Bureau of the Budget to allow the White House to monitor all federal spending. Shortly after taking office, Harding also successfully passed promotion of US Agriculture, repeal of the wartime "excess profits" tax and reduction of rail rates.

Rader (1971) challenges the view that the tax policies of Harding's Treasury Secretary [[Andrew Mellon]], reversed the progressive policies of the Wilson years and allowed the wealthy to become wealthier. A congressional coalition of Democrats and insurgent Republicans shared responsibilities with Mellon for the tax legislation of that period, which was written by civil servants in the Treasury. The new rates were very low for most people, and yet were high enough to retire the war debt and generate a budget surplus. The net effect of this legislation, Rader argues, was to "impose more progressivity on the federal income tax structure than has existed in any other peace-time period of American history."

Winters (1990) examines Harding's farm policies and those of Henry Cantwell Wallace, the Secretary of Agriculture (1921-24). Wallace's handling of the postwar collapse of land values and the weakening of the farm economy was inconsistent and largely ineffective because of conflicting views of the value of agriculture in society. On one hand, he saw farming as a business that needed to improve its efficiency; on the other hand, he saw farmers as "yeoman," a special group, embodying republican virtues of independence, which deserved to be subsidized. Programs based on one view often negated those based on the other. Hoover meanwhile argued that the long-term solution lay in modernizing agricultural machinery, seeds, animal breeding and, especially, business practices.
===Foreign and military affairs===
Grant (1995) shows that during World War I the U.S. loaned ove $4 billion to Britain. This British war debt was not part of the agenda of the Paris Peace Conference or the 1921 settlement of the Reparation Commission. In response to an appeal by President Harding in his 1921 state of the union address, Congress passed the World War Foreign Debt Commission Act in 1922. The commission was mandated to determine each European nation's debt and negotiate payment over a period up to 25 years. In 1923 the British government agreed to pay $4.6 billion, with an initial payment of $4.1 million, the remainder to be paid over 62 years at 3% interest for the first ten years, 3.5% thereafter. Britain was able to pay because it received large war repoarations annually from Germany. Germany in turn borrowed the money from the U.S. During the [[Great Depression]] President [[Herbert Hoover]] suspended all payyments, and they were never resumed.

Irwin (2003) shows that the Harding Navy department oversaw or initiated the development of fleets of aircraft carriers, the strengthening of submarine forces and naval aviation, and the Marine Corps' adoption of amphibious assault strategies, all of which contributed significantly to US naval success in World War II.

=== Labor and economic issues ===
Labor unions were very weak in the Harding years. Under [[Andrew mellon]] the Treasuty systematically reduced federal income taxes, which had soared during the war, and sumultaneously paid off most of the wartime debt. Harding today has come under criticism by both liberal economists and free trade advocates for [[protectionist]] policies--high tariffs.

==Scandals==
=== Teapot Dome Scandal===
Harding appointed a close friend anddrinking partner Senator Albert B. Fall of New Mexico as his Secretary of the Interior. Fall had charge of valuable oil lands known as "Teapot Dome" that were for the long-term use of the Navy. Fall secretly leased oil rights to an old friend, who paid bribes to Fall of over $400,000. The scandal was discovered after Harding's death by Harding's enemies in Congress in late 1923. Fall had entangled other businessmen and politicians into his wrongdoing which lead to other indictments of both Democrats and Republicans and continued into the Coolidge administration. Harding did not know about these dealings until shortly before his death.
===Interpretation===
Fine (1990) explains why Harding's reputation took a nose dive, as the new president Calvin Coolidge blamed the troubles of the day on his dead predecessor. "Reputational entrepreneurs" attempt to control the memory of historical figures through motivation, narrative facility, and institutional placement, says Fine. Men remembered as great heroes or great vilains or evil are explained by the Durkheimian theory of consensus and cohesion, but this does not explain the memory of the "incompetent" like Harding. Reputational politics is an arena in which forces compete to control memory. Reputations are grounded in a social construction of character, subsequently generalized to policy and the character of the society. In the case of Harding, the president rated lowest by historians and the public, political opponents set the agenda, while potential supporters did not defend him, given their political interests, structural positions, and a lack of credible narrative.
== Strange Death ==
Harding appeared to be in good health until his collapse and death. The surprise soon gave rise to a savage case of character assassination by insinuations of murder, all thoroughly unfounded. <ref>Ferrell, Robert H. (1996), The Strange Deaths of President Harding, University of Missouri Press p.31</ref>

Shaken by the talk of corruption among the friends he had appointed to office, he began a tour on June 20, 1923 of the West and Alaska. Although suffering from high blood pressure and an enlarged heart, he seemed to enjoy himself and the food -- especially the seafood in Alaska. On his return journey, he became ill with food poisoning. The Presidential train rushed to [[San Francisco]], where his condition worsened. He developed [[pneumonia]], and complicated by his heart ailment, died suddenly on August 23, he suffered a [[heart attack]] in the evening, while his wife was reading to him. He died quietly and instantaneously.

After Harding’s death, the reputation of his administration was ruined by revelations of scandal, primarily the Teapot Dome scandal and a scandal in the [[Veteran’s Administration]] which was particularly distasteful in that post World War I period. The scandals were pushed forward by congressional hearings, but were greeted by the public with what historian Frederick Lewis Allen concedes was brief resentment at both scandals and scandalmongers, followed by apathy.<ref>see [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/ALLEN/ch6.html Allen, ''Only Yesterday'']</ref>

In 1926, author [[Samuel Hopkins Adams]] published the novel “Revelry”, with characters which appeared to be thinly disguised members of the Harding administration. The president in the novel, “Willis Markham” poisons himself by accident, but does not take an available antidote, because he realizes that his death “will wipe out the whole score” of soon to be revealed scandals involving oil and the Veteran’s Administration. The novel was later dramatized .<ref>Ferrell, ''The Strange Deaths of President Harding,'' p.33</ref>.

In 1928, Nan Britton published a book entitled "The President's Daughter" claiming that she and Harding had been lovers and had conceived a child in 1919. According to her, the affair continued for six years, and the lovers' meeting-places included a coat closet in the executive offices of the White House. Historians generally agree she was indeed his lover.

In 1930, Gaston B. Means, who served briefly as an FBI agent during the Harding administration, published ''The Strange Death of President Harding, by Gaston B. Means as told to May Dixon Thacker'', in which he alleged that Mrs. Harding murdered her husband out of jealousy of Ms. Britton, and out of fear of the soon to be revealed Teapot Dome and Veteran’s Administration scandals. Means, who had a long criminal record, provided no evidence and historians dismiss his outlandish claims.

No evidence has ever been found to suggest that Harding had been poisoned by anyone, let alone his wife. The suggestion that she had a motivation to kill the president because of Florence Harding’s jealousy over an affair with Nan Britton makes little sense since she had long known her husband was a womanizer. The suggestion that she would murder the President to somehow deflect scandals that would be met by public apathy is similarly unlikely. Yet despite the source of these charges, their utter lack of factual support, and the unlikeliness of the alleged motives of the First Lady, Frederick Lewis Allen repeated these charges in his very successful book ''Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s'' in 1931. Coming as it did in the deepest part of the [[Great Depression]], Allen’s book, which depicted all of the Republican presidents of the 1920s as bumbling incompetents, was eagerly accepted by a public looking for someone to blame.

== Trivia ==
* Out of all of the Presidents of the U.S. he had the largest feet.
* He was the first president to visit Alaska.
* He was the first President to speak on the radio and the first to have a radio in the White House.
* Harding, [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Barack Obama]] are the only three sitting United States Senators elected to the Presidency.

==Bibliography==
* Anthony, Carl S. ''Florence Harding: The First Lady, the Jazz Age, and the Death of America's Most Scandalous President.'' (1998)
* Downes Randolph C. ''The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865-1920.'' (1970), standard biograpohy to 1920
* Fine, Gary Alan. "Reputational Entrepreneurs and the Memory of Incompetence: Melting Supporters, Partisan Warriors, and Images of President Harding." ''American Journal of Sociology'' 1996 101(5): 1159-1193. Issn: 0002-9602 Fulltext: in Jstor and Ebsco
* Grant, Philip A., Jr. "President Warren G. Harding and the British War Debt Question, 1921-1923." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1995 25(3): 479-487. Issn: 0360-4918
* Grieb, Kenneth J. ''The Latin American Policy of Warren G. Harding'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=2970223 1976 online]
* Irwin, Manley R. "Harding Policies Foster Future Naval Success." ''Naval History'' 2003 17(4): 28-31. Issn: 1042-1920 Fulltext: at Ebsco
* Malin, James C. ''The United States after the World War'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5260560 1930. online] detailed analysis of foreign and economic policies by a conservative historian
* Morello, John A. ''Selling the President, 1920: Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding.'' Praeger, 2001. [http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=201811039533562 online review]
* Murray, Robert K. ''The Harding Era 1921-1923: Warren G. Harding and his Administration.'' (1969), the standard academic study; by a conservative historian
* Payne, Phillip. "Instant History and the Legacy of Scandal: the Tangled Memory of Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon, and William Jefferson Clinton." ''Prospects'' 2003 28: 597-625. Issn: 0361-2333
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New York: Carroll & Graf, 2007.
* Rader, Benjamin G. "Federal Taxation in the 1920s: a Re-examination." ''Historian'' 1971 33(3): 415-435. Issn: 0018-2370
* Russell, Francis. ''The Shadow of Blooming Grove'' , 1968. biography
* Sinclair, Andrew. ''The Available Man: The Life behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding'' (1965) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=8550753 online full-scale biography]
* Winters, Donald L. "Ambiguity and Agricultural Policy: Henry Cantwell Wallace as Secretary of Agriculture." ''Agricultural History'' 1990 64(2): 191-198. Issn: 0002-1482
===Primary sources===
* Warren G. Harding, ''Our Common Country: Mutual Good Will in America.'' 2003; essays written in late 1920; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109794562 online edition]

==References==
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Warren G.}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Corruption]]

Warren G. Harding

2010-01-09T15:05:52Z

Reservoir: /* Bibliography */

{{President
|image=Jgftyr.jpg
|seq=29
|term_start=March 4, 1921
|term_end=August 2, 1923<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Republican
|vp=Calvin Coolidge
|previous=Woodrow Wilson
|next=Calvin Coolidge
|birth_date=November 2, 1865
|birth_place=Near Blooming Groove, Ohio
|death_date=August 2, 1923
|death_place=San Francisco, California
|spouse=Florence Kling Harding
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Baptist]]
}}

'''Warren G. (Gamaliel) Harding''' (November 2, 1865 - August 2, 1923) was the 29th [[President of the United States of America]], elected in a [[Republican Party|Republican]] landslide in 1920 and serving from 1921 until his sudden death in 1923. After the [[First World War]]. His conservative presidency was marked as a "return to normalcy", with an end to strikes and race riots, broad-scale prosperity, and peace abroad. He looked like a president, and was highly popular; after his deaths any number of scandals were blamed on him, by Democrats and by his Republican successor [[Calvin Coolidge]], so that his reputation among both conservative and liberal scholars is near the bottom.

Despite his ethical weaknesses, Harding deserves praise for winding down World War I and the animosities, hatreds, strikes, race riots, and economic depression it caused, and for his appointments of strong conservatives to the highest positions, especially [[Charles Evans Hughes]] at State, [[Andrew Mellon]] at Treasury, [[Herbert Hoover]] at Commerce, as well as [[William Howard Taft]] as Chief Justice and [[Charles G. Dawes]] as budget director (a new position)

==Career==
Harding's undeviating Republicanism and vibrant speaking voice, plus his willingness to let the machine bosses set policies, led him far in Ohio politics. He served in the state Senate and as Lieutenant Governor, and unsuccessfully ran for Governor. He delivered the nominating address for President [[William Howard Taft|Taft]] at the 1912 Republican Convention. In 1914 he was elected to the U.S. Senate. An Ohio admirer, Harry Daugherty, began to promote Harding for the 1920 Republican nomination because, he later explained, "He looked like a President." <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh29.html</ref>

==1920 Election==
Harding won a sweeping landslide victory over fellow Ohioan James Cox (with [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] as the defeated nominee for Vice President). Harding succeeded by promising to end the highly emotional debates of the Wilson years, and promising realism instead of idealism in foreign policy. Irish Catholics, angry at Wilson for not promoting the independence of Ireland as he had promised, were in control of the Democratic party in most large cities. They sat out the election allowing the GOP sweep all the major cities.

Morello (2001) shows that advertising genius [[Albert Lasker]] sold candidate Harding to the American people by using new advertising strategies and techniques, borrowed from business and from the wartime bond campaigns. Lasker used the three pillars of consumer advertising: "reason why" selling, which compared products directly--aided especially by Harding's photogenic image; testimonial advertising, using endorsements by famous people; and "preemptive advertising," which rushed to claim common characteristics as unique features of the advertised commodity. Lasker used new technology such as movies. He adjusted the front porch campaign style used by [[William McKinley]] in 1896 to shield his weak candidate from uncontrolled public scrutiny. Lasker launched a sharp, relentlessly negative campaign against the policy failures of incumbent Democrat [[Woodrow Wilson]]. The result, Morello concludes, was a triumph of modern advertising technique which propelled the Republicans back into the White House and furthered the commodification of candidates in modern electoral contests.

==Presidency==
=== Key Accomplishments ===
*Eliminated wartime controls
*Slashed taxes
*Established a Federal budget system,
*Restored the high protective tariff
*Imposed tight limitations upon immigration
*Ended the Depression of 1921
*Launched the Roaring Twenties
*Fought the KKK.

=== Immigration Control ===

Mr. Harding signed into law the [[Emergency Quota Act]]<ref>http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1920s/QuotaAct1918.html</ref> which sought to control immigration following [[World War I]] and preserve the distinctive American culture by ensuring the majority of immigrants came from the historically compatible cultures of Northern Europe. This law aimed to bring wages of hard working Americans under control by limiting immigration to 3% of the 1910 census. It was followed on by a similar act in 1924, after Mr. Harding's death.<ref>http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/Race/quota_acts.htm</ref>

=== Justice ===

Harding pardoned the [[socialist]] [[Eugene Debs]] who was imprisoned in 1918 for inciting resistance to the draft during World War I. Despite their political differences, Harding was cordial to him and met with him in the [[White House]], "I have heard so damned much about you, Mr Debs, that I am very glad to meet you personally."<ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/vodebs.htm</ref>

Harding defined the [[Supreme Court]] for two decades, appointing four solidly conservative justices. Harding's appointments included former President [[William Howard Taft]] to be Chief Justice (1921), [[George Sutherland]] (1922), [[Pierce Butler]] (1923) and [[Edward Terry Sanford]] (1923). Two of these justices (Taft and Sanford) served until 1930. The other two (Sutherland and Butler) served until the late 1930s and stood up to the liberal policies of President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]].

In selecting Pierce for the bench, Harding broke with tradition by picking a conservative Democrat even though Harding was a Republican.

Harding sought to calm race relations during the 1921 [[Tulsa Race Riot]]. <ref>see [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3812/is_199911/ai_n8854233 online]</ref>

=== Economics ===
Harding cut federal spending, lowered taxes, and began paying off the wartime national debt. He restored prosperity by 1921, opening a decade of rapid growth known as the ''Roaring 20s''.

Harding created the Bureau of the Budget to allow the White House to monitor all federal spending. Shortly after taking office, Harding also successfully passed promotion of US Agriculture, repeal of the wartime "excess profits" tax and reduction of rail rates.

Rader (1971) challenges the view that the tax policies of Harding's Treasury Secretary [[Andrew Mellon]], reversed the progressive policies of the Wilson years and allowed the wealthy to become wealthier. A congressional coalition of Democrats and insurgent Republicans shared responsibilities with Mellon for the tax legislation of that period, which was written by civil servants in the Treasury. The new rates were very low for most people, and yet were high enough to retire the war debt and generate a budget surplus. The net effect of this legislation, Rader argues, was to "impose more progressivity on the federal income tax structure than has existed in any other peace-time period of American history."

Winters (1990) examines Harding's farm policies and those of Henry Cantwell Wallace, the Secretary of Agriculture (1921-24). Wallace's handling of the postwar collapse of land values and the weakening of the farm economy was inconsistent and largely ineffective because of conflicting views of the value of agriculture in society. On one hand, he saw farming as a business that needed to improve its efficiency; on the other hand, he saw farmers as "yeoman," a special group, embodying republican virtues of independence, which deserved to be subsidized. Programs based on one view often negated those based on the other. Hoover meanwhile argued that the long-term solution lay in modernizing agricultural machinery, seeds, animal breeding and, especially, business practices.
===Foreign and military affairs===
Grant (1995) shows that during World War I the U.S. loaned ove $4 billion to Britain. This British war debt was not part of the agenda of the Paris Peace Conference or the 1921 settlement of the Reparation Commission. In response to an appeal by President Harding in his 1921 state of the union address, Congress passed the World War Foreign Debt Commission Act in 1922. The commission was mandated to determine each European nation's debt and negotiate payment over a period up to 25 years. In 1923 the British government agreed to pay $4.6 billion, with an initial payment of $4.1 million, the remainder to be paid over 62 years at 3% interest for the first ten years, 3.5% thereafter. Britain was able to pay because it received large war repoarations annually from Germany. Germany in turn borrowed the money from the U.S. During the [[Great Depression]] President [[Herbert Hoover]] suspended all payyments, and they were never resumed.

Irwin (2003) shows that the Harding Navy department oversaw or initiated the development of fleets of aircraft carriers, the strengthening of submarine forces and naval aviation, and the Marine Corps' adoption of amphibious assault strategies, all of which contributed significantly to US naval success in World War II.

=== Labor and economic issues ===
Labor unions were very weak in the Harding years. Under [[Andrew mellon]] the Treasuty systematically reduced federal income taxes, which had soared during the war, and sumultaneously paid off most of the wartime debt. Harding today has come under criticism by both liberal economists and free trade advocates for [[protectionist]] policies--high tariffs.

==Scandals==
=== Teapot Dome Scandal===
Harding appointed a close friend anddrinking partner Senator Albert B. Fall of New Mexico as his Secretary of the Interior. Fall had charge of valuable oil lands known as "Teapot Dome" that were for the long-term use of the Navy. Fall secretly leased oil rights to an old friend, who paid bribes to Fall of over $400,000. The scandal was discovered after Harding's death by Harding's enemies in Congress in late 1923. Fall had entangled other businessmen and politicians into his wrongdoing which lead to other indictments of both Democrats and Republicans and continued into the Coolidge administration. Harding did not know about these dealings until shortly before his death.
===Interpretation===
Fine (1990) explains why Harding's reputation took a nose dive, as the new president Calvin Coolidge blamed the troubles of the day on his dead predecessor. "Reputational entrepreneurs" attempt to control the memory of historical figures through motivation, narrative facility, and institutional placement, says Fine. Men remembered as great heroes or great vilains or evil are explained by the Durkheimian theory of consensus and cohesion, but this does not explain the memory of the "incompetent" like Harding. Reputational politics is an arena in which forces compete to control memory. Reputations are grounded in a social construction of character, subsequently generalized to policy and the character of the society. In the case of Harding, the president rated lowest by historians and the public, political opponents set the agenda, while potential supporters did not defend him, given their political interests, structural positions, and a lack of credible narrative.
== Strange Death ==
Harding appeared to be in good health until his collapse and death. The surprise soon gave rise to a savage case of character assassination by insinuations of murder, all thoroughly unfounded. <ref>Ferrell, Robert H. (1996), The Strange Deaths of President Harding, University of Missouri Press p.31</ref>

Shaken by the talk of corruption among the friends he had appointed to office, he began a tour on June 20, 1923 of the West and Alaska. Although suffering from high blood pressure and an enlarged heart, he seemed to enjoy himself and the food -- especially the seafood in Alaska. On his return journey, he became ill with food poisoning. The Presidential train rushed to [[San Francisco]], where his condition worsened. He developed [[pneumonia]], and complicated by his heart ailment, died suddenly on August 23, he suffered a [[heart attack]] in the evening, while his wife was reading to him. He died quietly and instantaneously.

After Harding’s death, the reputation of his administration was ruined by revelations of scandal, primarily the Teapot Dome scandal and a scandal in the [[Veteran’s Administration]] which was particularly distasteful in that post World War I period. The scandals were pushed forward by congressional hearings, but were greeted by the public with what historian Frederick Lewis Allen concedes was brief resentment at both scandals and scandalmongers, followed by apathy.<ref>see [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/ALLEN/ch6.html Allen, ''Only Yesterday'']</ref>

In 1926, author [[Samuel Hopkins Adams]] published the novel “Revelry”, with characters which appeared to be thinly disguised members of the Harding administration. The president in the novel, “Willis Markham” poisons himself by accident, but does not take an available antidote, because he realizes that his death “will wipe out the whole score” of soon to be revealed scandals involving oil and the Veteran’s Administration. The novel was later dramatized .<ref>Ferrell, ''The Strange Deaths of President Harding,'' p.33</ref>.

In 1928, Nan Britton published a book entitled "The President's Daughter" claiming that she and Harding had been lovers and had conceived a child in 1919. According to her, the affair continued for six years, and the lovers' meeting-places included a coat closet in the executive offices of the White House. Historians generally agree she was indeed his lover.

In 1930, Gaston B. Means, who served briefly as an FBI agent during the Harding administration, published ''The Strange Death of President Harding, by Gaston B. Means as told to May Dixon Thacker'', in which he alleged that Mrs. Harding murdered her husband out of jealousy of Ms. Britton, and out of fear of the soon to be revealed Teapot Dome and Veteran’s Administration scandals. Means, who had a long criminal record, provided no evidence and historians dismiss his outlandish claims.

No evidence has ever been found to suggest that Harding had been poisoned by anyone, let alone his wife. The suggestion that she had a motivation to kill the president because of Florence Harding’s jealousy over an affair with Nan Britton makes little sense since she had long known her husband was a womanizer. The suggestion that she would murder the President to somehow deflect scandals that would be met by public apathy is similarly unlikely. Yet despite the source of these charges, their utter lack of factual support, and the unlikeliness of the alleged motives of the First Lady, Frederick Lewis Allen repeated these charges in his very successful book ''Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s'' in 1931. Coming as it did in the deepest part of the [[Great Depression]], Allen’s book, which depicted all of the Republican presidents of the 1920s as bumbling incompetents, was eagerly accepted by a public looking for someone to blame.

== Trivia ==
* Out of all of the Presidents of the U.S. he had the largest feet.
* He was the first president to visit Alaska.
* He was the first President to speak on the radio and the first to have a radio in the White House.
* Harding, [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Barack Obama]] are the only three sitting United States Senators elected to the Presidency.

==Bibliography==
* Anthony, Carl S. ''Florence Harding: The First Lady, the Jazz Age, and the Death of America's Most Scandalous President.'' (1998)
* Downes Randolph C. ''The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865-1920.'' (1970), standard biograpohy to 1920
* Fine, Gary Alan. "Reputational Entrepreneurs and the Memory of Incompetence: Melting Supporters, Partisan Warriors, and Images of President Harding." ''American Journal of Sociology'' 1996 101(5): 1159-1193. Issn: 0002-9602 Fulltext: in Jstor and Ebsco
* Grant, Philip A., Jr. "President Warren G. Harding and the British War Debt Question, 1921-1923." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1995 25(3): 479-487. Issn: 0360-4918
* Grieb, Kenneth J. ''The Latin American Policy of Warren G. Harding'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=2970223 1976 online]
* Irwin, Manley R. "Harding Policies Foster Future Naval Success." ''Naval History'' 2003 17(4): 28-31. Issn: 1042-1920 Fulltext: at Ebsco
* Malin, James C. ''The United States after the World War'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5260560 1930. online] detailed analysis of foreign and economic policies by a conservative historian
* Morello, John A. ''Selling the President, 1920: Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding.'' Praeger, 2001. [http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=201811039533562 online review]
* Murray, Robert K. ''The Harding Era 1921-1923: Warren G. Harding and his Administration.'' (1969), the standard academic study; by a conservative historian
* Payne, Phillip. "Instant History and the Legacy of Scandal: the Tangled Memory of Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon, and William Jefferson Clinton." ''Prospects'' 2003 28: 597-625. Issn: 0361-2333
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New York: Carroll & Graf, 2007.
* Rader, Benjamin G. "Federal Taxation in the 1920s: a Re-examination." ''Historian'' 1971 33(3): 415-435. Issn: 0018-2370
* Russell, Francis. ''The Shadow of Blooming Grove'' , 1968. biography
* Sinclair, Andrew. ''The Available Man: The Life behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding'' (1965) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=8550753 online full-scale biography]
* Winters, Donald L. "Ambiguity and Agricultural Policy: Henry Cantwell Wallace as Secretary of Agriculture." ''Agricultural History'' 1990 64(2): 191-198. Issn: 0002-1482
===Primary sources===
* Warren G. Harding, ''Our Common Country: Mutual Good Will in America.'' 2003; essays written in late 1920; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109794562 online edition]

==References==
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Warren G.}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Corruption]]

United States presidential election, 1920

2010-01-09T15:04:42Z

Reservoir: /* Bibliography */

In 1920 many people were unhappy with [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s policies and World War I. The Republicans nominated Ohio Senator, [[Warren G. Harding]]. Wilson was in no condition to run for a third term, and the Democrats instead nominated Ohio Governor, [[James M. Cox]], as their candidate <ref> Ironically, while Cox never won the presidency, both running mates would go on to win the Presidency. They were [[Calvin Coolidge]] and [[Franklin Roosevelt]]. </ref>. Cox supported many of Wilson's ideas and policies, while Harding called for a "return to normalacy." He eventually won in what remains the highest (percentage-wise) popular vote margin in history. <ref> [[Encyclopedia of Presidents, Warren G. Harding]], by Linda R. Wade, Children's Press, 1989. </ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! candidates
! popular vote
! electoral vote
|-
| Warren G. Harding
| 16, 143, 407
| 404
|-
| James M. Cox
| 9, 130, 328
| 127
|-
| [[Eugene V. Debs]]
| 919, 799
| 0
|-
| [[P.P. Christensen]]
| 265, 411
| 0
|-
| [[Aaron S. Watkins]]
| 189, 408
| 0
|-
| [[James E. Ferguson]]
| 48, 000
| 0
|-
| [[W.W. Cox]]
| 31, 715
| 0
|}
<ref> [[A Pictoral History of the U.S. Presidents]], by Clare Gibson, Gramercy Books, 2001. </ref>

==Bibliography==
Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New York: Carroll & Graf, 2007.

==Notes and References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:1920, United States presidential election,}}
[[Category:United States Presidential Elections]]

Woodrow Wilson

2010-01-09T15:03:57Z

Reservoir: /* Domestic affairs and ideas */

{{President
|image=Pppq.jpg
|seq=28
|term_start=March 4, 1913
|term_end=March 4, 1921<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Democratic
|vp=Thomas R. Marshall
|previous=William Howard Taft
|next=Warren G. Harding
|birth_date=December 28, 1856
|birth_place=Staunton, Virginia
|death_date=February 3, 1924
|death_place=Washington, D.C.
|spouse=Ellen Axson Wilson
|spouse2=Edith Galt Wilson
|religion=[[Presbyterian]]
}}

'''Woodrow Wilson''' (born Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 1856 - 1924), a Democrat, was elected as the 28th [[President of the United States of America]], and reelected in 1916, serving from 1913 to 1921. A Princeton president who became an intellectual leader of the [[Progressive Movement]], Wilson demonstrated his mastery over Congress by creating the [[Federal Reserve System]], lowering the tariff, and revising the [[antitrust]] laws in a way that ended most of the "trustbusting" and drew clear lineson what was allowed. In general these policies would be in line with conservative recommendations in 2009. He supported liberal policies such as raising wages of railroad workers when they threatened a nationwide strike in 1916.
Trying repeatedly and failing to broker peace during [[World War I]], Wilson in 1917 led the United States into the war. He set up a draft and trained millions of soldiers, sending the [[American Expeditionary Forces]] to France under the command of General [[John J. Pershing]]. W

ilson played a dominant role in ending the war with his [[Fourteen Points]] and played the central role at the Versailles Conference that set the peace terms in 1919. He was the idealist who envisioned Wilson advocated a new international order founded on self-determination, unfettered international trade, the end of militarism, and a worldwide organization of states - the League of Nations. He failed to obtain Senate approval for the Versailles treaty because it required American entry into the [[League of Nations]] and a possible loss of control over the war-making power. Wilson refused to involve the Republicans in the peace-making, even though they controlled Congress, and refused the GOP compromise that would have allowed American entry into the League without giving up sovereignty.

Wilson was a very complex man filled with paradox. He was a southern conservative--an elitist with a profound distrust of radical ideas and such left-wing populists as [[William Jennings Bryan]], but became the Democratic Party's most effective advocate of advanced progressivism. His progressivism in 2009 terms is a mix of liberal and conservative ideas, with a much deper religious underpining than is seen today. He ranks with Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson and Ronald Reagan as the nation's most active and dominant chief executives. He ranks with Abraham Lincoln and Reagan as the most articulate spokesman for national values. He was a war president who largely ignored military affairs and focused on very complex diplomatic issues. He won his war, reshaped the world at the peace conference, and saw his nation reject his idealist League of Nations because he refused to work with republicans on its mechanics.

A rigid, self-exacting personality, whose uncompromising adherence to principles barred agreement on some of his most important political goals, he was a brilliant opportunist who won stunning electoral victories and led controversial laws through Congress. He understood diplomacy and dometic affairs in depth, and was the first to recognize a solution that could satisfy most of the needs of the interested parties. He was willing to negotiate endlessly, usually getting his way in the end, esopecially when his powerful rhetoric energized his backers. A devout Presbyterian who studied the Bible every day, he elevated a religious style of idealism to the central place in American diplomacy. A lonely intellectual, he had few friends, and broke one-by-one with his closest advisors, until in his last two years in office he was an invalid controlled in large part by his wife.

Wilson's idealistic foreign policy, called "Wilsonianism" sought to end militarism as a force in world affairs, vigorously promote national self determination, create international bodies to head off serious disputes, and use American resources to promote democracy. Wilsonianism (and "idealism" generally) is opposed to "realism" in foreign policy, which stresses a concern for American self-interest, especially in economic and military terms. Wilsonianism reshaped the world in the aftermath of the Great War; its values lie at the core of the foreign policy of [[George W. Bush]] (2001-2009). [[File:Ww-sargent.jpg|thumb|350px|1917 portrait by [[John Singer Sargent]]]]
Wilson was the most profoundly Christian political leader in the world in the 20th century. He felt assured that he was following God's guidance. Wilson considered the United States a Christian nation destined to lead the world. He was a prophet and a postmillenarian, and if idealism clashed with reality, he was certain idealism would prevail.

==Family==
Wilson's father Joseph Ruggles Wilson (1822-1903), born in Ohio, was a Presbyterian minister of Scotch Irish descent. Woodrow's mother Jesse was born in Carlisle, England, to a Scottish-born Presbyterian minister; her family moved to Canada in 1835 and to Ohio in 1837. Woodrow's parents moved South in 1851, owned house slaves, and identified themselves with the culture and political values of the South. The father Joseph Wilson was a theologian, defended slavery and soon emerged as a leader of the Southern Presbyterian Church and an avid supporter of the Confederacy.<ref> In the 1880s Joseph Wilson argued at length that evolution was NOT in conflict with the Bible; he was thereupon forced out as head of the Presbyterian seminary in South Carolina. See Fred Kingsley Elder, ''Woodrow: Apostle of Freedom'' (1996) [http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642(199711)63%3A4%3C898%3AWAOF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O&cookieSet=1 online review]</ref>

Wilson's grandfather (Joseph Wilson's father) was James Wilson, who immigrated to the United States from northern Ireland in 1807 and was first an editor of the [[Jeffersonian Republican]] newspaper the ''Aurora'' in Philadelphia, and later published Whig newspapers in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Since his father had been ostracized by the northern relatives, Woodrow had no contact with his grandfather or uncles, who were active in antislavery Republican politics in Ohio and Pennsylvania.<ref>Francis P. Weisenburger, "The Middle Western Antecedents of Woodrow Wilson," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review,'' Vol. 23, No. 3 (Dec., 1936), pp. 375-390 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1886371 in JSTOR]</ref>

Woodrow grew up in the South during the Civil War and Reconstruction his father was a chaplain for the Confederate army. Woodrow saw the humiliation, economic ruin and shame that the loser of a war experiences and the hatred that grows from this, as well as the rampant corruption during Reconstruction in Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. A victim of childhood dyslexia, he became an avid reader. His father imparted a love of literature and politics to his son; much family activity revolved around Bible readings, daily prayers, and worship services at the father's church.

In 1885 Wilson married Ellen Louise Axson (1860 – 1914), the daughter of a Presbyterian minister in Savannah, Georgia. She was an accomplished painter and a successful hostess; they had three daughters.<ref> See [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/ew28-1.html White House biography of Ellen Louise Axson Wilson]</ref>

==Education==
Woodrow studied at Davidson College in North Carolina in 1873-1874 and at Princeton University from 1875 to 1879. he proved a exceptional student, primarily interested in debate and politics. His father always wanted him to be a minister; Wilson greatly admired the British Priome Minister [[William E. Gladstone]], a Christian in politics, and decided to emulate him. Wilson saw politics as a divine vocation--to be a statesman was an expression of Christian service, he believed, a use of power for the sake of principles or moral goals. Wilson saw the "key to success in politics" as "the pursuit of Perfection through hard work and the fulfillment of ideals." Politics would allow him to spread spiritual enlightenment to the American people.

He was an editor of the ''Princetonian'' and wrote his senior thesis on "Cabinet Government in the United States;" it was later published. The essay stressed the superior qualities of the British cabinet system and said it ought to be tried in the United States.<ref>Edward S. Corwin, "Woodrow Wilson and the Presidency," ''Virginia Law Review,'' Vol. 42, No. 6 (Oct., 1956), pp. 761-783 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1070269 in JSTOR]. It was published in a journal edited by [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who became Wilson's bitter enemy in 1919.</ref> After graduation in 1879 he studied law at the University of Virginia; he was admitted to the bar and practiced in Atlanta, in 1882. It was too boring. Wilson's scholarship led him in 1883 to enter the new Johns Hopkins University graduate school where he studied government and history, taking a PhD in 1885. Wilson is the only president to earn a PhD.
==Academic leader==
In 1885 Wilson was appointed instructor in in history at Bryn Mawr College, an elite Quaker school for women near Philadelphia, as a salary of $1500 a year (which was enough to hire a servant). In 1888 he moved to Wesleyan University, a Methodist college in Connecticut. His reputation as an outstanding leader in political science brought him a professorship of jurisprudence and political economy at [[Princeton University]] in 1890. For the next twelve years he taught at Princeton, popular alike with students and faculty; he became the president of the school in 1902.<ref>W. Barksdale Maynard, Woodrow Wilson: Princeton to the Presidency (2008)</ref>

Henry Wilkinson Bragdon, ''Woodrow Wilson: The Academic Years'' (1967)</ref>

Wilson soon emerged as the nation's foremost academic, in heavy demand in elite circle for his brilliant speeches.

At Princeton he created academic departments but otherwise downplayed the Germanic model of the PhD-oriented research university in favor of the "Oxbridge" (Oxford and Cambridge) model of intense small group discussions and one-one-one tutorials. He hired 50 young professors, called preceptors, to meet with students in small conferences, grilling them about their reading. Complaining that Princeton was dominated by "eating clubs" in which students ate with each other and ignored the professors, he sought to build Oxford-style colleges where students and faculty would eat and talk together. He failed--the eating clubs are still there.<ref>Yale and Harvard later did adopt the college model for undergraduates, but not Princeton. W. Barksdale Maynard, Woodrow Wilson: Princeton to the Presidency (2008)</ref>

Wilson promote the leadership model, whereby the college focused on training a small cadre of undergraduates for national leadership, "the minority who plan, who conceive, who superintend," as he called them in his inaugural address as the university's president. "The college is no less democratic because it is for those who play a special part." He confronted the dean of the graduate school, who had the German research model in mind and outmaneuvered Wilson by obtaining outside funding for a graduate complex for serious scholarlhip that was well separated from the fun-loving undergraduates.
===Political theory===
Wilson made significant contributions to political science.<ref> he also wrote popular history of high quality, including a five-volume history of the United States and a life of George Washington.</ref> In 1885 he published his influential treatise ''Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics'', based on his PhD dissertation. It set a new standard in analyzing the actual workings of the federal government with striking clarity and thoroughness. Although Wilson had never visited Congress, his emphasis on the centrality of committees in Congress was a major contribution to the study of political science. Noting how the Constitution's separation of powers had been eroded since the Civil War by the increasing power of Congress, he suggested a remedy for this in a cabinet-style government of the variety proposed by [[Walter Bagehot]] in Britain. By criticizing the Constitutionalist and Federalist traditions that had characterized American politics for a century, and showing their faults, Wilson sought to open a serious debate on the political changes in the United States in the intervening century and whether the Constitution remained an adequate regulator of these. By the time he wrote ''Constitutional Government in the United States'' (1908), Wilson was advocating the need for constitutional reform that would make Congress and president more representative and, above all, the need for a strong president who could influence Congress rather than submit to it.

Wilson originated the notion that political parties, besides running campaigns, need to be responsible for clearly designed public policies, which they present to the electorate for approval. The key to responsibility was the presidency. Hegelian conceptions of monarchy strongly influenced Wilson, and his view of public opinion contrasted sharply with the Madisonian view of factionalism. Consequently Wilson viewed parties as primarily the machinery through which strong leaders interpret and pursue the public will.<ref> Scot J. Zentner, "President and Party in the Thought of Woodrow Wilson," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly''; 1996 26(3): 666-677, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/27551624 in JSTOR]</ref>

===Public administration===
Wilson was a founder of the study of public administration by political scientists. Wilson believed in a strong, active role for the central government and as president succeeded in establishing legislation that significantly enlarged its regulatory powers. With the publication of ''Congressional Government'' in 1885, Wilson established himself as a leader of the political reform movement of the day. The book was the first of its kind to analyze policymaking by the central government and to provide recommendations for changing the process. Wilson was one of the three most prominent public administrationists of the 1880's and 1890's. As an academician, he promoted a separate department for the study of public administration and wrote 'The Study of Adminstration' (1887), the first published essay by a university scholar on the subject, established Wilson as the leading authority in the field. During the next year he inaugurated a course in public administration at Johns Hopkins University, providing three 6-week lecture series arranged in a 3-year cycle. In 1889, Wilson published a textbook, ''The State,'' and, in 1891, he began at Hopkins a new 3-year course which was a further significant step in the development of the study of administration. He was one of the first scholars to realize fully that all government was ultimately to be administration.<ref> Richard J. Stillman, II, "Woodrow Wilson and the Study of Administration: A New Look at an Old Essay," ''American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 67, No. 2 (Jun., 1973), pp. 582-588 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1958787 in JSTOR]; Larry Walker, "Woodrow Wilson, Progressive Reform, and Public Administration," ''Political Science Quarterly'', Vol. 104, No. 3 (Autumn, 1989), pp. 509-525 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2151276 in JSTOR]</ref>

===Football===
Wilson as president of Princeton, and [[Theodore Roosevelt]] as president of the United States, took an intense interest in the controversy over the reform of college football. In the 1890s and early 1900s, college football faced sharp of criticism over injuries and the role of athletics in college life. Roosevelt and Wilson, loyal followers of Harvard and Princeton, had defended football in the 1890s. In the fall of 1905, however, President Roosevelt called a conference of football experts at the White House to discuss brutality and unsportsmanlike conduct. Thereafter, Roosevelt worked behind the scenes to bring about sufficient reform to preserve football and insure that it would continue to be played at Harvard. In the years 1909-10, when college football again faced an injury crisis, Wilson worked with the presidents at Harvard and Yale to make reasonable reforms. Both Roosevelt's and Wilson's approaches were consistent with their strategies for national political change. In the years that followed the reforms on the gridiron, football evolved rapidly into the 'attractive' game that Wilson had advocated and a far less brutal game than the unruly spectacle that Roosevelt had tried to control.<ref>John S. Watterson, III, "Political Football: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and the Gridiron Reform Movement," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1995 25(3): 555-564 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/27551467 in JSTOR]</ref>
===Southerner===
Wilson was the first southerner elected president since [[Zachary Taylor]] in 1848, and much of his political base came from young progressives in that region, especially intellectuals, editors and lawyers.<ref> Arthur S. Link, "Woodrow Wilson: The American as Southerner," ''Journal of Southern History,'' Vol. 36, No. 1 (Feb., 1970), pp. 3-17 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2206599 in JSTOR] Andrew Johnson was not elected; he moved from vice president to president after Lincoln's death in 1865.</ref>

Many Civil War veterans were still alive and Wilson used the memory of the War to build nationalism and to facilitate reunion between the North and the South. In his academic work and public comments, Wilson stressed the theoretical and constitutional causes of the war, devaluing the slavery issue and stressing the moral equality of North and South, all in the interest of lessening sectional animosity. During World War I and the struggle for the League of Nations, Wilson frequently drew comparisons between Lincoln and the Union's sacrifices to save the nation and American soldiers' sacrifices during World War I to save the world. He succeeded in overcoming Southern isolationism by convincing the middle class in the region that God had preserved the Union in the Civil War in order to spread democracy throughout the world. He appealed to Southerners to demonstrate the patriotism that many said they lacked. He was able to convince them that they could wage war for democracy abroad without endangering white supremacy at home.<ref> Anthony Gaughan, "Woodrow Wilson and the Legacy of the Civil War," ''Civil War History'' 1997 43(3): 225-242; online in [[Questia]]; Gaughan, "Woodrow Wilson and the Rise of Militant Interventionism in the South," ''Journal of Southern History'' 1999 65(4): 771-808, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2587587 in JSTOR]</ref>

Wilson drew on Southern conservatism in the development of his political philosophy and identity as a politician from the 1890s to 1921. While Wilson forged a Progressive reformist outlook that encompassed limited government intervention in social and economic matters, he embraced a conservative, organic conception of social change drawn partially from the thought of Edmund Burke and partially from a mythical vision of the Old South as a model of social stability and integration. Deeply alarmed by labor and agrarian radicalism in the 1890s, Wilson resolved to cleanse the Democratic Party of Populist influence. His political vision ultimately sought to adapt American society to the new economic conditions of the 20th century, chiefly defined by the magnification of corporate power, while retaining the race and class hierarchies of tradition. Wilson's vision of Southern conservatism as a regenerative force set the precedent for the conservative ideology that dominated American politics since the 1980s.<ref> Michael Dennis, "Woodrow Wilson and Southern Reform Conservatism," ''Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South'' 2006 13(3-4): 1-28. </ref>

==Reform governor==
As early as 1906 Wilson came under the influence of Colonel George Harvey (1864-1928), a conservative Democrat who owned a publishing empire that included the ''New York World'' and ''Harper's Weekly'' magazine, reaching the nation's intellectual elite. Harvey, with close ties to Wall Street and [[J. P. Morgan]], saw a future conservative president and promoted Wilson heavily. Wilson became the intellecual leader of the anti-Bryan, anti-Populist wing of the Democratic Party. Harvey helped convince the old-fashioned bosses in New Jersey's cities to make Wilson the Democratic nominee for gobvernor in 1910, explaining this would bring in the mioddle class vote. Wilson, frustrated at Princeton, made the move and was elected. Wilson then broke with the bosses, and Harvey, denounced Wall Street and the bosses, and electrified the nation with his Progressive reforms in the notoriously corrupt government of New Jersey. Wilson by 1912 had emerged as the cleanest, most religious, best known and most dynamic leader of the [[Progressive Movement]] in the Democratic Party.

==Election of 1912==
William Frank McCombs, a New York lawyer and a a friend from college days, instigated and managed Wilson's campaign for president in 1912. Much of Wilson's support came from the South, especially from young progressive professionals. Wilson managed to maneuver through the complexities of local politics. For example, in Tennessee the Democratic Party was divided on the issue of prohibition. Wilson was progressive and sober, but not a dry, and appealed to both sides. They united behind him to win the presidential election in the state, but divided over state politics and lost the gubernatorial election.<ref> Arthur S. S. Link, "Democratic Politics and the Presidential Campaign of 1912 in Tennessee," ''East Tennessee Historical Society's Publications'' 1979 51: 114-137</ref>

At the convention deadlock went on for over 40 ballots as a two-thirds vote was needed. A leading opponent was House Speaker [[Champ Clark]], a prominent progressive strongest in the border states. Other contenders were Judson Harmon of Ohio, and Oscar Underwood of Alabama. They lacked Wilson's charisma and dynamism. Clark was supported by publisher [[William Randolph Hearst]], a leader of the left-wing of the party. The critical role was played by [[William Jennings Bryan]], the nominee in 1896, 1900 and 1908, who blocked the nomination of any candidate who had the support of 'the financiers of Wall Street.' He finally announced for Wilson, who won on the 46th.<ref> Arthur S. Link, "The Baltimore Convention of 1912," ''American Historical Review'' 1945 50(4): 691-713 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1842698 in JSTOR]</ref>

Wilson enjoyed the support of many black leaders including [[W.E.B. DuBois]] (a liberal at the time). Wilson's speeches and letters expressed the sentiments of a defender of the underprivileged. However the rejoicing over Wilson's victory was short-lived among blacks as segregationist white Southerners took control of Congress and many executive departments.<ref> Nancy J. Weiss, "The Negro and the New Freedom: Fighting Wilsonian Segregation," ''Political Science Quarterly'' 1969 84(1): 61-79, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2147047 in JSTOR]</ref>

In the campaign Wilson promoted the "New Freedom," emphasizing limited federal government and opposition to monopoly powers--positions that he reversed on coming to office.

President [[William Howard Taft]] defeated ex-President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] in a bitter contest for the Republican nomination, but Roosevelt walked out of the Republican convention and ran as a third party candidate. Wilson's success in the electoral college was assured, despite his 41.8% of the popular vote.<ref> Lewis L. Gould, ''Four Hats in the Ring: The 1912 Election and the Birth of Modern American Politics,'' (2008); Link (1947)</ref>.

==President: 1913-21==
===First term===
====Domestic policy====
[[File:Ww-prog.jpg|thumb|580px|left]]
====Immigration=====
Wilson twice vetoed the Burnett Immigration Restriction Bill, which required a literacy test for immigrants and would have sharply reduced the number of poor immigrants from Poland, Italy and other parts of eastern and southern Europe . As a moderate progressive, Wilson believed southern and eastern European immigrants, though often poor and illiterate, to be capable of assimilation into a homogeneous middle class with other whites. He considered so-called hyphenated immigrants unacceptable because they acted as groups rather than blending into the common population. Indeed he denounced the hyphenates. Wilson sought to achieve American strength through unity, blending together the best characteristics of every nationality to create the ideal citizenry, opposing [[Henry Cabot Lodge]]'s nativist view that American civilization must be based on an Anglo-Saxon foundation. Immigration from Europe practically ended when the war began, so the issue was postponed ino the 1920s, when a quota system was set up to keep the country's ethnic balance unchanged.<ref> Hans Vought, . Division and Reunion: Woodrow Wilson, Immigration, and the Myth of American Unity. Journal of American Ethnic History; 1994 13(3): 24-50.</ref>

====Foreign Policy====
=====Mexico=====
The extremely violent civil war that broke out in Mexico in 1911 drove hundreds of thousands of refugees north across the border, and forced Wilson to intervene. [[Francisco Madero]], an idealistic reformer who came to power in 1911. Madero tried to violently upend the social order in Mexico by destroying the landed aristocracy and the Catholic Church. When Madero was overthrown and murdered by [[Victoriano Huerta]] in February 1913, days before Wilson took office, he refused to recognize the new Mexican government. Relations deteriorated between the two countries. After American sailors were arrested in Tampico in April 1914 by Huerta's soldiers, the armed conflict loomed. American soldiers occupied Vera Cruz. In July 1914 Huerta fled to Spain. In 1916 the civil war between warlords [[Venustiano Carranza]] and [[Pancho Villa]] continued, and in March Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico, killing 20 Americans.<ref>James A. Sandos, "Pancho Villa and American Security: Woodrow Wilson's Mexican Diplomacy Reconsidered," ''Journal of Latin American Studies,'' Vol. 13, No. 2 (Nov., 1981), pp. 293-311 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/156072 in JSTOR]</ref> Wilson sent Brigadier General [[John J. Pershing]] deep into Mexico to capture Villa. Villa escaped the Americans. Despite the demands of outraged senators, Wilson did not declare war on Mexico. He ran for reelection in 1916 on the slogan, "He kept us out of war," meaning out of a war with Mexico.

====Reelection====
[[File:WW-WIN16.jpg|thumb|400px]]
====Woman suffrage====
In the 1910s, suffragists campaigned for the passage of a federal constitutional amendment that would grant women the right to vote. They argued it would purify politics because the new voters would be far lessliable to corruption and saloon influences. The movement was led by Protesntant northern women, many of whom were active in the prohibition movement at the same time. Wilson, originally opposed to the amendment, was converted through the efforts of women suffragists and became an advocate of critical importance. Both the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the National Women's Party (NWP) used symbolic representations of President Wilson, conferring on him real or symbolic images of presidential power. In practice Wilson hedged, realizing that male Democrats in the bg city machines in the North and in the rural South were hostile to woman suffrage. The meaning of democracy was at issue: the NWP portrayed Wilson as a tyrant, the NAWSA depicted him as a champion of freedom. Both organizations played essential roles in the passage of the 19th Amendment. After 1919, the absence of a common goal was a contributing factor to the subsequent divisions within the woman's rights movement, as was the loss of a unique adversary.<ref> Christine A. Lunardini, and Thomas J. Knock, Woodrow Wilson and Woman Suffrage: A New Look. Political Science Quarterly; 1980-1981 95(4): 655-671, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2150609 in JSTOR]</ref>

===Second term===

===Entering the war===
====Domestic policy====
====Foreign Policy====
====Russia====
Wilson's commitment to the principle of self-determination affected his decision to intervene in Russia in 1918, as the Bolsheviks (Communists) took power. Unswayed by British, French, and Japanese pressure, Wilson insisted that, unless the Russians invited them, the Allies should not interfere with Russia's internal affairs. In the summer of 1918, the president sent American troops into Siberia with the sole purpose of protecting Czechoslovak soldiers who had broken oujt of POW camps and were an independent force. Later Wilson realized that the other Allied nations were using the rescue mission as an 'anti-Bolshevik' crusade and for imperialistic motives. As a result, the president ordered US forces to withdraw.<ref> </ref> Wilson and subsequent presidents until 1933 refused to recognize the new Communist government, and Russia was not invited to the Paris Peace Conference.<ref> Betty Miller Unterberger, "Woodrow Wilson and the Bolsheviks: the 'Acid Test' of Soviet-American Relations," ''Diplomatic History'' 1987 11(2): 71-90,</ref>
====Mideast====
In November 1917, Wilson endorsed the [[Zionism|pro-Zionist]] [[Balfour Declaration]] issued by Britain. Wilson's aims in this endorsement were both practical and religious. His deep Christian sentiment led him to seek 'a direct governing role in the Near East in the name of peace, democracy and, especially, Christianity. By agreeing to the use of the mandate system by which the transition governments of the Middle East were partially controlled by Britain and France after the war, Wilson was both contradicting and reaffirming his own ideals by allowing only limited self-determination of Middle-Eastern peoples while assuring some respect for property and order.<ref> Frank W. Brecher, Woodrow Wilson and the Origins of the Arab-israeli Conflict. American Jewish Archives; 1987 39(1): 23-47,</ref>

====Paris Peace Conference, 1919====
=====Fight for the League=====

==Wilson and religion==
A Presbyterian of deep religious faith, he appealed to a gospel of service and infused a profound sense of moralism into Wilsonianism.<ref>John Morton Blum, ''Woodrow Wilson and the Politics of Morality'' (1956); Richard M. Gamble, "Savior Nation: Woodrow Wilson and the Gospel of Service," ''Humanitas'' Volume: 14. Issue: 1. 2001. pp 4+; Cooper, ''Woodrow Wilson'' (2009) p 560.</ref>

Link finds that Wilson from his earliest days had imbibed the beliefs of his denomination - in the omnipotence of God, the morality of the Universe, a system of rewards and punishments and the notion that nations, as well as man, transgressed the laws of God at their peril.<ref> Arthur S. Link, "A Portrait of Wilson," ''Virginia Quarterly Review''1956 32(4): 524-541</ref> Blum (1956) argues that he learned from [[William Gladstone]] a mystic conviction in the superiority of Anglo-Saxons, in their righteous duty to make the world over in their image. Moral principle, constitutionalism, and faith in God were among the prerequisites for alleviating human strife. While he interpreted international law within such a brittle, moral cast, Wilson remained remarkably insensitive to new and changing social forces and conditions of the 20th century. He expected too much justice in a morally brutal world which disregarded the self-righteous resolutions of parliaments and statesmen like himself. Wilson's triumph was as a teacher of international morality to generations yet unborn.<ref>John Morton Blum, ''Woodrow Wilson and the Politics of Morality'' (1956), p p10, 197-99</ref> [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] sees Wilson's vision of world order anticipated humanity prevailing through the "Holy Ghost of Reason," a vision which rested on religious faith.<ref> David Steigerwald, ''Wilsonian Idealism in America'' (1994) p. 230.</ref>

Wilson was a Presbyterian elder and the son of a leading theologian. He read the Bible daily; he felt 'sorry for the men who do not read the Bible every day.' The Bible, he argued, was 'the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life.' Wilson was prone to make explicitly Christian claims about his nation, even excluding the word ''Judeo'' from his characterization of the nation's religious heritage. 'America was born a Christian nation,' he explained in a speech on "The Bible and Progress" in 1911:
"America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture."<ref>Arthur S. Link, ed. ''The Papers of Woodrow Wilson'' (1977) 23:20, speech on the Bible, in Denver May 7, 1911</ref>

He held that the Bible "is the one supreme source of revelation, the revelation of the meaning of life, of the nature of God and the spiritual nature and need of men. It is the only guide of life which really leads the spirit in the way of peace and salvation."<ref> Josephus Daniels, ''The Life of Woodrow Wilson 1856-1924'' (1924) p. 359</ref>

God was central in Wilson's life and thought. His profound Presbyterian style of thinking assured him that he was following God's guidance. Wilson personified American optimism and considered the United States a Christian nation destined to lead the world. He was a prophet and a postmillenarian, and if idealism clashed with reality, he was certain idealism would prevail. He saw himself as God's messenger and statesman in a divinely predestined nation; thus he saw himself as God's agent in promoting democracy and world peace. His Fourteen Points and his Covenant of the League of Nations, were, in his view, divinely inspired paths to achieving a new world order.<ref> Malcolm D. Magee, '' What the World Should Be: Woodrow Wilson and the Crafting of a Faith-Based Foreign Policy'' (2008) </ref>

===China policy===
Wilson’s discussions with Presbyterian missionaries visiting Princeton shaped his diplomacy toward [[History of China|China]]. Wilson viewed Christianity as a unifying force in the world and the Chinese Revolution of 1911 as the first step toward the spread of Christianity and democracy for China. Wilson gained the admiration of the missionaries and Chinese when he prohibited US participation in a European loan to China. He moved to recognize the government of Yuan Shih-k'ai, hoping that that regime could bring stability to China favorable to the introduction of Christianity. He sought to appoint an ambassador to China who could express Christian values. During World War I, missionaries successfully urged Wilson's opposition to Japanese demands on China. Although the war and its aftermath diverted Wilson from Chinese problems, his foreign policy continued to be influenced by missionaries, particularly Dr. Samuel I. Woodbridge and the Reverend Charles E. Scott. <ref> Eugene P. Trani, "Woodrow Wilson, China, and the Missionaries, 1913-1921," ''Journal of Presbyterian History'' 1971 49(4): 328-351, </ref>

==Democracy==
Wilson advocated a new international order founded on self-determination, democracy, unfettered international commerce, and a worldwide organization of states - the League of Nations. Wilson framed American participation in the war as the first step in ending all wars. Although 'Wilsonian nationalism' has been blamed for the nationalistic emphasis on race and territory in Europe during the 1920's and 1930's, Wilson's policies had actually used ethnic and territorial issues to encourage self-determination and the development of democracy in postwar nations.

Woodrow Wilson's most lasting political philosophy was his view that [[democracy]] should be installed around the world. As a major player in setting the terms to end World War I, he helped to break up the [[Austria-Hungary|Austrian-Hungarian Empire]] to advance his goal of installing democracy for each ethnic subpopulation. Similar independence was granted with the breakup of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Many of these new nations were receiving self determination for the first time in centuries. Wilson's view of installing democracy worldwide has since been copied by the [[neoconservatives]]. Wilson was awarded the 1919 [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for his efforts to start the [[League of Nations]].
==Historiography==
Historians have been fascinated by Wilson and have vigorously defended him (Link) or attacked him (New Left). Since the collapse of the Communism in Europe in 1989, the mood had shifted in Wilson's favor. Even [[George Kennan]], a harsh critic who favored "realism" against Wilson's idealism. has changed his tune. The New Left attacks represented by Lloyd Gardner's highly critical ''A Covenant with Power'' have given way to Thomas Knock's laudatory ''To End All Wars''. The leftist tendency to trace back to Wilson a tradition of economic self-seeking and arrogant interventionism has yielded to a new impulse to see Wilsonian diplomacy as having established "a new American agenda for world affairs," as Akira Iriye writes, built upon "the ideas of economic interdependence and of peaceful settlement of disputes."<ref> see Steigerwald,(1999)</ref>

==Bibliography==
===Biography===
* Brands, H. W. ''Woodrow Wilson 1913-1921'' (2003) [http://www.amazon.com/Woodrow-Wilson-H-W-Brands/dp/0805069550/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259210644&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search] 169pp; good short summary by scholar [[File:Ww-stamp.jpg|thumb|180px|left]]
* Cooper, John Milton. ''Woodrow Wilson: A Biography'' (2009), 720 pp. major new biography by leading scholar
* Cooper, John Milton. ''The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt'' (1985), fascinating double biography by leading scholar [http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Priest-Woodrow-Theodore-Roosevelt/dp/0674947517/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259210893&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Hofstadter, Richard. "Woodrow Wilson: The Conservative as Liberal" in ''The American Political Tradition'' (1948), ch. 10. influential essay; at [http://humanitiesebook.org/ ACLS E-books]
* Link, Arthur S. "Woodrow Wilson" in Henry F. Graff ed., ''The Presidents: A Reference History '' (2002) pp 365-388
* Link, Arthur Stanley. ''Wilson: The Road to the White House'' (1947), first volume of standard biography (to 1917); ''Wilson: The New Freedom'' (1956); ''Wilson: The Struggle for Neutrality: 1914-1915'' (1960); ''Wilson: Confusions and Crises: 1915-1916'' (1964); ''Wilson: Campaigns for Progressivism and Peace: 1916-1917'' (1965), the last volume of standard biography; [http://humanitiesebook.org/ online at ACLS E-Books]
* Maynard, W. Barksdale. ''Woodrow Wilson: Princeton to the Presidency'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Woodrow-Wilson-Prof-Barksdale-Maynard/dp/0300136048/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259267777&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Walworth, Arthur. ''Woodrow Wilson'' 2 Vol. (1958); Pulitzer prize winning biography [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=24215014 vol 1 online]; well-written but old-fashioned (it was written in the 1950s), it has been replaced by Cooper (2009).

===Domestic affairs and ideas===
[[File:$100k.jpg|250px|thumb|Wilson's image appeared on the now-withdrawn $100,000 bill]]
* Abrams, Richard M. "Woodrow Wilson and the Southern Congressmen, 1913-1916," ''Journal of Southern History,'' Vol. 22, No. 4 (Nov., 1956), pp. 417-437 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2954640 in JSTOR]
* Clements, Kendrick A. ''The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson'' (1992), covers domestic and foreign policies; liberal tone
* Cooper, John Milton. ''Woodrow Wilson: A Biography'' (2009), 720 pp.
* Cuff, Robert D. "Woodrow Wilson and Business-Government Relations during World War I," ''Review of Politics,'' Vol. 31, No. 3 (Jul., 1969), pp. 385-407 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1406552 in JSTOR]
* Curti, Merle. "Woodrow Wilson's Concept of Human Nature," ''Midwest Journal of Political Science,'' Vol. 1, No. 1 (May, 1957), pp. 1-19 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2109008 in JSTOR]
* Daniel, Marjorie L. "Woodrow Wilson--Historian," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review,'' Vol. 21, No. 3 (Dec., 1934), pp. 361-374 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1897380 in JSTOR]
* Dimock, Marshall E. "Woodrow Wilson as Legislative Leader," ''The Journal of Politics,'' Vol. 19, No. 1 (Feb., 1957), pp. 3-19 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2127283 in JSTOR]
* Link, Arthur S. ''Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917'' (1954), remains the standard history of his first term.
* Link, Arthur S. "Woodrow Wilson: The American as Southerner," ''Journal of Southern History,'' Vol. 36, No. 1 (Feb., 1970), pp. 3-17 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2206599 in JSTOR]
* Link, Arthur S. "Woodrow Wilson and the Democratic Party," ''Review of Politics'', Vol. 18, No. 2 (Apr., 1956), pp. 146-156 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1405064 in JSTOR] cover 1913-14
* Livermore, Seward W. ''Woodrow Wilson and the War Congress, 1916-1918'' (1966)
* Macmahon, Arthur W. "Woodrow Wilson as Legislative Leader and Administrator," ''American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 50, No. 3 (Sep., 1956), pp. 641-675 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1951550 in JSTOR]
* Malin, James C. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5260560 ''The United States after the World War'' ] (1930)
* Pestritto, Ronald J. ed. ''Woodrow Wilson and the roots of modern liberalism'' (2005) ISBN: 0742515176' argues Wilson subverted the ideas of the Founders by his progressivism
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six President''s New York: Carroll & Graf, 2007.
* Saunders, Robert M. ''In Search of Woodrow Wilson: Beliefs and Behavior'' (1998)
* Turner, Henry A. "Woodrow Wilson and Public Opinion," ''Public Opinion Quarterly,'' Vol. 21, No. 4 (Winter, 1957-1958), pp. 505-520 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2746762 in JSTOR]
* Wolgemuth, Kathleen L. "Woodrow Wilson and Federal Segregation," ''The Journal of Negro History,'' Vol. 44, No. 2 (Apr., 1959), pp. 158-173 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2716036 in JSTOR]
* Weinstein, Edwin A., James William Anderson and Arthur S. Link. "Woodrow Wilson's Political Personality: A Reappraisal," ''Political Science Quarterly,'' Vol. 93, No. 4 (Winter, 1978-1979), pp. 585-598 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2150104 at JSTOR]
* Wolfe, Christopher. "Woodrow Wilson: Interpreting the Constitution," ''Review of Politics,'' Vol. 41, No. 1 (Jan., 1979), pp. 121-142 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1406981 in JSTOR]
* Woodward, Carl R. "Woodrow Wilson's Agricultural Philosophy," ''Agricultural History,'' Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct., 1940), pp. 129-142 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3739508 in JSTOR]

===Foreign policy===
* Ambrosius, Lloyd E., “Woodrow Wilson and George W. Bush: Historical Comparisons of Ends and Means in Their Foreign Policies,” ''Diplomatic History'', 30 (June 2006), 509–43.[[File:Ww-war-1917.jpg|thumb|350px]]
* Bailey; Thomas A. ''Wilson and the Peacemakers: Combining Woodrow Wilson and the Lost Peace and Woodrow Wilson and the Great Betrayal'' (1947)
* Clements, Kendrick, A. ''Woodrow Wilson: World Statesman'' (1999)
* Clements, Kendrick A. ''The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson'' (1992), covers foreign policy
* Clements, Kendrick A. "Woodrow Wilson and World War I," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 34:1 (2004). pp 62+.
* Cooper, John Milton. ''Woodrow Wilson: A Biography'' (2009), 720 pp.
* Davis, Donald E. and Eugene P. Trani; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109328821 ''The First Cold War: The Legacy of Woodrow Wilson in U.S.-Soviet Relations''] (2002)
* Greene, Theodore P. ed. ''Wilson at Versailles'' (1957)
* Henderson, Peter V. N. "Woodrow Wilson, Victoriano Huerta, and the Recognition Issue in Mexico," ''The Americas'', Vol. 41, No. 2 (Oct., 1984), pp. 151-176 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1007454 in JSTOR]
* Knock, Thomas J. ''To End All Wars: Woodrow Wilson and the Quest for a New World Order'' (1995)
* Kimitada, Miwa. "Japanese Opinions on Woodrow Wilson in War and Peace," ''Monumenta Nipponica,'' Vol. 22, No. 3/4 (1967), pp. 368-389 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2383073 in JSTOR]
* Levin, Jr., N. Gordon ''Woodrow Wilson and World Politics: America's Response to War and Revolution'' (1968)
* Link, Arthur Stanley. ''Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917'' (1972) sumarizes diplomatic history
* Link, Arthur S.; ''Wilson the Diplomatist: A Look at His Major Foreign Policies'' (1957)
* Link, Arthur S.; ''Woodrow Wilson and a Revolutionary World, 1913-1921'' (1982)
* Magee, Malcolm D. '' What the World Should Be: Woodrow Wilson and the Crafting of a Faith-Based Foreign Policy'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/What-World-Should-Be-Faith-based/dp/1602580707/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259268113&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* May, Ernest R. ''The World War and American Isolation, 1914-1917'' (1959)
* Trani, Eugene P. “Woodrow Wilson and the Decision to Intervene in Russia: A Reconsideration.” ''Journal of Modern History'' (1976). 48:440—61. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1878747 in JSTOR]
* Walworth, Arthur. ''Wilson and His Peacemakers: American Diplomacy at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=104399613 online edition]
===Historiography===
[[File:Ww-cooper.jpg|thumb|280px]]
* Clements, Kendrick A. "The Papers of Woodrow Wilson and the Interpretation of the Wilson Era", ''The History Teacher,'' Vol. 27, No. 4 (Aug., 1994), pp. 475-489 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/494510 in JSTOR]
* Seltzer, Alan L. "Woodrow Wilson as 'Corporate-Liberal': Toward a Reconsideration of Left Revisionist Historiography," ''Western Political Quarterly,'' Vol. 30, No. 2 (Jun., 1977), pp. 183-212 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/447405 in JSTOR]
* Steigerwald, David. The Reclamation of Woodrow Wilson? Diplomatic History; 1999 23(1): 79-99, on foreign policy in [[EBSCO]]; notes that New Left revisionism (by William Appleman Williams and N. Gordon Levin, Jr.) claiming that Wilson's Open Door was a facade for the imperialistic extension of American economic advantage, has faded away
* Watson, Jr., Richard L. "Woodrow Wilson and His Interpreters, 1947-1957," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review,'' Vol. 44, No. 2 (Sep., 1957), pp. 207-236 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1887188 in JSTOR], summarizes different interpretations as of 1957
* [http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/americanpresident/wilson Extensive essay on Woodrow Wilson and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs]

==Primary sources==
* Pestritto, Ronald J. ed. ''Woodrow Wilson: The Essential Political Writings'' (2005)
* Link, Arthur S., ed. [http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/catalogs/series/pw.html ''The Papers of Woodrow Wilson'' complete in 69 vol, at major academic libraries. Annotated edition of all of WW's letters, speeches and writings plus many letters written to him]
* Tumulty, Joseph P. ''Woodrow Wilson as I Know Him '' (1921)] memoir by chief of staff [[http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/8wwik10.txt online edition]
* Wilson, Woodrow. ''The New Freedom'' (1913) 1912 campaign speeches [http://books.google.com/books?id=MW8SAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:woodrow+inauthor:wilson&lr=&as_brr=1 online edition]
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext04/whwar10h.htm Wilson, Woodrow. ''Why We Are at War'' (1917)] six war messages to Congress, Jan- April 1917
* Wilson, Woodrow. ''Selected Literary & Political Papers & Addresses of Woodrow Wilson'' (3 vol 1918 and later editions)
* Wilson, Woodrow. ''Messages & Papers of Woodrow Wilson'' 2 vol (ISBN 1-135-19812-8)
* Wilson, Woodrow. ''The New Democracy. Presidential Messages, Addresses, and Other Papers (1913-1917)'' 2 vol 1926 (ISBN 0-89875-775-4
* Wilson, Woodrow. [http://www.usa-presidents.info/speeches/fourteen-points.html ''President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points (1918)''].
* [http://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=10&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_brr=1&lr=&as_vt=&as_auth=woodrow+wilson&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb=c&as_miny=&as_maxy=&as_isbn= full text of Wilson books and messages online]
==External links==
* [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1919/wilson-bio.html Nobel Prize biography]

==References==
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Woodrow}}

[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Peace]]
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John F. Kennedy

2010-01-09T15:02:46Z

Reservoir: /* Bibliography */

{{President
|image=John_kennedy.jpg
|seq=35
|term_start=January 20, 1961
|term_end=November 22, 1963<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Democratic
|vp=Lyndon B. Johnson
|previous=Dwight D. Eisenhower
|next=Lyndon B. Johnson
|birth_date=May 29, 1917
|birth_place=Brookline, Massachusetts
|death_date=November 22, 1963
|death_place=Dallas, Texas
|spouse=[[Jacqueline Kennedy|Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy]]
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
}}

'''John Fitzgerald Kennedy''', often called '''JFK''', (May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963) was the 35th [[President of the United States of America]], serving for 1033 days in 1961-63. He was the youngest person elected president and one of the most glamorous and beloved. He did not accomplish a great deal while alive, but after his assassination he became a legendary figure in whom admirers saw the ideals of American mythology incarnated.

The [[Kennedy Family]] had long been leaders of the Irish Catholic wing of the [[Democratic Party]]; JFK was middle-of-the-road on domestic issues and conservative on foreign policy, sending military forces into Cuba and Vietnam.

In Congress the [[Conservative Coalition]] blocked nearly all of his domestic programs, so there were few changes in domestic policy, even as the civil rights movement gained strength.

The Kennedy style called for youth, dynamism, vigor and an intellectual approach to aggressive new policies in foreign affairs. The downside was his inexperience in foreign affairs, standing in stark contrast to the vast experience of the president he replaced, Republican [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]. Kennedy's rashness and inexperience caused a national humiliation in 1961 as he sent CIA-trained Cuban exiles into an ill-prepared attack on Castro's Cuba. At the [[Bay of Pigs]], all Kennedy's invaders were killed or captured, and he was forced to ransom them for cash. Kennedy's supporters blamed the fiasco on Eisenhower. Russian boss [[Nikita Khrushchev]], seeing for himself Kennedy's inexperience at a summit conference, threw up the [[Berlin Wall]] as the Soviets escalated the [[Cold War]] regarding the status of Berlin, predicting correctly that Kennedy's response would be weak. Khrushchev went too far in 1962 when he sent nuclear missiles into Cuba aimed at the U.S. For the first time since Pearl harbor -- or indeed since Washington and New Orleans were attacked in the [[War of 1812]]-- the U.S. was vulnerable to a major attack by an enemy power. Kennedy and Khrushchev reached a compromise whereby the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba publicly (giving Kennedy a public relations triumph), while Kennedy secretly removed American missiles from Turkey aimed at the Soviets, and also promised that America would never invade Cuba—a promise still in effect in 2009. Vietnam proved a trap for Kennedy as he sent in 16,000 military advisors to prop up an ineffective regime in South Vietnam. Historians are uncertain whether or how Kennedy would have avoided the failures of [[Lyndon Johnson]] in Vietnam, for Kennedy himself had no definite plans of what to do.

He was assassinated in November 1963 by a Communist sympathizer, and became a national icon and martyr. His reputation has since been dimmed by news of his repeated philandering. He is best known for his call to civic virtue:
{{cquote|And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.|4=John Kennedy's [[John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address|Inaugural Address]]|5=<ref>http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/speeches/John_F_Kennedy/5.htm</ref>}}

==Career==
Educated at private schools and (following numerous relatives) Harvard College, young Kennedy was an indifferent student until the war in Europe focused his attention. Extensive interviews with major British politicians and observers led to an unusually precocious senior thesis that became an influential book Why England Slept (1940). As second son in the powerful [[Kennedy Family]], he was marked for an intellectual career as a writer or journalist, while his older brother Joseph was slated for politics by their hyper-manipulative father, [[Joseph P. Kennedy]]. The brother’s death in combat, combined with JFK’s heroic war record, set the stage for his political debut as a Congressional candidate in 1946.
===Medical===
Kennedy was the sickest president since [[William Henry Harrison]], but he successfully kept his multiple maladies a secret from the press and policy makers. Besides Addison's disease, Kennedy's most serious problem was chronic back pain, which surfaced when he strained an unstable back (probably birth-related) on a motor trip in 1938. He further aggravated it while playing tennis in 1940 and during PT boat service during the war. Surgery in 1944 only worsened the condition; by 1954 Kennedy found the pain so acute that he underwent back surgery once again despite the risk of an Addisonian crisis, which nearly took his life.<ref> Dallek (2003); James N. Giglio, "Why Another Kennedy Book?" ''Reviews in American History,'' Volume 31, Number 4, December 2003, pp. 645-656 in [[Project MUSE]]</ref>

As a teenager, Kennedy was in and out of the country's best hospitals for chronic colitis, stomach problems, and an undisclosed blood condition, which was at first mistakenly diagnosed as leukemia. Dr. Janet Travell, a specialist in the treatment of muscular disorders, was his primary physician after 1955, but other specialists tried any number of different treatments. As president he took seven powerful prescription drugs daily including hydrocortisone, fludrocortisone acetate, and Meticorten for Addison's disease, a malfunction of the adrenal glands; and T3 for hypothyroidism. In addition he regularly took Equanil for anxiety and tension; for his gastrointestinal problems he took anti-spasmodics Lomotil and Bentyl; for weight gain a daily dose of testosterone; and Chlor-Trimeton for his allergies. White House physicians were alarmed when they learned he was seeing Dr. Max Jacobson, a New York City celebrity physician, who injected him with a concoction of amphetamines, steroids, calcium, placenta, and vitamins, a potentially dangerous combination which pepped him up.<ref> Dallek (2003)</ref>

Historians have not identified a single policy decision that seems to have been affected by his physical condition or medical treatments; they believe he never took any illegal drugs.<ref> Giglio (2003)</ref>

==Politics==
Although the father had abandoned Boston in frustration, JFK’s return to the city restored the family’s traditional power base among the large and powerful Irish-American community in Massachusetts. Strong family connections with the Chicago Irish political community (led by Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]]) augmented his national Catholic base. JFK always had two sets of advisors, an inner circle of Irish politicians who planned his campaigns, and a Protestant-Jewish coterie of intellectuals (mostly from Harvard) who promoted his stature as the intellectual in politics. That image was solidified by the Pulitzer Prize awarded his ''Profiles in Courage'' (1956). JFK possessed powerful assets: an excellent speaker and glib commentator on major issues, a middle-of-the-road political record that offended no one, strong expertise in foreign policy, articulate anti-Communism, unfailing charm and stage presence, a national network of Irish allies, a Catholic base that comprised a fourth of the electorate, and an immense purse that was ready to fund his ambitions, not to mention innumerable relatives who campaigned endlessly on his behalf.

JFK fought his way into the Senate in 1952 by defeating incumbent Republican [[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]], the archetypal Yankee. With the national Democratic party leaderless, JFK largely ignored the old-boy Senate (controlled by his rival [[Lyndon Johnson]]) to display his talents through newspaper and television interviews, magazine articles, and highly publicized speeches to Democratic party gatherings in every part of the country. Aided by his closest advisor, his brother [[Robert Kennedy]], JFK appealed to conservatives by tolerating [[Joe McCarthy]]<ref>JFK's father Joe Kennedy was a major supporter and close personal friend of McCarthy, and Robert worked for a while for McCarthy. McCarthy dated at least one of JFK's sisters.</ref> and instead launching relentless attacks on corrupt labor leaders, especially [[Jimmy Hoffa]] of the [[Teamsters Union]].

The Kennedy family represented the conservative wing of the Democratic party, and was known for its anti-Communism and close ties with Republican Senator [[Joe McCarthy]] Many liberal Democrats, led by [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], distrusted JFK primarily because they could never forget the father’s break with Franklin Roosevelt or the family’s support for McCarthy. Yet with the fading away of [[Adlai Stevenson]] (the liberal Democratic candidate in 1952 and 1956), liberals lacked a viable candidate of their own.

==Nomination==
By 1960 JFK was the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, with the biggest question mark whether his Catholic base of support would be outweighed by anti-Catholicism of the sort that hurt [[Al Smith]] so badly in 1928. Of course prohibition was no longer an issue, and fear of Tammany-like bossism had faded away with the demise of most big city machines. The Kennedy juggernaut defeated rival [[Hubert Humphrey]], a liberal, in the West Virginia primary, a state with so much poverty and so few Catholics that party leaders were convinced they had a winner. Kennedy won over the party’s intellectuals by his effective academic connections, while shaming doubters by a brilliant performance before the Protestant ministers of Houston. There he enunciated the position that he did not speak for the Catholic Church on matters of religion, and it did not speak for him on public affairs. He was able to take that position because there were no high intensity moral issues such as abortion before the public.

Although JFK’s religiosity consisted of nominal attendance at Sunday Mass, he excited tens of millions of Catholics who saw his election as president as confirmation of their full recognition as true Americans. With 8 of 10 Catholics voting for Kennedy, he ran up majorities in ethnic strongholds like Chicago that provided the narrow margin of victory against Richard Nixon. Apart from a few pockets of antipopery among some Midwestern Lutherans and Southern Baptists, fears of Catholicism largely disappeared from the voting booth after 1960, and Kennedy gets credit for bringing Catholics into the American political mainstream.

==Foreign policy==
President Kennedy was primarily interested in foreign policy. Weeks after his [[John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address|memorable inaugural address]] sounded the tocsin for vigorous anti-communism, he encountered disaster when his invasion of Cuba failed at the [[Bay of Pigs]] in 1961, and he was forced to ransom thousands of soldiers who were captured by [[Fidel Castro]]'s Communist regime. Soviet leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]], sensing weakness, pushed hard on the Berlin issue, and was able to build the Berlin Wall despite Kennedy’s anguished rhetoric, "Ich bin ein Berliner!" ("I am a Berliner!")
===Peace Corps===
He launched the [[Peace Corps]] by executive order in 1961, putting his brother-in-law [[Sargent Shriver]] (b. 1915 ) in charge. It was not designed as a liberal antipoverty program; rather it was designed to be a powerful new weapon in the Cold War arsenal, one that could reach the people directly at the grass roots not merely their national leaders. Kennedy in the 1960 campaign promised to form the agency, saying:
:"I believe that as a counter to the flood of well trained and accomplished tacticians now helping nations with their problems that the Communists are sending out, I believe an American Peace Corps...could be trained to help these people live a life of freedom in agriculture, in handiwork, in roadbuilding, in government and other skills, young Americans who will represent the cause of freedom around the globe."<ref> Quote [http://www.jfklink.com/speeches/jfk/nov60/jfk041160_chicago02.html Nov. 4, 1960, Chicago speech online] see also T. Zane Reeves, ''The Politics of the Peace Corps & Vista'' (1988) p. 20.</ref>

The Peace Corps has been endorsed by all subsequent presidents; nearly 200,000 Americans have served and it is still in operation, albeit with a modest record of achievement.

===Ireland===
Kennedy paid a state visit to [[Ireland]] in 1962 - the first state visit of an American President to the country, which had secured independence from Britain forty years earlier. Kennedy visited his ancestral home in County Wexford, and was greeted by huge crowds in the cities of [[Dublin]], [[Limerick]] and [[Cork]]. He told crowds that once he had completed his term as president, he would like to become US Ambassador to Ireland, and live there. Among the many dignitaries at Kennedy's funeral a year later was [[President of Ireland|Irish President]] [[Eamon de Valera]].

===Cuban Missile Crisis===
see [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]

Khrushchev and Castro went too far in 1962, secretly setting up medium range missiles in Cuba equipped with nuclear warheads that threatened the southeast as far as Atlanta. In his greatest moment, Kennedy rejected invasion plans but imposed a blockade and demanded the missiles be removed immediately. Khrushchev publicly backed down, but privately got Kennedy to remove American missiles from Turkey, while Castro secured the promise that the United States would never invade his island. The Cuban missile crisis reversed JFK’s image of ineptness in foreign policy, but his quiet, continuous escalation of military involvement in Vietnam set the stage for the whirlwind reaped by his successor.

==Domestic policy==
As senator, JFK had shown limited interest in domestic affairs apart from labor union corruption. As president he ignored that issue. Working with his high-powered economic advisors he proposed a Keynesian program to stimulate the economy, not by higher spending but by tax cuts. No matter: none of his domestic policy initiatives went anywhere. Congress was effectively controlled a conservative coalition of Republicans and southern Democrats; the alignment remained unchanged after the status-quo midterm elections of 1962.

Kennedy authorized the de-segregation of federal housing and proposed the civil rights bill, passed after his assassination. He pledged to put a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s, a pledge that was later fulfilled after his death. Likewise he proposed tax cuts, which were approved after his death.

===Civil rights===
A new issue that Kennedy had not anticipated blazed into view as the civil rights movement in the South, led by Martin Luther King, produced dramatic confrontations with segregationist Democrats, especially Governor George Wallace of Alabama, and Ross Barnett of Mississippi. A month before the 1962 election Kennedy sent federal marshals and Army MP’s to enforce a federal court order that African American student James Meredith be admitted to the University of Mississippi. Violent resistance by townspeople left two civilians dead, hundreds injured, and 166 federals injured. The confrontation in Alabama in 1963 was nonviolent, and boosted Wallace’s visibility as a leader of southern Democrats. JFK ignored the risks to his southern base and spoke out in favor of civil rights legislation, but as in so many instances, no legislation was passed.

==Legacy==
[[Image:JFK bust.jpg|thumb|Bust of John F. Kennedy by Robert Berks.]]
Kennedy’s assassination in November, 1963, was a stunning shock to all Americans. Pierson (2007) argues that the liberal media turned Kennedy's death into a martyrdom against racism, ignoring Kennedy's weak interest in race and his strong opposition to Communism. Lee Harvey Oswald's Communist ties were downplayed and instead the conservative city of [[Dallas]] was made the guilty party. Incoming president Lyndon Johnson used the martyrdom theme to rally support for his liberal programs, painting them as memorials to Kennedy until Johnson won reelection in 1964 by a landslide over conservative leader [[Barry Goldwater]].

The Catholic community took it hard, and immediately elevated JFK to a sort of sainthood status, celebrating the miracle that he had liberated them from second class citizenship. Johnson in 1964 successfully retained the Catholic base JFK had fostered, but that was the last hurrah. By 1966 Catholics started showing their disillusionment with Johnson, who never recovered from the wave after wave of urban riots that followed his civil rights bills, nor from the disillusionment of the intellectuals with his [[Vietnam War]] policy. With the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968, and the failure of youngest brother [[Ted Kennedy]] to recover his brothers’ national base, the Kennedy legacy increasingly became the romantic memory of Camelot. Disclosures of JFK’s astonishing sexual involvements, and detailed reports of his multiple grave medical problems fascinated the public but failed to break the myth that if only JFK had lived his second term would be a story of political triumphs that would restore the people’s faith in their government
The assassination was so incomprehensible that hundreds of conspiracy theories sprang up and new ones emerge every year. Over 350 people and organizations have been named as guilty of the assassination.

Kennedy appointed liberal Arthur Goldberg to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]], as well as [[Byron White]]. White's rulings combined both liberal and conservative positions.

Kennedy's image appears on the American half-dollar coin.
===Was Kennedy a liberal or a conservative?===
Kennedy was basically a conservative, but he had to appeal to a primarily liberal base, so he offered symbols for the liberals while following a conservative course in foreign and domestic policy. After his death Kennedy's legacy was picked up by liberals, and there is a vague notion to the effect that Kennedy was a liberal. He was actually more of a conservative..<ref> The best studies of Kennedy's relations with liberalism are William E. Leuchtenburg, ''In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan'' (2001) pp 63-120 [ excerpt and text search]; Alonzo Hamby, ''Liberalism and Its Challengers: From F.D.R. to Bush'' (1992) [http://www.amazon.com/Liberalism-Its-Challengers-F-D-R-Bush/dp/0195070305/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257264863&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]. Leuchtenburg is a liberal and Hamby is a conservative; both are excellent historians.</ref>

To be a liberal in the days when Kennedy was in politics, 1946-63, meant supporting the programs of the [[New Deal]], following in the footsteps of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], and upholding the [[New Deal Coalition]]. Support for labor unions was important; support for civil rights was a minor issue (and one more associated with the Republican Party). Hostility to the Catholic Church was common among liberals. In foreign policy liberals had turned away from Roosevelt's détente with the Soviets and had adopted the [[containment]] policy. Liberals rejected [[rollback]], that is efforts to remove Communists regimes from power. Verbal support for the United Nations was standard rhetoric, although in practice it meant little. The symbolically most important issue of them all for liberals was opposition to [[Joe McCarthy]] and his style of aggressive anti-Communism.

On most of these points Kennedy was largely on the conservative side. He refused to call himself a liberal, but he had a base in Massachusetts with many strong liberals in academe and labor unions that had to be appeased, so he never attacked liberalism too loudly. He solved the state problem by a close alliance with the Democratic party organizations in the cities, controlled mostly by Irish politicians. JFK's campaign manager and chief confidante was his brother Bobby, a devout Catholic who was in close touch with the Catholic establishment as well as the local machines. JFK thus maintained very close ties to the Catholic establishment; he carefully followed the required public rituals such as Mass on Sunday and no meat on Friday. It was a major achievement by Kennedy in 1960 to resolve the religious issue and bring Catholics into the mainstream of American life and to the top ranks of national leadership.<ref>By contrast, the only Catholic in Eisenhower's cabinet was a plumber who was Secretary of Labor.</ref>

On foreign policy he was a leading anti-Communist hawk; he won in 1960 by attacking Eisenhower's foreign policies as not aggressive enough. When elected he sent forces to invade Cuba and rollback Communism; he increased the military presence in Vietnam by a factor of 16 and unleashed the CIA to undermine Communism in the South; he sent the Navy to a direct confrontation with the Soviets in the Cuban Missile Crisis, forcing the Soviets to withdraw. Liberals have misread these episodes--saying that the Cuban invasion was really Eisenhower's idea; that in Vietnam he might have changed his mind in a second term; and that in Cuba he was liberal because he did not blow the world up.

On the liberal side, he achieved the creation of the Peace Corps. To combat Communism in Latin America he proposed a liberal program of financial and technical assistance and free-food programs, and indicated he would take a sympathetic view of revolutionary movements that have the legitimate objective of bettering the life of the hemisphere's poor and downtrodden. Kennedy explicitly exempted any such movements dominated by "external"—meaning Communist—forces, thereby shutting the door on renewed diplomatic relations with Fidel Castro's Cuba

On domestic issues, as president he tried to cut taxes and blocked his liberal advisors who wanted deficit spending in 1961. Civil rights did not interest him and he put it on the back burner. He was no more active than Eisenhower in that regard. On unions, he built up a reputation of strong opposition to union corruption, especially in the Teamsters; he quietly kept on good terms with [[George Meany]], the AFL-CIO leader, while avoiding [[Walter Reuther]], the leader of the liberal wing of the AFL-CIO.

Kennedy had a pro-business reputation and sponsored policies such as tax cuts and low inflation that conservative businessmen wanted. On taking office he called for a "full-fledged alliance" with business. He did get into a brush-up with the steel industry when the steelmen broke their promise to him to keep prices down; that move made Kennedy more popular among the anti-business liberals, but Kennedy never proposed major legislation that business opposed. He named Douglas Dillon, a leading Republican businessman, as his Secretary of the Treasury. On dealing with unemployment, he never proposed New-Dealish programs but instead had a package that was acceptable to conservative Republicans.<ref> House Republican Minority Leader Charles Halleck said of those proposals: "We find no great quarrel with them, but we do not find them earthshaking." ''Time'' Feb. 10, 1961</ref>

Crime was a signature issue for Kennedy, and on taking office he promised a major crackdown on organized crime, thus appealing to conservatives. On appointing Brother Bobby as Attorney General, he quipped, "I can't see that it's wrong to give him a little legal experience before he goes out to practice law." On the liberal side, Kennedy asked Congress for federal aid for school construction and more money for federally assisted housing. They did not oblige.

Joe McCarthy was a close friend of the Kennedy family. Joe Kennedy was his biggest financial backer, and often brought the Wisconsin Senator to family outings--and encouraged him to date the Kennedy girls. Bobby Kennedy began his career as an aide to McCarthy. Liberals intensely hated McCarthy and that carried over to the entire Kennedy clan. JFK was not close to McCarthy, but he refused to attack him publicly or to vote for his Senate censure in 1954 when McCarthy's career was collapsing.

==Quotes==

* "The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining."

* "The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us." Oct 26, 1963

* "And so, my fellow americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Inaugural address, January 20, 1961

* "The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity." Speech in Indianapolis, April 12, 1959

== See also ==

*[[Gallery of American Heroes]]

== External links ==
*[http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy]
*[http://www.jfklibrary.org/ John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]

==Further reading==
*Dallek, Robert, ''An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963'' (2003), a standard scholarly biography; strress on medical issues [http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Life-John-Kennedy-Dynasty/dp/0316907928/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* O'Brien, Michael. ''John F. Kennedy: A Biography'' (2005), the most detailed scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/John-Kennedy-Biography-Michael-OBrien/dp/0312281293/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
* Parmet, Herbert. ''Jack: The Struggles of John F. Kennedy'' (1980); ''JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy'' (1983), scholarly biography
* Reeves, Thomas C. ''A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy.'' (1991) conservative critique [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7D9143EF931A35755C0A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all New York Times Book Review]

===Bibliography===
* Balmer, Randall. ''God in the White House: A History--How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush.'' (2008)
* Bryant, Nick. ''The Bystander: John F. Kennedy and the Struggle for Black Equality'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Bystander-Kennedy-Struggle-Black-Equality/dp/0465008267/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]
* Bugliosi, Vincent. ''Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President,'' (2007) 1632 pp. Debunks dozens of conspiracy theories and concludes Oswald acted alone. [http://www.amazon.com/Reclaiming-History-Assassination-President-Kennedy/dp/0393045250/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227416692&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Burner, David. ''John F. Kennedy and a New Generation'' (1988)
* Clarke, Thurston, ''Ask Not: The Inauguration of John F. Kennedy and the Speech That Changed America'' ISBN 0805072136 [http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Not-Inauguration-Kennedy-Changed/dp/0805072136/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-5 excerpt and text search]
*Dallek, Robert, ''An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963'' (2003), a standard scholarly biography; strress on medical issues [http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Life-John-Kennedy-Dynasty/dp/0316907928/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Donaldson, Gary A. ''The First Modern Campaign: Kennedy, Nixon, and the Election of 1960'' (2007)
* Freedman, Lawrence. ''Kennedy's Wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Kennedys-Wars-Berlin-Cuba-Vietnam/dp/0195152433/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218513&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]; [http://www.questia.com/library/book/kennedys-wars-berlin-cuba-laos-and-vietnam-by-lawrence-freedman.jsp full text online]
* Fursenko, Aleksandr and Timothy Naftali. ''One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro and Kennedy, 1958–1964'' (1997) [http://www.amazon.com/One-Hell-Gamble-Khrushchev-1958-1964/dp/0393317900/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218554&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search] adds information from Russian sources
* Giglio, James. ''The Presidency of John F. Kennedy'' (1991), standard scholarly overview of policies
* Harper, Paul, and Joann P. Krieg eds. ''John F. Kennedy: The Promise Revisited'' (1988), scholarly articles on presidency [http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=15070503 online edition]
* Hersh, Seymour. ''The Dark Side of Camelot'' (1997), highly negative assessment focused on scandals
* Kunz, Diane B. ''The Diplomacy of the Crucial Decade: American Foreign Relations during the 1960s'' (1994)
* Lichtenstein. Nelson, ed. ''Political Profiles: The Kennedy Years'' (1976) 621pp; very good short, analytical biographies of 500 major players
* Leuchtenburg, William E. ''In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to Barack Obama'' (2009) excellent analysis of how JFK tried to replicate FDR's appeal without his liberalism [http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-FDR-Harry-Truman-George/dp/0801487374/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257738655&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* O'Brien, Michael. ''John F. Kennedy: A Biography'' (2005), the most detailed scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/John-Kennedy-Biography-Michael-OBrien/dp/0312281293/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
* Parmet, Herbert. ''Jack: The Struggles of John F. Kennedy'' (1980); ''JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy'' (1983), scholarly biography
* Paterson, Thomas G. ''Kennedy's Quest for Victory: American Foreign Policy, 1961-1963'' (1989) [http://www.amazon.com/Kennedys-Quest-Victory-American-1961-1963/dp/019504584X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-11 excerpt and text search], Leftists approach disparages anti-Communism
* Piereson, James. ''Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Camelot-Cultural-Revolution-Assassination-Liberalism/dp/1594031886/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227415678&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search], conservative interpetation
* Pietrusza, David ''1960: LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign that Forged Three Presidencies'' New York: Union Square Press, 2008
* Preble, Christopher A. ''John F. Kennedy and the Missile Gap'' (2004)
* Reeves, Richard. ''President Kennedy: Profile of Power'' (1993), balanced assessment of policies
* Reeves, Thomas. ''A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy'' (1991) detailed assessment of his character flaws by conservative historian [http://www.amazon.com/Question-Character-Life-John-Kennedy/dp/076151287X/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-10 excerpt and text search]
* Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr. ''A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House'' (1965), major memoir by a close advisor [http://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Days-Kennedy-White-House/dp/1579124496/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218430&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr. ''Robert Kennedy And His Times'' (2002)
* Smith, Jean Edward. "Kennedy and Defense: The Formative Years". ''Air University Review'' (March–April 1967) [http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1967/mar-apr/smith.html online]
* Sundquist, James L''Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years'' (1968), excellent analysis of the major political issues of the era.

===Primary sources===
* [http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/publications/ERP/ Council of Economic Advisors, ''Economic Report of the President'' (annual 1947- )], complete series online; important analysis of current trends and policies, plus statistcial tables
* Sorensen, Theodore. ''Kennedy'' (1966), major memoir by a close advisor

====Notes====
{{reflist}}

{{USPresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, John F.}}
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Irish-Americans]]
[[Category:American war heroes]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:1950s]]
[[Category:1960s]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]
[[Category: Kennedy Family]]
[[Category:Religion and Politics]]

John F. Kennedy

2010-01-09T15:02:04Z

Reservoir: /* Bibliography */

{{President
|image=John_kennedy.jpg
|seq=35
|term_start=January 20, 1961
|term_end=November 22, 1963<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Democratic
|vp=Lyndon B. Johnson
|previous=Dwight D. Eisenhower
|next=Lyndon B. Johnson
|birth_date=May 29, 1917
|birth_place=Brookline, Massachusetts
|death_date=November 22, 1963
|death_place=Dallas, Texas
|spouse=[[Jacqueline Kennedy|Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy]]
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
}}

'''John Fitzgerald Kennedy''', often called '''JFK''', (May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963) was the 35th [[President of the United States of America]], serving for 1033 days in 1961-63. He was the youngest person elected president and one of the most glamorous and beloved. He did not accomplish a great deal while alive, but after his assassination he became a legendary figure in whom admirers saw the ideals of American mythology incarnated.

The [[Kennedy Family]] had long been leaders of the Irish Catholic wing of the [[Democratic Party]]; JFK was middle-of-the-road on domestic issues and conservative on foreign policy, sending military forces into Cuba and Vietnam.

In Congress the [[Conservative Coalition]] blocked nearly all of his domestic programs, so there were few changes in domestic policy, even as the civil rights movement gained strength.

The Kennedy style called for youth, dynamism, vigor and an intellectual approach to aggressive new policies in foreign affairs. The downside was his inexperience in foreign affairs, standing in stark contrast to the vast experience of the president he replaced, Republican [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]. Kennedy's rashness and inexperience caused a national humiliation in 1961 as he sent CIA-trained Cuban exiles into an ill-prepared attack on Castro's Cuba. At the [[Bay of Pigs]], all Kennedy's invaders were killed or captured, and he was forced to ransom them for cash. Kennedy's supporters blamed the fiasco on Eisenhower. Russian boss [[Nikita Khrushchev]], seeing for himself Kennedy's inexperience at a summit conference, threw up the [[Berlin Wall]] as the Soviets escalated the [[Cold War]] regarding the status of Berlin, predicting correctly that Kennedy's response would be weak. Khrushchev went too far in 1962 when he sent nuclear missiles into Cuba aimed at the U.S. For the first time since Pearl harbor -- or indeed since Washington and New Orleans were attacked in the [[War of 1812]]-- the U.S. was vulnerable to a major attack by an enemy power. Kennedy and Khrushchev reached a compromise whereby the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba publicly (giving Kennedy a public relations triumph), while Kennedy secretly removed American missiles from Turkey aimed at the Soviets, and also promised that America would never invade Cuba—a promise still in effect in 2009. Vietnam proved a trap for Kennedy as he sent in 16,000 military advisors to prop up an ineffective regime in South Vietnam. Historians are uncertain whether or how Kennedy would have avoided the failures of [[Lyndon Johnson]] in Vietnam, for Kennedy himself had no definite plans of what to do.

He was assassinated in November 1963 by a Communist sympathizer, and became a national icon and martyr. His reputation has since been dimmed by news of his repeated philandering. He is best known for his call to civic virtue:
{{cquote|And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.|4=John Kennedy's [[John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address|Inaugural Address]]|5=<ref>http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/speeches/John_F_Kennedy/5.htm</ref>}}

==Career==
Educated at private schools and (following numerous relatives) Harvard College, young Kennedy was an indifferent student until the war in Europe focused his attention. Extensive interviews with major British politicians and observers led to an unusually precocious senior thesis that became an influential book Why England Slept (1940). As second son in the powerful [[Kennedy Family]], he was marked for an intellectual career as a writer or journalist, while his older brother Joseph was slated for politics by their hyper-manipulative father, [[Joseph P. Kennedy]]. The brother’s death in combat, combined with JFK’s heroic war record, set the stage for his political debut as a Congressional candidate in 1946.
===Medical===
Kennedy was the sickest president since [[William Henry Harrison]], but he successfully kept his multiple maladies a secret from the press and policy makers. Besides Addison's disease, Kennedy's most serious problem was chronic back pain, which surfaced when he strained an unstable back (probably birth-related) on a motor trip in 1938. He further aggravated it while playing tennis in 1940 and during PT boat service during the war. Surgery in 1944 only worsened the condition; by 1954 Kennedy found the pain so acute that he underwent back surgery once again despite the risk of an Addisonian crisis, which nearly took his life.<ref> Dallek (2003); James N. Giglio, "Why Another Kennedy Book?" ''Reviews in American History,'' Volume 31, Number 4, December 2003, pp. 645-656 in [[Project MUSE]]</ref>

As a teenager, Kennedy was in and out of the country's best hospitals for chronic colitis, stomach problems, and an undisclosed blood condition, which was at first mistakenly diagnosed as leukemia. Dr. Janet Travell, a specialist in the treatment of muscular disorders, was his primary physician after 1955, but other specialists tried any number of different treatments. As president he took seven powerful prescription drugs daily including hydrocortisone, fludrocortisone acetate, and Meticorten for Addison's disease, a malfunction of the adrenal glands; and T3 for hypothyroidism. In addition he regularly took Equanil for anxiety and tension; for his gastrointestinal problems he took anti-spasmodics Lomotil and Bentyl; for weight gain a daily dose of testosterone; and Chlor-Trimeton for his allergies. White House physicians were alarmed when they learned he was seeing Dr. Max Jacobson, a New York City celebrity physician, who injected him with a concoction of amphetamines, steroids, calcium, placenta, and vitamins, a potentially dangerous combination which pepped him up.<ref> Dallek (2003)</ref>

Historians have not identified a single policy decision that seems to have been affected by his physical condition or medical treatments; they believe he never took any illegal drugs.<ref> Giglio (2003)</ref>

==Politics==
Although the father had abandoned Boston in frustration, JFK’s return to the city restored the family’s traditional power base among the large and powerful Irish-American community in Massachusetts. Strong family connections with the Chicago Irish political community (led by Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]]) augmented his national Catholic base. JFK always had two sets of advisors, an inner circle of Irish politicians who planned his campaigns, and a Protestant-Jewish coterie of intellectuals (mostly from Harvard) who promoted his stature as the intellectual in politics. That image was solidified by the Pulitzer Prize awarded his ''Profiles in Courage'' (1956). JFK possessed powerful assets: an excellent speaker and glib commentator on major issues, a middle-of-the-road political record that offended no one, strong expertise in foreign policy, articulate anti-Communism, unfailing charm and stage presence, a national network of Irish allies, a Catholic base that comprised a fourth of the electorate, and an immense purse that was ready to fund his ambitions, not to mention innumerable relatives who campaigned endlessly on his behalf.

JFK fought his way into the Senate in 1952 by defeating incumbent Republican [[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]], the archetypal Yankee. With the national Democratic party leaderless, JFK largely ignored the old-boy Senate (controlled by his rival [[Lyndon Johnson]]) to display his talents through newspaper and television interviews, magazine articles, and highly publicized speeches to Democratic party gatherings in every part of the country. Aided by his closest advisor, his brother [[Robert Kennedy]], JFK appealed to conservatives by tolerating [[Joe McCarthy]]<ref>JFK's father Joe Kennedy was a major supporter and close personal friend of McCarthy, and Robert worked for a while for McCarthy. McCarthy dated at least one of JFK's sisters.</ref> and instead launching relentless attacks on corrupt labor leaders, especially [[Jimmy Hoffa]] of the [[Teamsters Union]].

The Kennedy family represented the conservative wing of the Democratic party, and was known for its anti-Communism and close ties with Republican Senator [[Joe McCarthy]] Many liberal Democrats, led by [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], distrusted JFK primarily because they could never forget the father’s break with Franklin Roosevelt or the family’s support for McCarthy. Yet with the fading away of [[Adlai Stevenson]] (the liberal Democratic candidate in 1952 and 1956), liberals lacked a viable candidate of their own.

==Nomination==
By 1960 JFK was the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, with the biggest question mark whether his Catholic base of support would be outweighed by anti-Catholicism of the sort that hurt [[Al Smith]] so badly in 1928. Of course prohibition was no longer an issue, and fear of Tammany-like bossism had faded away with the demise of most big city machines. The Kennedy juggernaut defeated rival [[Hubert Humphrey]], a liberal, in the West Virginia primary, a state with so much poverty and so few Catholics that party leaders were convinced they had a winner. Kennedy won over the party’s intellectuals by his effective academic connections, while shaming doubters by a brilliant performance before the Protestant ministers of Houston. There he enunciated the position that he did not speak for the Catholic Church on matters of religion, and it did not speak for him on public affairs. He was able to take that position because there were no high intensity moral issues such as abortion before the public.

Although JFK’s religiosity consisted of nominal attendance at Sunday Mass, he excited tens of millions of Catholics who saw his election as president as confirmation of their full recognition as true Americans. With 8 of 10 Catholics voting for Kennedy, he ran up majorities in ethnic strongholds like Chicago that provided the narrow margin of victory against Richard Nixon. Apart from a few pockets of antipopery among some Midwestern Lutherans and Southern Baptists, fears of Catholicism largely disappeared from the voting booth after 1960, and Kennedy gets credit for bringing Catholics into the American political mainstream.

==Foreign policy==
President Kennedy was primarily interested in foreign policy. Weeks after his [[John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address|memorable inaugural address]] sounded the tocsin for vigorous anti-communism, he encountered disaster when his invasion of Cuba failed at the [[Bay of Pigs]] in 1961, and he was forced to ransom thousands of soldiers who were captured by [[Fidel Castro]]'s Communist regime. Soviet leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]], sensing weakness, pushed hard on the Berlin issue, and was able to build the Berlin Wall despite Kennedy’s anguished rhetoric, "Ich bin ein Berliner!" ("I am a Berliner!")
===Peace Corps===
He launched the [[Peace Corps]] by executive order in 1961, putting his brother-in-law [[Sargent Shriver]] (b. 1915 ) in charge. It was not designed as a liberal antipoverty program; rather it was designed to be a powerful new weapon in the Cold War arsenal, one that could reach the people directly at the grass roots not merely their national leaders. Kennedy in the 1960 campaign promised to form the agency, saying:
:"I believe that as a counter to the flood of well trained and accomplished tacticians now helping nations with their problems that the Communists are sending out, I believe an American Peace Corps...could be trained to help these people live a life of freedom in agriculture, in handiwork, in roadbuilding, in government and other skills, young Americans who will represent the cause of freedom around the globe."<ref> Quote [http://www.jfklink.com/speeches/jfk/nov60/jfk041160_chicago02.html Nov. 4, 1960, Chicago speech online] see also T. Zane Reeves, ''The Politics of the Peace Corps & Vista'' (1988) p. 20.</ref>

The Peace Corps has been endorsed by all subsequent presidents; nearly 200,000 Americans have served and it is still in operation, albeit with a modest record of achievement.

===Ireland===
Kennedy paid a state visit to [[Ireland]] in 1962 - the first state visit of an American President to the country, which had secured independence from Britain forty years earlier. Kennedy visited his ancestral home in County Wexford, and was greeted by huge crowds in the cities of [[Dublin]], [[Limerick]] and [[Cork]]. He told crowds that once he had completed his term as president, he would like to become US Ambassador to Ireland, and live there. Among the many dignitaries at Kennedy's funeral a year later was [[President of Ireland|Irish President]] [[Eamon de Valera]].

===Cuban Missile Crisis===
see [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]

Khrushchev and Castro went too far in 1962, secretly setting up medium range missiles in Cuba equipped with nuclear warheads that threatened the southeast as far as Atlanta. In his greatest moment, Kennedy rejected invasion plans but imposed a blockade and demanded the missiles be removed immediately. Khrushchev publicly backed down, but privately got Kennedy to remove American missiles from Turkey, while Castro secured the promise that the United States would never invade his island. The Cuban missile crisis reversed JFK’s image of ineptness in foreign policy, but his quiet, continuous escalation of military involvement in Vietnam set the stage for the whirlwind reaped by his successor.

==Domestic policy==
As senator, JFK had shown limited interest in domestic affairs apart from labor union corruption. As president he ignored that issue. Working with his high-powered economic advisors he proposed a Keynesian program to stimulate the economy, not by higher spending but by tax cuts. No matter: none of his domestic policy initiatives went anywhere. Congress was effectively controlled a conservative coalition of Republicans and southern Democrats; the alignment remained unchanged after the status-quo midterm elections of 1962.

Kennedy authorized the de-segregation of federal housing and proposed the civil rights bill, passed after his assassination. He pledged to put a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s, a pledge that was later fulfilled after his death. Likewise he proposed tax cuts, which were approved after his death.

===Civil rights===
A new issue that Kennedy had not anticipated blazed into view as the civil rights movement in the South, led by Martin Luther King, produced dramatic confrontations with segregationist Democrats, especially Governor George Wallace of Alabama, and Ross Barnett of Mississippi. A month before the 1962 election Kennedy sent federal marshals and Army MP’s to enforce a federal court order that African American student James Meredith be admitted to the University of Mississippi. Violent resistance by townspeople left two civilians dead, hundreds injured, and 166 federals injured. The confrontation in Alabama in 1963 was nonviolent, and boosted Wallace’s visibility as a leader of southern Democrats. JFK ignored the risks to his southern base and spoke out in favor of civil rights legislation, but as in so many instances, no legislation was passed.

==Legacy==
[[Image:JFK bust.jpg|thumb|Bust of John F. Kennedy by Robert Berks.]]
Kennedy’s assassination in November, 1963, was a stunning shock to all Americans. Pierson (2007) argues that the liberal media turned Kennedy's death into a martyrdom against racism, ignoring Kennedy's weak interest in race and his strong opposition to Communism. Lee Harvey Oswald's Communist ties were downplayed and instead the conservative city of [[Dallas]] was made the guilty party. Incoming president Lyndon Johnson used the martyrdom theme to rally support for his liberal programs, painting them as memorials to Kennedy until Johnson won reelection in 1964 by a landslide over conservative leader [[Barry Goldwater]].

The Catholic community took it hard, and immediately elevated JFK to a sort of sainthood status, celebrating the miracle that he had liberated them from second class citizenship. Johnson in 1964 successfully retained the Catholic base JFK had fostered, but that was the last hurrah. By 1966 Catholics started showing their disillusionment with Johnson, who never recovered from the wave after wave of urban riots that followed his civil rights bills, nor from the disillusionment of the intellectuals with his [[Vietnam War]] policy. With the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968, and the failure of youngest brother [[Ted Kennedy]] to recover his brothers’ national base, the Kennedy legacy increasingly became the romantic memory of Camelot. Disclosures of JFK’s astonishing sexual involvements, and detailed reports of his multiple grave medical problems fascinated the public but failed to break the myth that if only JFK had lived his second term would be a story of political triumphs that would restore the people’s faith in their government
The assassination was so incomprehensible that hundreds of conspiracy theories sprang up and new ones emerge every year. Over 350 people and organizations have been named as guilty of the assassination.

Kennedy appointed liberal Arthur Goldberg to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]], as well as [[Byron White]]. White's rulings combined both liberal and conservative positions.

Kennedy's image appears on the American half-dollar coin.
===Was Kennedy a liberal or a conservative?===
Kennedy was basically a conservative, but he had to appeal to a primarily liberal base, so he offered symbols for the liberals while following a conservative course in foreign and domestic policy. After his death Kennedy's legacy was picked up by liberals, and there is a vague notion to the effect that Kennedy was a liberal. He was actually more of a conservative..<ref> The best studies of Kennedy's relations with liberalism are William E. Leuchtenburg, ''In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan'' (2001) pp 63-120 [ excerpt and text search]; Alonzo Hamby, ''Liberalism and Its Challengers: From F.D.R. to Bush'' (1992) [http://www.amazon.com/Liberalism-Its-Challengers-F-D-R-Bush/dp/0195070305/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257264863&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]. Leuchtenburg is a liberal and Hamby is a conservative; both are excellent historians.</ref>

To be a liberal in the days when Kennedy was in politics, 1946-63, meant supporting the programs of the [[New Deal]], following in the footsteps of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], and upholding the [[New Deal Coalition]]. Support for labor unions was important; support for civil rights was a minor issue (and one more associated with the Republican Party). Hostility to the Catholic Church was common among liberals. In foreign policy liberals had turned away from Roosevelt's détente with the Soviets and had adopted the [[containment]] policy. Liberals rejected [[rollback]], that is efforts to remove Communists regimes from power. Verbal support for the United Nations was standard rhetoric, although in practice it meant little. The symbolically most important issue of them all for liberals was opposition to [[Joe McCarthy]] and his style of aggressive anti-Communism.

On most of these points Kennedy was largely on the conservative side. He refused to call himself a liberal, but he had a base in Massachusetts with many strong liberals in academe and labor unions that had to be appeased, so he never attacked liberalism too loudly. He solved the state problem by a close alliance with the Democratic party organizations in the cities, controlled mostly by Irish politicians. JFK's campaign manager and chief confidante was his brother Bobby, a devout Catholic who was in close touch with the Catholic establishment as well as the local machines. JFK thus maintained very close ties to the Catholic establishment; he carefully followed the required public rituals such as Mass on Sunday and no meat on Friday. It was a major achievement by Kennedy in 1960 to resolve the religious issue and bring Catholics into the mainstream of American life and to the top ranks of national leadership.<ref>By contrast, the only Catholic in Eisenhower's cabinet was a plumber who was Secretary of Labor.</ref>

On foreign policy he was a leading anti-Communist hawk; he won in 1960 by attacking Eisenhower's foreign policies as not aggressive enough. When elected he sent forces to invade Cuba and rollback Communism; he increased the military presence in Vietnam by a factor of 16 and unleashed the CIA to undermine Communism in the South; he sent the Navy to a direct confrontation with the Soviets in the Cuban Missile Crisis, forcing the Soviets to withdraw. Liberals have misread these episodes--saying that the Cuban invasion was really Eisenhower's idea; that in Vietnam he might have changed his mind in a second term; and that in Cuba he was liberal because he did not blow the world up.

On the liberal side, he achieved the creation of the Peace Corps. To combat Communism in Latin America he proposed a liberal program of financial and technical assistance and free-food programs, and indicated he would take a sympathetic view of revolutionary movements that have the legitimate objective of bettering the life of the hemisphere's poor and downtrodden. Kennedy explicitly exempted any such movements dominated by "external"—meaning Communist—forces, thereby shutting the door on renewed diplomatic relations with Fidel Castro's Cuba

On domestic issues, as president he tried to cut taxes and blocked his liberal advisors who wanted deficit spending in 1961. Civil rights did not interest him and he put it on the back burner. He was no more active than Eisenhower in that regard. On unions, he built up a reputation of strong opposition to union corruption, especially in the Teamsters; he quietly kept on good terms with [[George Meany]], the AFL-CIO leader, while avoiding [[Walter Reuther]], the leader of the liberal wing of the AFL-CIO.

Kennedy had a pro-business reputation and sponsored policies such as tax cuts and low inflation that conservative businessmen wanted. On taking office he called for a "full-fledged alliance" with business. He did get into a brush-up with the steel industry when the steelmen broke their promise to him to keep prices down; that move made Kennedy more popular among the anti-business liberals, but Kennedy never proposed major legislation that business opposed. He named Douglas Dillon, a leading Republican businessman, as his Secretary of the Treasury. On dealing with unemployment, he never proposed New-Dealish programs but instead had a package that was acceptable to conservative Republicans.<ref> House Republican Minority Leader Charles Halleck said of those proposals: "We find no great quarrel with them, but we do not find them earthshaking." ''Time'' Feb. 10, 1961</ref>

Crime was a signature issue for Kennedy, and on taking office he promised a major crackdown on organized crime, thus appealing to conservatives. On appointing Brother Bobby as Attorney General, he quipped, "I can't see that it's wrong to give him a little legal experience before he goes out to practice law." On the liberal side, Kennedy asked Congress for federal aid for school construction and more money for federally assisted housing. They did not oblige.

Joe McCarthy was a close friend of the Kennedy family. Joe Kennedy was his biggest financial backer, and often brought the Wisconsin Senator to family outings--and encouraged him to date the Kennedy girls. Bobby Kennedy began his career as an aide to McCarthy. Liberals intensely hated McCarthy and that carried over to the entire Kennedy clan. JFK was not close to McCarthy, but he refused to attack him publicly or to vote for his Senate censure in 1954 when McCarthy's career was collapsing.

==Quotes==

* "The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining."

* "The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us." Oct 26, 1963

* "And so, my fellow americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Inaugural address, January 20, 1961

* "The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity." Speech in Indianapolis, April 12, 1959

== See also ==

*[[Gallery of American Heroes]]

== External links ==
*[http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy]
*[http://www.jfklibrary.org/ John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]

==Further reading==
*Dallek, Robert, ''An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963'' (2003), a standard scholarly biography; strress on medical issues [http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Life-John-Kennedy-Dynasty/dp/0316907928/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* O'Brien, Michael. ''John F. Kennedy: A Biography'' (2005), the most detailed scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/John-Kennedy-Biography-Michael-OBrien/dp/0312281293/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
* Parmet, Herbert. ''Jack: The Struggles of John F. Kennedy'' (1980); ''JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy'' (1983), scholarly biography
* Reeves, Thomas C. ''A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy.'' (1991) conservative critique [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7D9143EF931A35755C0A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all New York Times Book Review]

===Bibliography===
* Balmer, Randall. ''God in the White House: A History--How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush.'' (2008)
* Bryant, Nick. ''The Bystander: John F. Kennedy and the Struggle for Black Equality'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Bystander-Kennedy-Struggle-Black-Equality/dp/0465008267/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]
* Bugliosi, Vincent. ''Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President,'' (2007) 1632 pp. Debunks dozens of conspiracy theories and concludes Oswald acted alone. [http://www.amazon.com/Reclaiming-History-Assassination-President-Kennedy/dp/0393045250/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227416692&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Burner, David. ''John F. Kennedy and a New Generation'' (1988)
* Clarke, Thurston, ''Ask Not: The Inauguration of John F. Kennedy and the Speech That Changed America'' ISBN 0805072136 [http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Not-Inauguration-Kennedy-Changed/dp/0805072136/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-5 excerpt and text search]
*Dallek, Robert, ''An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963'' (2003), a standard scholarly biography; strress on medical issues [http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Life-John-Kennedy-Dynasty/dp/0316907928/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Donaldson, Gary A. ''The First Modern Campaign: Kennedy, Nixon, and the Election of 1960'' (2007)
* Freedman, Lawrence. ''Kennedy's Wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Kennedys-Wars-Berlin-Cuba-Vietnam/dp/0195152433/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218513&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]; [http://www.questia.com/library/book/kennedys-wars-berlin-cuba-laos-and-vietnam-by-lawrence-freedman.jsp full text online]
* Fursenko, Aleksandr and Timothy Naftali. ''One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro and Kennedy, 1958–1964'' (1997) [http://www.amazon.com/One-Hell-Gamble-Khrushchev-1958-1964/dp/0393317900/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218554&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search] adds information from Russian sources
* Giglio, James. ''The Presidency of John F. Kennedy'' (1991), standard scholarly overview of policies
* Harper, Paul, and Joann P. Krieg eds. ''John F. Kennedy: The Promise Revisited'' (1988), scholarly articles on presidency [http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=15070503 online edition]
* Hersh, Seymour. ''The Dark Side of Camelot'' (1997), highly negative assessment focused on scandals
* Kunz, Diane B. ''The Diplomacy of the Crucial Decade: American Foreign Relations during the 1960s'' (1994)
* Lichtenstein. Nelson, ed. ''Political Profiles: The Kennedy Years'' (1976) 621pp; very good short, analytical biographies of 500 major players
* Leuchtenburg, William E. ''In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to Barack Obama'' (2009) excellent analysis of how JFK tried to replicate FDR's appeal without his liberalism [http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-FDR-Harry-Truman-George/dp/0801487374/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257738655&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* O'Brien, Michael. ''John F. Kennedy: A Biography'' (2005), the most detailed scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/John-Kennedy-Biography-Michael-OBrien/dp/0312281293/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
* Parmet, Herbert. ''Jack: The Struggles of John F. Kennedy'' (1980); ''JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy'' (1983), scholarly biography
* Paterson, Thomas G. ''Kennedy's Quest for Victory: American Foreign Policy, 1961-1963'' (1989) [http://www.amazon.com/Kennedys-Quest-Victory-American-1961-1963/dp/019504584X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-11 excerpt and text search], Leftists approach disparages anti-Communism
* Piereson, James. ''Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Camelot-Cultural-Revolution-Assassination-Liberalism/dp/1594031886/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227415678&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search], conservative interpetation
* * Pietrusza, David ''1960: LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign that Forged Three Presidencies'' New York: Union Square Press, 2008
* Preble, Christopher A. ''John F. Kennedy and the Missile Gap'' (2004)
* Reeves, Richard. ''President Kennedy: Profile of Power'' (1993), balanced assessment of policies
* Reeves, Thomas. ''A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy'' (1991) detailed assessment of his character flaws by conservative historian [http://www.amazon.com/Question-Character-Life-John-Kennedy/dp/076151287X/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218173&sr=8-10 excerpt and text search]
* Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr. ''A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House'' (1965), major memoir by a close advisor [http://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Days-Kennedy-White-House/dp/1579124496/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195218430&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr. ''Robert Kennedy And His Times'' (2002)
* Smith, Jean Edward. "Kennedy and Defense: The Formative Years". ''Air University Review'' (March–April 1967) [http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1967/mar-apr/smith.html online]
* Sundquist, James L''Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years'' (1968), excellent analysis of the major political issues of the era.

===Primary sources===
* [http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/publications/ERP/ Council of Economic Advisors, ''Economic Report of the President'' (annual 1947- )], complete series online; important analysis of current trends and policies, plus statistcial tables
* Sorensen, Theodore. ''Kennedy'' (1966), major memoir by a close advisor

====Notes====
{{reflist}}

{{USPresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, John F.}}
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Irish-Americans]]
[[Category:American war heroes]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:1950s]]
[[Category:1960s]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]
[[Category: Kennedy Family]]
[[Category:Religion and Politics]]

Richard Nixon

2010-01-09T15:00:45Z

Reservoir: /* Further reading */

{{President
|image=Nixon 30-0316a.jpg
|seq=37
|term_start=January 20, 1969
|term_end=August 9, 1974<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Republican
|vp=Spiro Agnew
|vp_dates=1969-1973)
|2vp=None
|2vp_dates=Oct.-Dec. 1973
|3vp=Gerald Ford
|3vp_dates=1973-1974
|previous=Lyndon B. Johnson
|next=Gerald Ford
|office2=vice
|seq2=36
|term_start2=January 20, 1953
|term_end2=January 20, 1961
|pres2=Dwight D. Eisenhower
|previous2=Alben Barkley
|next2=Lyndon B. Johnson
|birth_date=January 9, 1913
|birth_place=Yorba Linda, California
|death_date=April 22, 1994
|death_place=New York City
|spouse=Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan
|spouse2=
|religion=Quaker
}}

'''Richard Milhous Nixon''' was the 37th [[President of the United States of America]], serving from 1969 to 1974. He was the only U. S. President to resign the office. He also served as the 36th [[Vice President of the United States]] of America under President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] from 1953 to 1961.

In 1946, he was elected as a [[U.S. Representative]]. As a Congressman from [[California]], and as a member of the [[House Committee on Un-American Activities]], he investigated Communists and instigated the successful prosecution of [[Alger Hiss]] for spying for the Soviet Union during [[World War II]].

After two terms in the House, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in November of 1950.

After losing his first presidential race to [[John F. Kennedy]] by a narrow margin in 1960, he unsuccessfully ran for Governor of California in 1962, losing to incumbent Edmund G Brown.

In 1968 he was elected president, and was reelected in 1972 by a landslide, but resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974 due to a threat of impeachment by Congress for the [[Watergate Affair]]. The main impeachment charge was that Nixon obstructed justice by telling employees to mislead FBI investigators about the Watergate burglary.

==Early Life==

Richard Milhous Nixon was born in [[Yorba Linda, California]], on January 9, 1913. Soon after, his family moved to Whittier, California. Nixon's childhood years were not unusual for someone growing up in two small towns near Los Angeles. His parents, Frank and Hannah Nixon, were devout [[Quakers]]. Nixon had four siblings and saw two of his brothers die from [[tuberculosis]]. Nixon grew up relatively poor, as his father earned a modest income from his gas station and grocery store. But due to these hard times, he established a quality of determination and strong work ethic. A good student and a hard worker, Nixon excelled scholastically at both Whittier High School and Whittier College.

Nixon attended Fullerton High School and Whittier High School. He graduated second in his class from Whittier with honor in the study of [[Shakespeare]] and [[Latin]]. He was awarded scholarships to [[Harvard]] and [[Yale]] University, but declined due to his family's financial condition. He instead enrolled at [[Whittier College]], a local [[Quaker]] school, where he co-founded the "Orthogonian Society", a new organzation to the campus geared towards working-class students. At Whittier, Nixon, a formidable debater, was elected freshman class president, and served as student body vice president in his junior year and president in his senior year. While at Whittier, he taught Sunday school at [[East Whittier Friends Church]] and remained a member all his life.

A lifelong football fan, Nixon practiced with the team, but played little. In 1934, he graduated second in his class from Whittier, and went on to [[Duke University|Duke University School of Law]], where he received a full scholarship, was elected president of the Duke Bar Association, and graduated third in his class.

In 1942 Nixon became a lawyer for the Office of Price Administration, the wartime liberal [[New Deal]] program that regulated all prices and rationed basic commodities.

During World War II, Nixon served in the [[Navy]] as a reserve officer, serving in the supply corps on several islands in the South Pacific, commanding cargo handling units in the SCAT. There he was known as "Nick" and for his exceptional poker-playing skills, banking a large sum of money that helped finance his first campaign for Congress. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant commander and resigned in March, 1946.

==Congressional Career==
:''See related article : [[Legacy of Alger Hiss]]
After service in the Navy he entered an entirely unstructured California political environment-- parties hardly existed there in the 1940s, and many voters were recent arrivals. As a result Nixon never built a secure base in California (or anywhere else). In 1946 he defeated five-term Democrat Representative Jerry Voorhis, a leading liberal. Two years later, Nixon ran for reelection in both the Republican and Democrat primaries and won endorsement of both parties in the general election. <ref>Only California allowed this sort of "cross filing," and they later dropped it and went to normal intra-party primaries. Richard Matthew Pious, ''The Presidents,'' pg. 515</ref> Nixon took typical positions for a California Republican: he was hostile to [[Communism]], internationalist in outlook, and middle-of-the road in economic and social issues.

Nixon's first major breakthrough came in Congress, where his dogged investigation broke the impasse of the [[Alger Hiss]] spy case in 1948. The idea that Hiss--a former senior adviser to President [[Franklin Roosevelt]]-- was a Soviet spy electrified the nation, and won the lifelong hatred of the left, whose veneer of patriotism was dissolved. [[Image:Eisenhower_Nixon.jpg|left|thumb|275px|Eisenhower and Nixon on a 1952 Campaign Stop.]]
In 1950 Nixon was elected to the [[United States Senate]] by defeating a leading Hollywood liberal, Helen Gahagan Douglas using tough campaign tactics that emphasized her votes with the far left.

==Vice Presidency==

Because of his membership of the California delegation at the 1952 [[Republican National Convention]], his strong anti-[[communist]] credentials, and his appeal to the [[west]]ern part of the [[United States]], Nixon was named as [[General]] [[Dwight Eisenhower]]'s [[Vice President of the United States of America|vice presidental]] [[running mate]].

In the midst of the campaign questions arose about a group of seventy-six [[business]]man for southern California had contributed to a secret slush fund for Richard Nixon, being paid $900 a month (totaling $18,168 up to that point). There was talk on Nixon dropping off the ticket. Nixon claimed that money was used for office expenses only. On September 23, 1952 he gave the now infamous "Checkers Speech" in which he said that he and his wife, [[Patrica Nixon|Pat Nixon]] do not live lavishly, saying that his wife had not even owned a fur coat but only "a respectable Republican cloth coat." He went on to bring up a gift someone gave his [[child]]ren, a [[dog]] named Checkers, and said defiantly, "regardless of what they about it, we're going to keep it." The speech was meet with overwhelming public approval. In November, Eisenhower and Nixon swept their way in office, winning 55 percent of the vote, to 44 percent for Democrat opponent [[Adlai Stevenson]].

As Vice President Richard Nixon occasionally presided over the Senate and chaired the President's Commission on [[Government]] Contracts, which dealt with radical discrimination by government contractors, and the Cabinet Committee on Price Stability for Economic growth (although Nixon had little influence over it). Nixon also chaired the National Security Council. However, in a [[press]] conference President Eisenhower was asked to give an example of Richard Nixon's contributions as Vice President, to which Eisenhower replied, "If you give me a week, I might think of one."

Nixon did, however, have an influential role in [[White House]] political operations. He campaigned for Republican member's of Congress in 1954 and 1958. Nixon positioned himself as Presidential and his famous 1959 "Kitchen debate" in [[Moscow]] with [[Soviet Union]] President [[Nikita Khrushchev]] boosted his public appeal. By the end of the Eisenhower administration Nixon had become the top contender to be the Republican nomination for the 1960 Presidential election.

[[Image:Johnfkennedyrichardnixon.jpg|left|thumb|275px|Vice President Nixon and Senator Kennedy in their 1960 Presidential Debate.]]

==1960 Presidential Campaign==

''Main Article: [[United States presidential election, 1960]]''

Nixon easily won the Republican nomination for the presidency, but ran a poor campaign in the general election. Despite division over the modern [[civil rights]] movement, the country was enjoying a period of relative prosperity.

The most prominent issues were the [[Cold War]] and the new assumption of power of [[dictator]] [[Fidel Castro]] of [[Cuba]]. Public opinion polls showed that the country trusted Nixon more on [[foreign policy]] issues while Democrat opponent [[John F. Kennedy]] was favored on domestic issues. 1960 marked the first presidential election in which televised debates were used. Kennedy won the debates, which resulted in him defeating Nixon by a razor-thin margin of 49.7 percent of the vote to 49.5 percent. Nixon believed that there was voter fraud in Cook County, [[Illinois]] which resulted in him losing that state, however Nixon chose not to contest the results.

==1962 Gubernatorial Campaign==

After the election Nixon returned to California and ran for [[Governor]] in 1962 against incumbent [[Pat Brown]]. Brown defeated Nixon with 52 percent of the vote to 46 percent. In a post-election press conference Nixon announced the end of his political career and said to the press "you won't have Richard Nixon to kick around with anymore."

Nixon continued to campaign for Republican congressional candidates and traveled the world, sharpening his knowledge of foreign issues.

==1968 Presidential Campaign==

''Main Article: [[United States presidential election, 1968]]''

By 1967 Nixon's financial backers were raising funds to bankroll another bid for the White House. In the Republican primary moderates supported [[Michigan]] Governor [[George Romney]] and later [[New York]] Governor [[Nelson Rockefeller]], while [[conservative]]s supported [[California]] Governor [[Ronald Reagan]]. Nixon was able to win support from southern conservatives and pass Reagan in the polls, eventually winning the nomination. In Nixon's second attempt for the Presidency the United States was in the midst of the [[Vietnam War]], with Democrats associated with the violence. With President [[Lyndon Johnson]] losing credibility because of the increasingly unpopular [[war]], he declined to run for another term. [[Vice President of the United States of America|Vice President]] [[Hubert Humphrey]] narrowly won the Democrat nomination. [[Alabama]] Governor [[George Wallace]], a strong segregationist, entered the race as a third party candidate. Nixon promised to end the bombing in [[Vietnam]], unify the nation and restore law and order to the country.

President Johnson helped Humphrey after he announced that bombing in North Vietnam would be halted and that a cease-fire would follow, however his announcement was too late. On election day, Nixon defeated Humphrey by over 100 electoral votes, although he won the election with only 43 percent of the vote to 42 percent, partly because Wallace took 13 percent.

==1972 Reelection Campaign==

''Main Article: [[United States presidential election, 1972]]''

President Nixon's reelection campaign got underway in 1972. He had high approval ratings for his handling with China and the Soviet Union. Nixon's Democrat opponent, [[South Dakota]] Senator [[George McGovern]] was viewed too [[liberal]] by many Americans. However, there was still concern in the Nixon camp because of his close victory in 1968 and the United States' continued involvement in the Vietnam War. He chose to engage in tactics that included an effort to steal information in the Democrat Party's headquarters. Five Nixon supporters broke into the party's office at the Watergate complex in [[Washington, D.C.]] on June 17, 1972. This however did not become an issue in the campaign, with President Nixon trumping McGovern in 49 out of 50 states.

==Presidency (1969-1974)==

===Administration===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Office
! Name
! Term
|-
| [[President]]
| Richard Nixon
| 1969-1974
|-
| [[Vice President of the United States of America|Vice President]]
| [[Spiro Agnew]]
| 1969-1973
|-
|
| [[Gerald Ford]]
| 1973-1974
|-
| [[Secretary of State]]
| [[William P. Rogers]]
| 1969-1973
|-
|
| [[Henry Kissinger]]
| 1973-1974
|-
| [[Secretary of Treasury]]
| [[David M. Kennedy]]
| 1969-1971
|-
|
| [[John Connally]]
| 1971-1972
|-
|
| [[George Shultz]]
| 1972-1974
|-
|
| [[William Simon]]
| 1974
|-
| [[Secretary of Defense]]
| [[Melvin R. Laird]]
| 1969-1973
|-
|
| [[Elliot Richardson]]
| 1973
|-
|
| [[James Schlesinger]]
| 1973-1974
|-
| [[Attorney General]]
| [[John N. Mitchell]]
| 1969-1972
|-
|
| [[Richard Kleindienst]]
| 1972-1973
|-
|
| [[Elliot Richardson]]
| 1973-1974
|-
|
| [[William B. Saxbe]]
| 1974
|-
| [[Secretary of Interior]]
| [[Walter Joseph Hickel]]
| 1969-1971
|-
|
| [[Rogers Morton]]
| 1971-1974
|-
| [[Secretary of Agriculture]]
| [[Clifford M. Hardin]]
| 1969–1971
|-
|
| [[Earl Butz]]
| 1971–1974
|-
| [[Secretary of Commerce]]
| [[Maurice Stans]]
| 1969–1972
|-
|
| [[Peter Peterson]]
| 1972–1973
|-
|
| [[Frederick B. Dent]]
| 1973-1974
|-
| [[Secretary of Labor]]
| [[George Shultz]]
| 1969–1970
|-
|
| [[James D. Hodgson]]
| 1970–1973
|-
|
| [[Peter J. Brennan]]
| 1973–1974
|-
| [[Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare]]
| [[Robert Finch]]
| 1969–1970
|-
|
| [[Elliot Richardson]]
| 1970–1973
|-
|
| [[Caspar Weinberger]]
| 1973–1974
|-
| [[Secretary of Housing and Urban Development]]
| [[George Romney]]
| 1969–1973
|-
|
| [[James Thomas Lynn]]
| 1973-1974
|-
| [[Secretary of Transportation]]
| [[John A. Volpe]]
| 1969–1973
|-
|
| [[Claude Brinegar]]
| 1973-1974
|-
|}

=== Vietnam War ===

[[Image:PresidentNixon.jpg|left|thumb|275px|President Nixon points out the NVA sanctuaries along the Cambodian border in his speech to the American people announcing the Cambodian incursion, 04/30/70]] Two months after coming into office American deaths in Vietnam reached thirty-six hundred. Nixon appointed [[Harvard]] Professor [[Henry Kissinger]] as National Security Adviser, who had secret peace talks with the North Vietnamese. Peace negations dragged on throughout Nixon's first term. His Vietnam strategies included "Vietnamization," a policy aimed at reducing U.S. casualties and troops, while also convincing the American public that the Vietnamese people could assume the primary responsibility of waging war. To win support for the war among the [["silent majority,"]] Nixon pursued the [["politics of polarization."]] Instrumental to this cause was Nixon's first vice president [[Spiro T. Agnew]], who criticized opponents of the war as "nattering nabobs of negativism," and an "effete corps of impudent snobs." Nixon also sought to instill in the North Vietnamese the belief that he was volatile and unstable, and willing to use nuclear weapons in the war, a strategy known as the "madman scenario."

On April 30, 1970, ten days after announcing that 150,000 American troops would be withdrawn from Vietnam in the following year, Nixon announced that U.S. troops had invaded Cambodia. This announcement brought widespread protests and college and university campuses across the nation. Four students were shot by National Guardsmen at [[Kent State University]] in Ohio and two died at [[Jackson State University]] in Mississippi. Many campuses shut down, some for the remainder of the academic year. The [[Paris Peace Accords]] were signed on January 27, 1973, signaling the beginning of the peace process that ended with the evacuation of the last American personnel two years later on April 30, 1975. Pictures of the last U.S. Marines evacuating the American Embassy by helicopter while civilians, many of which were employed by the Americans during the war, attempted to climb aboard, has become a symbol of the U.S. defeat in Vietnam.

=== Policy of Detente ===

[[Image:Leonid_Brezhnev_and_Richard_Nixon.jpg‎|right|thumb|275px|Richard M. Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev, 05/19/73.]] Nixon worked to establish a friendlier relationship with the Soviet Union and [[China]]. The Soviets were not pleased of Nixon, a man who spent his career attacking communism, had become President. Although still a strong anti-communist, Nixon understood the growing role of China and Western Europe, realizing that he had to be more diplomatic. With the help of National Security Adviser [[Henry Kissinger]], Nixon created an approach called Detente, which was relaxed tensions between the United States and its two major communist rivals, the Soviet Union and China. Nixon began the policy of detente by lifting trade and travel restrictions.

After a long series of highly secret negations between Kissinger and Chinese leaders, Nixon announced that he would visit China in February 1972. During the historic trip, the leaders of both nations agreed to have more normal relationships. Nixon told the Chinese during a banquet toast, "Let us start a long march together, not in lockstep, but on different roads leading to the same goal, the goal of building world structure of peace and justice." In taking the trip, Nixon hoped to both strengthen ties with China but also believed it would encourage the Soviet Union to be more diplomatic. He proved to be correct. Shortly after the public learned about China, the Soviets proposed an American-Soviet summit, a high level diplomatic meeting that was held in May 1972. President Nixon flew to Moscow for a week long summit, thus becoming the first American President since [[World War 2]] to visit the Soviet Union.

The two superpowers signed the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, or SALT 1, a plan to limit nuclear arms that the two nations had been working on for years. Nixon and Soviet President [[Leonid Brezhnev]] also agreed to increase trade and exchange scientific information. President Nixon had made a significant mark on the world stage with major foreign policy triumphs.

=== Watergate ===

The event that ended the Nixon presidency began on June 17, 1972, when five men, all employees of Nixon's reelection campaign (CREEP), were caught breaking into rival Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. The intruders and two other accomplices were convicted of burglary and wiretapping in Jan. 1973. The [[Watergate affair]] ultimately caused Nixon to resign on August 9, 1974. On September 9, 1974, his successor Gerald Ford granted him "a full, free, and absolute pardon." This effectively ended investigation into the depth of Nixon's involvement in the break-in at [[Democratic National Committee]] headquarters in the Watergate hotel, or any other criminal activities. Former White House Counsel John Dean testified to a Congressional investigating committee of Nixon's involvement in the cover-up.

[[Image:NixonFarewell.jpg|left|thumb|275px|President Nixon delivers his Farewell Remarks to the White House Staff in the East Room, with his family looking on, 08/09/74]] The Congressional hearings revealed Nixon had tape recorded conversations and telephone calls in his office. These recordings reveal that Nixon's role in the cover-up began as early as six days after the break-in. The tapes also reveal an immense scope of crimes and abuses that predate the Watergate break-in. These include campaign fraud, political espionage and sabotage, illegal break-ins, improper tax audits, illegal wiretapping on a massive scale, and a secret slush fund laundered in Mexico to pay those who conducted these operations. The president, citing [[Executive Privilege]], refused to turn the tapes over to the committee. In October 1973 Nixon ordered Elliot Richardson, the attorney general, to fire Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor who had subpoenaed the tapes, but Richardson resigned in protest. Richardson's assistant, William Ruckelshaus, also refused to fire Cox and was fired by Nixon. Finally, Solicitor General Robert Bork fired Cox. The incident, which was trumped in the press as the "Saturday Night Massacre", led to widespread calls for Nixon's impeachment.

The White House released edited transcripts of the tapes in April 1974, and eventually the tapes themselves, after the Supreme Court rejected Nixon's claim to executive privilege. The House Judiciary Committee issued three articles of impeachment on July 30, 1974.

"In all of this," the articles of impeachment summarize, "Richard M. Nixon has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States." After conferring with Republican Senators Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. Nixon was succeeded in office the same day by [[Gerald Ford]]. Ford later pardoned Nixon.

==Family==

Nixon married Thelma Catherine Ryan, known as "Pat", in 1940. They had two children: Patricia (b. 1946) and Julie (b. 1948).
==Further reading==

* Aitken, Jonathan. ''Nixon: A Life'' (1993).
* Ambrose, Stephen. ''Nixon'' (3v 1987-1991), the standard scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/Nixon-I-Stephen-E-Ambrose/dp/0671657224/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203808418&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search vol 1]; hostile to RN
* Black, Conrad. ''Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full'' (2007) 1150pp; by a conservative; friendly to RN
* Bundy, William. ''A Tangled Web: The Making of Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency'' (1998). [http://www.amazon.com/Tangled-Web-Making-Foreign-Presidency/dp/B000C4SRCW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203808485&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Congressional Quarterly. ''Congress and the Nation, 1968-1972'' (1973). Detailed coverage of all the official actions in Washington
* Dallek, Robert. ''Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Nixon-Kissinger-Partners-Robert-Dallek/dp/0060722312/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200450337&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Frick, Daniel. ''Reinventing Richard Nixon: A Cultural History of an American Obsession''. (2008). 344 pages
* Greenberg, David. ''Nixon's Shadow: The History of the Image'' (2004), influential study of his changing reputation [http://www.amazon.com/Nixons-Shadow-History-David-Greenberg/dp/0393326160/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200450337&sr=1-9 excerpt and text search]
* Hoff, Joan. ''Nixon without Watergate'' (1994) a favorable estimate of the presidential years; also titled ''Nixon Reconsidered''; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99580185 online edition]
* Kutler, Stanley I. ''Wars of Watergate: The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon'' (1992), strongly hostile [http://www.amazon.com/Wars-Watergate-Crisis-Richard-Nixon/dp/0393308278/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200450532&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* MacMillan, Margaret. ''Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World'' (2007)
* Matusow, Allen J. ''Nixon's Economy: Booms, Busts, Dollars, and Votes'' (1998) [http://www.amazon.com/Nixons-Economy-Booms-Busts-Dollars/dp/0700608885/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203808547&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Nixon, Richard. ''RN: Memoirs'' (1978),a primary source; one of the most important presidential autobiographies [http://www.amazon.com/RN-Memoirs-Richard-Nixon/dp/0671707418/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203808583&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Perlstein, Rick. ''Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America '' (2008) very well written narrative of 1964-72
* Pietrusza, David ''1960: LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign that Forged Three Presidencies'' New York: Union Square Press, 2008
* Reeves, Richard. ''President Nixon: Alone in the White House'' (2002). well-received study of the White House years (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/President-Nixon-Alone-White-House/dp/B000066TQ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200450725&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Schoenebaum, Eleanora, ed. ''Political Profiles: The Nixon/Ford Years'' (1979), biographies of all the main political figures
* Small, Melvin. ''The Presidency of Richard Nixon'' (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Presidency-Richard-Nixon-American/dp/0700612556/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200450643&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]; hostile
* Suri, Jeremi. ''Henry Kissinger and the American Century'' (2007)

==Primary Sources by Nixon==

*Victory Without War, New York, NY: Pocket Books, 1989.
*Beyond Peace, New York, NY: Random House, 1994.
*Four Great Americans: Tributes Delivered by President Richard Nixon. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1973.
*In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1990.
*Leaders New York, NY: Warner Books, 1982.
*Nixon in Retrospect, 1946-1962: Selected Quotations. Silver Spring, MD: Research Data Publishers, 1973.
*No More Vietnams, New York, NY: Arbor House, 1985.
*Real Peace. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1990.
*RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1990.
*Seize the Moment: America’s Challenge in a One- SuperpowerWorld. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
*Setting the Course; The First Year, New York, NY: Funk & Wagnalls, 1970.
*Six Crises. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1990.
*Summons to Greatness: A Collage of Inspirational Though and Practical Ideas from the Messages and Addresses of Richard Nixon, Thirty-:Seventh President of the United States, Washington, D.C.: Friends of President Nixon, 1972.
*The Real War, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1980.

==External Links==

* [http://www.nixonfoundation.org Nixon Birthplace & Library], in Yorba Linda, California
* [http://genealogy.wikia.com/wiki/Richard_Nixon_(1913) Genealogy Wiki] Nixon Family History
* [http://www.californiaresortlife.com/orange/yorba_linda.htm Birthplace Tour]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/

http://www.nixonfoundation.org/

http://www.nixonlibrary.org/

==References==

<References/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nixon, Richard}}

{{USPresidents}}
{{USVicePresidents}}
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:Diplomacy]]
[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:1960s]]
[[Category:New Deal]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Corruption]]

Calvin Coolidge

2010-01-09T14:56:34Z

Reservoir: /* Primary sources */

{{President|
|name=John Calvin Coolidge Jr.
|image=460px-Calvin Coolidge photo portrait head and shoulders.jpg
|country=the United States
|seq=30
|party=Republican
|term_start=August 2, 1923
|term_end=March 4, 1929<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|vp=None
|vp_dates=1923-1925
|2vp=Charles G.Dawes
|2vp_dates=1925-1929
|previous=Warren G. Harding
|next=Herbert Hoover
|seq2=29
|office2=vice
|term_start2=March 4, 1921
|term_end2=August 2, 1923
|pres2=Warren G. Harding
|previous2=Thomas R. Marshall
|next2=Charles G. Dawes
|birth_date=July 4, 1872
|birth_place=Plymouth, Vermont
|death_date=January 5, 1933
|death_place=Northampton, Massachusetts
|spouse=Grace Goodhue Coolidge
|spouse2=
|religion=Congregationalist
}}

'''Calvin Coolidge''' was the 30th [[President of the United States of America]] from 1923 to 1929, an era of peace and prosperity. He was elected Vice President in 1920 as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] and took office in August 1923 upon the death of President [[Warren G. Harding]]; he was reelected by a landslide in 1924, but in 1928 at the peak of his popularity he announced in typical laconical fashion that he did not choose to run again.

==Early Career==
Coolidge was born in Plymouth, Vermont, July 4, 1872, the son of John and Victoria Moor Coolidge. Both parents were Yankees; his ancestors came from England to New England in the early seventeenth century. Coolidge's father was a farmer and a successful country storekeeper who dabbled in local and state politics. Young Calvin was educated in the local school and later at Black River and St. Johnsbury academies. In 1891 he entered [[Amherst College]] in Massachusetts, where he showed an interest in philosophy. Reserved and reticent, he did not mix readily with his fellows. In his senior year, however, he was selected as class speaker.
==Early Public Life==
After his graduation in 1895 Coolidge studied law, was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1897, and began to practice in the city of Northampton, where he became active in local GOP politics. In 1898 he was elected to the common council. Thereafter he was seldom out of public office. He was elected to the Massachusetts General Court (legislature) in 1907. After two terms he was elected mayor of Northampton and then was elected to the state senate; during 1914-1915 he was president of that body. He had also served as chairman of the Republican State Committee, and he spent three terms as lieutenant governor of the state.

In 1905 Coolidge married Grace Anna Goodhue of Burlington, Vt. The couple had two sons, John and Calvin, the younger of whom, Calvin, died on July 7, 1924, from blood poisoning.

==Governor and Vice President==
When Governor Samuel W. McCall retired in 1918, Coolidge became the unanimous choice of the Republican Party for the governorship; he was elected and took office in January 1919. As governor, Coolidge made no radical innovations nor did he sponsor a legislative program. A conservative, he devoted himself to a program of economy in government. The Boston police strike, and his handling of it, first brought him to national attention. On Sept. 9, 1919, the police struck in protest against the police commissioner's refusal to permit them to join an American Federation of Labor union. Immediately there were riots and disorder. After some urging Governor Coolidge called out the state guard to preserve order and personally took charge. The governor answered Samuel Gompers' objections to his actions with the statement: "There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, at any time." The statement received nationwide publicity. After the nomination of Warren G. Harding by the Republican national convention in 1920, the members of the convention rebelled against the dominant senatorial clique. They nominated Coolidge for second place on the ticket after his name had been presented by a comparatively unknown delegate. Coolidge was elected along with Harding in 1920 and became president on Aug. 2, 1923, when Harding died of natural causes. Coolidge was at his father's house in Vermont when the momentous news arrived. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office.

==Presidency==
The elections in 1922 had reduced the party's numbers in Congress to a scant majority. Moreover, the scandals connected with the Harding administration were in the process of being made public by a congressional committee. Yet, a little over a year later, Coolidge was elected for another term by a landslide over both [[John W. Davis]], [[U.S. Democratic Party, History|Democrat]], and [[Robert M. LaFollette]], Progressive. Davis got 29% of the popular vote, carrying the South from Virginia to Texas, and 136 electoral votes, LaFollette carried Wisconsin and many German and railroad centers, but Coolidge won easily with 382 electoral votes. Four years later, when he left office, his party was in a much stronger position than it had been in 1924.

Felzenberg (19978) shows that Coolidge battled intolerance, lynching and especially the [[Ku Klux Klan]], which lost all its influence during his term.

In 1924 he appointed a commission to investigate the circumstances of the Teapot Dome oil lease, a scandal inherited from the Harding administration. By focusing all the blame on Harding, he permanently tarnished Harding's name and promoted himself.
===Economic policies===
Coolidge famously said, "The business of America is business."

The Coolidge policy was a simple one, made easier by the continuous prosperity and the weakness of the liberal opposition. He believed in government economy, reduced taxation, and gave aid to private business without accompanying restrictive regulation. In 1927 he vetoed the soldiers' bonus bill. Coolidge opposed any government control in interstate electrical power and was against the proposal for government operation of the Wilson Dam at Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River; in 1933 it became part of the [[New Deal]]'s [[TVA]].

Throughout the farming regions of the traditionally Republican Middle West loud complaints were heard about the farm crisis. It was characterized by low prices for crops and the overhang of the land bubble that burst in 1920, leaving many farmers deeply in debt for new lands they purchased at high price during the war. The farmers wanted the federal government to intervene in the market, by buying crops at high prices and dumping them abroad cheaply. Congress passed the legislation, known as the and the [[McNary-Haugen Bill]], a farm relief bill, but Coolidge vetoed it. He supported the alternative program of Hoover and Jardine to modernize farming, by bringing in more electricity, more efficient equipment, better seeds and breeds, and better business practices.
===Foreign Affairs===
In the realm of foreign affairs the president urged the nation to become a member of the World Court, but the bill authorizing it was hedged with so many qualifications that the other member nations refused to admit the United States. Under the direction of Secretary of the Treasury [[Andrew W. Mellon]], plans for the payment of foreign government debts to the United States were negotiated and approved. During the Coolidge administration the Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of national policy, was signed by most of the important nations of the world. The appointment of Dwight W. Morrow as ambassador to Mexico did much to restore good relations with that country, although the policy pursued elsewhere in Latin America in the interest of American investors helped maintain the Latin-American distrust of their northern neighbor.
===Evaluations===
In the short view, the Coolidge administration was a preeminently successful one. Income taxes and corporate taxes were greatly reduced, a major part of the national debt was retired, and the nation experienced some of the most prosperous years in its history. The Coolidge policies were in part responsible for these benefits, but some hostile historians claim they were probably responsible, in part, for the great depression that followed.

Coolidge's image was to a degree shaped by Madison Avenue. Buckley (2003) reveals the role of advertising giant [[Bruce Barton]] in the remaking of the public persona or image of Coolidge during 1919-26 and, in so doing, guiding a dramatic shift in politics and the wide acceptance of consumer culture. The dominance of the political party bosses, who selected Harding in 1920, ended when the business elite wrested control from the party, using their ability to raise money for advertising and ultimately commodifying the political process. Members of this elite suggested that Barton refashion Coolidge from an aloof man driven by the advancement of his career into a voice of the masses, the "silent majority," which Barton accomplished with press coverage, exploiting the new technology of radio for political speeches, newsreels, an exclusive "spontaneous" interview with Coolidge, and by arranging events that would be covered free, as news. Coolidge's election to the presidency in 1924 was the first campaign of personality, in which style was promoted over substance, tapping into "intense private longings" of a public uncertain of its moorings in a rapidly modernizing society. Gilbert (2003) and Gilbert (2005) argues that Coolidge suffered from clinical depression throughout his life. Gilbert discusses the major symptoms of the disorder as evidenced in Coolidge's personal and political behavior. He exhibited symptoms from a very early age, beginning with his grandfather's death when he was six and again with the deaths of his mother and sister during his adolescence. Ascending to the presidency in 1923, Coolidge at first was diligent, effective, and respectful of others. After the death of his teenage son in 1924, however, his demeanor and degree of political engagement changed drastically. He developed hypersomnia, sleeping as much as 15 hours per day, and he began to treat White House staffers and his wife rudely, often publicly humiliating them. Moreover, he became far less effective as a decision-maker and grew increasingly detached from political issues.

==Silent Cal==
A woman once told Coolidge that she had bet someone that she could get him to say more than two words. He told her, "You lose."
===Retirement===
In the summer of 1927 Coolidge made the statement, "I do not chose to run for president in 1928." He did not indicate his choice of his successor. Coolidge left the White House on Mar. 4, 1929, amid the acclaim of the nation. Returning to Northampton, he published his autobiography and wrote articles for newspapers and periodicals. These and his business activities kept him engaged until his death on Jan. 5, 1933, in the midst of the [[Great Depression]].

==Quotes==
*"Nothing is easier than spending the public money. It doesn't appear to belong to anybody."
==Bibliography==
* Buckley, Kerry W. "'A President for the "Great Silent Majority': Bruce Barton's Construction of Calvin Coolidge." ''New England Quarterly'' 2003 76(4): 593-626. Issn: 0028-4866 Fulltext: in Jstor
* Felzenberg, Alvin S. "Calvin Coolidge and Race: His Record in Dealing with the Racial Tensions of the 1920s." ''New England Journal of History'' 1998 55(1): 83-96.
* Ferrell, Robert H. ''The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge.'' U. Press of Kansas, 1998. 244 pp. The standard scholarly study.
* Gilbert, Robert E. "Calvin Coolidge's Tragic Presidency: the Political Effects of Bereavement and Depression." ''Journal of American Studies'' 2005 39(1): 87-109. Issn: 0021-8758 Fulltext: in Cambridge and Swetswise
* Gilbert, Robert E. ''The Tormented President: Calvin Coolidge, Death, and Clinical Depression.'' Praeger, 2003. 288pp
* Greenberg, David. ''Calvin Coolidge'' (2006), short biography. [http://www.amazon.com/Calvin-Coolidge-David-Greenberg/dp/0805069577/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194420081&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Haynes, John Earl, ed. ''Calvin Coolidge and the Coolidge Era: Essays on the History of the 1920s.'' Library of Congress, 1998. 329 pp. essays by scholars
* McCoy, Donald R. ''Calvin Coolidge: A Biography'' (1967), 447pp, the standard scholarly biography
* Pietrusza, David (ed.) ''Silent Cal's Almanack: The Homespun Wit and Wisdom of Vermont's Calvin Coolidge'' createspace: 2008.
* William Allen White; ''A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge,'' (1938) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=1105748 online edition]

===Primary sources===
* Calvin Coolidge. ''The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge'' (1929), [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=82302633 online edition]
* Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell, eds. ''The Talkative President: The Off-The-Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge,'' (1964), 276pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=77365439 online edition]
* Calvin Coolidge Telegram to Samuel Gompers re: Boston Police Strike [http://www.davidpietrusza.com/coolidge-gompers-telegram.html online edition]

==External Sources==
*[http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/americanpresident/coolidge excellent essays & documents from Miller Center U Virginia]]

====notes====
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{USVicePresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coolidge, Calvin}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Governors]]
[[Category:Fiscal Conservatives]]

Calvin Coolidge

2010-01-09T14:56:03Z

Reservoir: /* Primary sources */

{{President|
|name=John Calvin Coolidge Jr.
|image=460px-Calvin Coolidge photo portrait head and shoulders.jpg
|country=the United States
|seq=30
|party=Republican
|term_start=August 2, 1923
|term_end=March 4, 1929<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|vp=None
|vp_dates=1923-1925
|2vp=Charles G.Dawes
|2vp_dates=1925-1929
|previous=Warren G. Harding
|next=Herbert Hoover
|seq2=29
|office2=vice
|term_start2=March 4, 1921
|term_end2=August 2, 1923
|pres2=Warren G. Harding
|previous2=Thomas R. Marshall
|next2=Charles G. Dawes
|birth_date=July 4, 1872
|birth_place=Plymouth, Vermont
|death_date=January 5, 1933
|death_place=Northampton, Massachusetts
|spouse=Grace Goodhue Coolidge
|spouse2=
|religion=Congregationalist
}}

'''Calvin Coolidge''' was the 30th [[President of the United States of America]] from 1923 to 1929, an era of peace and prosperity. He was elected Vice President in 1920 as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] and took office in August 1923 upon the death of President [[Warren G. Harding]]; he was reelected by a landslide in 1924, but in 1928 at the peak of his popularity he announced in typical laconical fashion that he did not choose to run again.

==Early Career==
Coolidge was born in Plymouth, Vermont, July 4, 1872, the son of John and Victoria Moor Coolidge. Both parents were Yankees; his ancestors came from England to New England in the early seventeenth century. Coolidge's father was a farmer and a successful country storekeeper who dabbled in local and state politics. Young Calvin was educated in the local school and later at Black River and St. Johnsbury academies. In 1891 he entered [[Amherst College]] in Massachusetts, where he showed an interest in philosophy. Reserved and reticent, he did not mix readily with his fellows. In his senior year, however, he was selected as class speaker.
==Early Public Life==
After his graduation in 1895 Coolidge studied law, was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1897, and began to practice in the city of Northampton, where he became active in local GOP politics. In 1898 he was elected to the common council. Thereafter he was seldom out of public office. He was elected to the Massachusetts General Court (legislature) in 1907. After two terms he was elected mayor of Northampton and then was elected to the state senate; during 1914-1915 he was president of that body. He had also served as chairman of the Republican State Committee, and he spent three terms as lieutenant governor of the state.

In 1905 Coolidge married Grace Anna Goodhue of Burlington, Vt. The couple had two sons, John and Calvin, the younger of whom, Calvin, died on July 7, 1924, from blood poisoning.

==Governor and Vice President==
When Governor Samuel W. McCall retired in 1918, Coolidge became the unanimous choice of the Republican Party for the governorship; he was elected and took office in January 1919. As governor, Coolidge made no radical innovations nor did he sponsor a legislative program. A conservative, he devoted himself to a program of economy in government. The Boston police strike, and his handling of it, first brought him to national attention. On Sept. 9, 1919, the police struck in protest against the police commissioner's refusal to permit them to join an American Federation of Labor union. Immediately there were riots and disorder. After some urging Governor Coolidge called out the state guard to preserve order and personally took charge. The governor answered Samuel Gompers' objections to his actions with the statement: "There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, at any time." The statement received nationwide publicity. After the nomination of Warren G. Harding by the Republican national convention in 1920, the members of the convention rebelled against the dominant senatorial clique. They nominated Coolidge for second place on the ticket after his name had been presented by a comparatively unknown delegate. Coolidge was elected along with Harding in 1920 and became president on Aug. 2, 1923, when Harding died of natural causes. Coolidge was at his father's house in Vermont when the momentous news arrived. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office.

==Presidency==
The elections in 1922 had reduced the party's numbers in Congress to a scant majority. Moreover, the scandals connected with the Harding administration were in the process of being made public by a congressional committee. Yet, a little over a year later, Coolidge was elected for another term by a landslide over both [[John W. Davis]], [[U.S. Democratic Party, History|Democrat]], and [[Robert M. LaFollette]], Progressive. Davis got 29% of the popular vote, carrying the South from Virginia to Texas, and 136 electoral votes, LaFollette carried Wisconsin and many German and railroad centers, but Coolidge won easily with 382 electoral votes. Four years later, when he left office, his party was in a much stronger position than it had been in 1924.

Felzenberg (19978) shows that Coolidge battled intolerance, lynching and especially the [[Ku Klux Klan]], which lost all its influence during his term.

In 1924 he appointed a commission to investigate the circumstances of the Teapot Dome oil lease, a scandal inherited from the Harding administration. By focusing all the blame on Harding, he permanently tarnished Harding's name and promoted himself.
===Economic policies===
Coolidge famously said, "The business of America is business."

The Coolidge policy was a simple one, made easier by the continuous prosperity and the weakness of the liberal opposition. He believed in government economy, reduced taxation, and gave aid to private business without accompanying restrictive regulation. In 1927 he vetoed the soldiers' bonus bill. Coolidge opposed any government control in interstate electrical power and was against the proposal for government operation of the Wilson Dam at Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River; in 1933 it became part of the [[New Deal]]'s [[TVA]].

Throughout the farming regions of the traditionally Republican Middle West loud complaints were heard about the farm crisis. It was characterized by low prices for crops and the overhang of the land bubble that burst in 1920, leaving many farmers deeply in debt for new lands they purchased at high price during the war. The farmers wanted the federal government to intervene in the market, by buying crops at high prices and dumping them abroad cheaply. Congress passed the legislation, known as the and the [[McNary-Haugen Bill]], a farm relief bill, but Coolidge vetoed it. He supported the alternative program of Hoover and Jardine to modernize farming, by bringing in more electricity, more efficient equipment, better seeds and breeds, and better business practices.
===Foreign Affairs===
In the realm of foreign affairs the president urged the nation to become a member of the World Court, but the bill authorizing it was hedged with so many qualifications that the other member nations refused to admit the United States. Under the direction of Secretary of the Treasury [[Andrew W. Mellon]], plans for the payment of foreign government debts to the United States were negotiated and approved. During the Coolidge administration the Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of national policy, was signed by most of the important nations of the world. The appointment of Dwight W. Morrow as ambassador to Mexico did much to restore good relations with that country, although the policy pursued elsewhere in Latin America in the interest of American investors helped maintain the Latin-American distrust of their northern neighbor.
===Evaluations===
In the short view, the Coolidge administration was a preeminently successful one. Income taxes and corporate taxes were greatly reduced, a major part of the national debt was retired, and the nation experienced some of the most prosperous years in its history. The Coolidge policies were in part responsible for these benefits, but some hostile historians claim they were probably responsible, in part, for the great depression that followed.

Coolidge's image was to a degree shaped by Madison Avenue. Buckley (2003) reveals the role of advertising giant [[Bruce Barton]] in the remaking of the public persona or image of Coolidge during 1919-26 and, in so doing, guiding a dramatic shift in politics and the wide acceptance of consumer culture. The dominance of the political party bosses, who selected Harding in 1920, ended when the business elite wrested control from the party, using their ability to raise money for advertising and ultimately commodifying the political process. Members of this elite suggested that Barton refashion Coolidge from an aloof man driven by the advancement of his career into a voice of the masses, the "silent majority," which Barton accomplished with press coverage, exploiting the new technology of radio for political speeches, newsreels, an exclusive "spontaneous" interview with Coolidge, and by arranging events that would be covered free, as news. Coolidge's election to the presidency in 1924 was the first campaign of personality, in which style was promoted over substance, tapping into "intense private longings" of a public uncertain of its moorings in a rapidly modernizing society. Gilbert (2003) and Gilbert (2005) argues that Coolidge suffered from clinical depression throughout his life. Gilbert discusses the major symptoms of the disorder as evidenced in Coolidge's personal and political behavior. He exhibited symptoms from a very early age, beginning with his grandfather's death when he was six and again with the deaths of his mother and sister during his adolescence. Ascending to the presidency in 1923, Coolidge at first was diligent, effective, and respectful of others. After the death of his teenage son in 1924, however, his demeanor and degree of political engagement changed drastically. He developed hypersomnia, sleeping as much as 15 hours per day, and he began to treat White House staffers and his wife rudely, often publicly humiliating them. Moreover, he became far less effective as a decision-maker and grew increasingly detached from political issues.

==Silent Cal==
A woman once told Coolidge that she had bet someone that she could get him to say more than two words. He told her, "You lose."
===Retirement===
In the summer of 1927 Coolidge made the statement, "I do not chose to run for president in 1928." He did not indicate his choice of his successor. Coolidge left the White House on Mar. 4, 1929, amid the acclaim of the nation. Returning to Northampton, he published his autobiography and wrote articles for newspapers and periodicals. These and his business activities kept him engaged until his death on Jan. 5, 1933, in the midst of the [[Great Depression]].

==Quotes==
*"Nothing is easier than spending the public money. It doesn't appear to belong to anybody."
==Bibliography==
* Buckley, Kerry W. "'A President for the "Great Silent Majority': Bruce Barton's Construction of Calvin Coolidge." ''New England Quarterly'' 2003 76(4): 593-626. Issn: 0028-4866 Fulltext: in Jstor
* Felzenberg, Alvin S. "Calvin Coolidge and Race: His Record in Dealing with the Racial Tensions of the 1920s." ''New England Journal of History'' 1998 55(1): 83-96.
* Ferrell, Robert H. ''The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge.'' U. Press of Kansas, 1998. 244 pp. The standard scholarly study.
* Gilbert, Robert E. "Calvin Coolidge's Tragic Presidency: the Political Effects of Bereavement and Depression." ''Journal of American Studies'' 2005 39(1): 87-109. Issn: 0021-8758 Fulltext: in Cambridge and Swetswise
* Gilbert, Robert E. ''The Tormented President: Calvin Coolidge, Death, and Clinical Depression.'' Praeger, 2003. 288pp
* Greenberg, David. ''Calvin Coolidge'' (2006), short biography. [http://www.amazon.com/Calvin-Coolidge-David-Greenberg/dp/0805069577/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194420081&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Haynes, John Earl, ed. ''Calvin Coolidge and the Coolidge Era: Essays on the History of the 1920s.'' Library of Congress, 1998. 329 pp. essays by scholars
* McCoy, Donald R. ''Calvin Coolidge: A Biography'' (1967), 447pp, the standard scholarly biography
* Pietrusza, David (ed.) ''Silent Cal's Almanack: The Homespun Wit and Wisdom of Vermont's Calvin Coolidge'' createspace: 2008.
* William Allen White; ''A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge,'' (1938) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=1105748 online edition]

===Primary sources===
* Calvin Coolidge. ''The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge'' (1929), [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=82302633 online edition]
* Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell, eds. ''The Talkative President: The Off-The-Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge,'' (1964), 276pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=77365439 online edition]
* Calvin Coolidge Telegram to Samuel Gompers re: Boston Police Strike http://www.davidpietrusza.com/coolidge-gompers-telegram.html online edition]

==External Sources==
*[http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/americanpresident/coolidge excellent essays & documents from Miller Center U Virginia]]

====notes====
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{USVicePresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coolidge, Calvin}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Governors]]
[[Category:Fiscal Conservatives]]

Calvin Coolidge

2010-01-09T14:55:24Z

Reservoir: /* Primary sources */

{{President|
|name=John Calvin Coolidge Jr.
|image=460px-Calvin Coolidge photo portrait head and shoulders.jpg
|country=the United States
|seq=30
|party=Republican
|term_start=August 2, 1923
|term_end=March 4, 1929<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|vp=None
|vp_dates=1923-1925
|2vp=Charles G.Dawes
|2vp_dates=1925-1929
|previous=Warren G. Harding
|next=Herbert Hoover
|seq2=29
|office2=vice
|term_start2=March 4, 1921
|term_end2=August 2, 1923
|pres2=Warren G. Harding
|previous2=Thomas R. Marshall
|next2=Charles G. Dawes
|birth_date=July 4, 1872
|birth_place=Plymouth, Vermont
|death_date=January 5, 1933
|death_place=Northampton, Massachusetts
|spouse=Grace Goodhue Coolidge
|spouse2=
|religion=Congregationalist
}}

'''Calvin Coolidge''' was the 30th [[President of the United States of America]] from 1923 to 1929, an era of peace and prosperity. He was elected Vice President in 1920 as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] and took office in August 1923 upon the death of President [[Warren G. Harding]]; he was reelected by a landslide in 1924, but in 1928 at the peak of his popularity he announced in typical laconical fashion that he did not choose to run again.

==Early Career==
Coolidge was born in Plymouth, Vermont, July 4, 1872, the son of John and Victoria Moor Coolidge. Both parents were Yankees; his ancestors came from England to New England in the early seventeenth century. Coolidge's father was a farmer and a successful country storekeeper who dabbled in local and state politics. Young Calvin was educated in the local school and later at Black River and St. Johnsbury academies. In 1891 he entered [[Amherst College]] in Massachusetts, where he showed an interest in philosophy. Reserved and reticent, he did not mix readily with his fellows. In his senior year, however, he was selected as class speaker.
==Early Public Life==
After his graduation in 1895 Coolidge studied law, was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1897, and began to practice in the city of Northampton, where he became active in local GOP politics. In 1898 he was elected to the common council. Thereafter he was seldom out of public office. He was elected to the Massachusetts General Court (legislature) in 1907. After two terms he was elected mayor of Northampton and then was elected to the state senate; during 1914-1915 he was president of that body. He had also served as chairman of the Republican State Committee, and he spent three terms as lieutenant governor of the state.

In 1905 Coolidge married Grace Anna Goodhue of Burlington, Vt. The couple had two sons, John and Calvin, the younger of whom, Calvin, died on July 7, 1924, from blood poisoning.

==Governor and Vice President==
When Governor Samuel W. McCall retired in 1918, Coolidge became the unanimous choice of the Republican Party for the governorship; he was elected and took office in January 1919. As governor, Coolidge made no radical innovations nor did he sponsor a legislative program. A conservative, he devoted himself to a program of economy in government. The Boston police strike, and his handling of it, first brought him to national attention. On Sept. 9, 1919, the police struck in protest against the police commissioner's refusal to permit them to join an American Federation of Labor union. Immediately there were riots and disorder. After some urging Governor Coolidge called out the state guard to preserve order and personally took charge. The governor answered Samuel Gompers' objections to his actions with the statement: "There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, at any time." The statement received nationwide publicity. After the nomination of Warren G. Harding by the Republican national convention in 1920, the members of the convention rebelled against the dominant senatorial clique. They nominated Coolidge for second place on the ticket after his name had been presented by a comparatively unknown delegate. Coolidge was elected along with Harding in 1920 and became president on Aug. 2, 1923, when Harding died of natural causes. Coolidge was at his father's house in Vermont when the momentous news arrived. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office.

==Presidency==
The elections in 1922 had reduced the party's numbers in Congress to a scant majority. Moreover, the scandals connected with the Harding administration were in the process of being made public by a congressional committee. Yet, a little over a year later, Coolidge was elected for another term by a landslide over both [[John W. Davis]], [[U.S. Democratic Party, History|Democrat]], and [[Robert M. LaFollette]], Progressive. Davis got 29% of the popular vote, carrying the South from Virginia to Texas, and 136 electoral votes, LaFollette carried Wisconsin and many German and railroad centers, but Coolidge won easily with 382 electoral votes. Four years later, when he left office, his party was in a much stronger position than it had been in 1924.

Felzenberg (19978) shows that Coolidge battled intolerance, lynching and especially the [[Ku Klux Klan]], which lost all its influence during his term.

In 1924 he appointed a commission to investigate the circumstances of the Teapot Dome oil lease, a scandal inherited from the Harding administration. By focusing all the blame on Harding, he permanently tarnished Harding's name and promoted himself.
===Economic policies===
Coolidge famously said, "The business of America is business."

The Coolidge policy was a simple one, made easier by the continuous prosperity and the weakness of the liberal opposition. He believed in government economy, reduced taxation, and gave aid to private business without accompanying restrictive regulation. In 1927 he vetoed the soldiers' bonus bill. Coolidge opposed any government control in interstate electrical power and was against the proposal for government operation of the Wilson Dam at Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River; in 1933 it became part of the [[New Deal]]'s [[TVA]].

Throughout the farming regions of the traditionally Republican Middle West loud complaints were heard about the farm crisis. It was characterized by low prices for crops and the overhang of the land bubble that burst in 1920, leaving many farmers deeply in debt for new lands they purchased at high price during the war. The farmers wanted the federal government to intervene in the market, by buying crops at high prices and dumping them abroad cheaply. Congress passed the legislation, known as the and the [[McNary-Haugen Bill]], a farm relief bill, but Coolidge vetoed it. He supported the alternative program of Hoover and Jardine to modernize farming, by bringing in more electricity, more efficient equipment, better seeds and breeds, and better business practices.
===Foreign Affairs===
In the realm of foreign affairs the president urged the nation to become a member of the World Court, but the bill authorizing it was hedged with so many qualifications that the other member nations refused to admit the United States. Under the direction of Secretary of the Treasury [[Andrew W. Mellon]], plans for the payment of foreign government debts to the United States were negotiated and approved. During the Coolidge administration the Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of national policy, was signed by most of the important nations of the world. The appointment of Dwight W. Morrow as ambassador to Mexico did much to restore good relations with that country, although the policy pursued elsewhere in Latin America in the interest of American investors helped maintain the Latin-American distrust of their northern neighbor.
===Evaluations===
In the short view, the Coolidge administration was a preeminently successful one. Income taxes and corporate taxes were greatly reduced, a major part of the national debt was retired, and the nation experienced some of the most prosperous years in its history. The Coolidge policies were in part responsible for these benefits, but some hostile historians claim they were probably responsible, in part, for the great depression that followed.

Coolidge's image was to a degree shaped by Madison Avenue. Buckley (2003) reveals the role of advertising giant [[Bruce Barton]] in the remaking of the public persona or image of Coolidge during 1919-26 and, in so doing, guiding a dramatic shift in politics and the wide acceptance of consumer culture. The dominance of the political party bosses, who selected Harding in 1920, ended when the business elite wrested control from the party, using their ability to raise money for advertising and ultimately commodifying the political process. Members of this elite suggested that Barton refashion Coolidge from an aloof man driven by the advancement of his career into a voice of the masses, the "silent majority," which Barton accomplished with press coverage, exploiting the new technology of radio for political speeches, newsreels, an exclusive "spontaneous" interview with Coolidge, and by arranging events that would be covered free, as news. Coolidge's election to the presidency in 1924 was the first campaign of personality, in which style was promoted over substance, tapping into "intense private longings" of a public uncertain of its moorings in a rapidly modernizing society. Gilbert (2003) and Gilbert (2005) argues that Coolidge suffered from clinical depression throughout his life. Gilbert discusses the major symptoms of the disorder as evidenced in Coolidge's personal and political behavior. He exhibited symptoms from a very early age, beginning with his grandfather's death when he was six and again with the deaths of his mother and sister during his adolescence. Ascending to the presidency in 1923, Coolidge at first was diligent, effective, and respectful of others. After the death of his teenage son in 1924, however, his demeanor and degree of political engagement changed drastically. He developed hypersomnia, sleeping as much as 15 hours per day, and he began to treat White House staffers and his wife rudely, often publicly humiliating them. Moreover, he became far less effective as a decision-maker and grew increasingly detached from political issues.

==Silent Cal==
A woman once told Coolidge that she had bet someone that she could get him to say more than two words. He told her, "You lose."
===Retirement===
In the summer of 1927 Coolidge made the statement, "I do not chose to run for president in 1928." He did not indicate his choice of his successor. Coolidge left the White House on Mar. 4, 1929, amid the acclaim of the nation. Returning to Northampton, he published his autobiography and wrote articles for newspapers and periodicals. These and his business activities kept him engaged until his death on Jan. 5, 1933, in the midst of the [[Great Depression]].

==Quotes==
*"Nothing is easier than spending the public money. It doesn't appear to belong to anybody."
==Bibliography==
* Buckley, Kerry W. "'A President for the "Great Silent Majority': Bruce Barton's Construction of Calvin Coolidge." ''New England Quarterly'' 2003 76(4): 593-626. Issn: 0028-4866 Fulltext: in Jstor
* Felzenberg, Alvin S. "Calvin Coolidge and Race: His Record in Dealing with the Racial Tensions of the 1920s." ''New England Journal of History'' 1998 55(1): 83-96.
* Ferrell, Robert H. ''The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge.'' U. Press of Kansas, 1998. 244 pp. The standard scholarly study.
* Gilbert, Robert E. "Calvin Coolidge's Tragic Presidency: the Political Effects of Bereavement and Depression." ''Journal of American Studies'' 2005 39(1): 87-109. Issn: 0021-8758 Fulltext: in Cambridge and Swetswise
* Gilbert, Robert E. ''The Tormented President: Calvin Coolidge, Death, and Clinical Depression.'' Praeger, 2003. 288pp
* Greenberg, David. ''Calvin Coolidge'' (2006), short biography. [http://www.amazon.com/Calvin-Coolidge-David-Greenberg/dp/0805069577/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194420081&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Haynes, John Earl, ed. ''Calvin Coolidge and the Coolidge Era: Essays on the History of the 1920s.'' Library of Congress, 1998. 329 pp. essays by scholars
* McCoy, Donald R. ''Calvin Coolidge: A Biography'' (1967), 447pp, the standard scholarly biography
* Pietrusza, David (ed.) ''Silent Cal's Almanack: The Homespun Wit and Wisdom of Vermont's Calvin Coolidge'' createspace: 2008.
* William Allen White; ''A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge,'' (1938) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=1105748 online edition]

===Primary sources===
* Calvin Coolidge. ''The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge'' (1929), [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=82302633 online edition]
* Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell, eds. ''The Talkative President: The Off-The-Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge,'' (1964), 276pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=77365439 online edition]
* Calvin Coolidge Telegram to Samuel Gompers re: Boston Police Strike http://www.davidpietrusza.com/coolidge-gompers-telegram.html]

==External Sources==
*[http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/americanpresident/coolidge excellent essays & documents from Miller Center U Virginia]]

====notes====
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{USVicePresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coolidge, Calvin}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Governors]]
[[Category:Fiscal Conservatives]]

Woodrow Wilson

2010-01-09T14:47:29Z

Reservoir: /* Domestic affairs and ideas */

{{President
|image=Pppq.jpg
|seq=28
|term_start=March 4, 1913
|term_end=March 4, 1921<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Democratic
|vp=Thomas R. Marshall
|previous=William Howard Taft
|next=Warren G. Harding
|birth_date=December 28, 1856
|birth_place=Staunton, Virginia
|death_date=February 3, 1924
|death_place=Washington, D.C.
|spouse=Ellen Axson Wilson
|spouse2=Edith Galt Wilson
|religion=[[Presbyterian]]
}}

'''Woodrow Wilson''' (born Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 1856 - 1924), a Democrat, was elected as the 28th [[President of the United States of America]], and reelected in 1916, serving from 1913 to 1921. A Princeton president who became an intellectual leader of the [[Progressive Movement]], Wilson demonstrated his mastery over Congress by creating the [[Federal Reserve System]], lowering the tariff, and revising the [[antitrust]] laws in a way that ended most of the "trustbusting" and drew clear lineson what was allowed. In general these policies would be in line with conservative recommendations in 2009. He supported liberal policies such as raising wages of railroad workers when they threatened a nationwide strike in 1916.
Trying repeatedly and failing to broker peace during [[World War I]], Wilson in 1917 led the United States into the war. He set up a draft and trained millions of soldiers, sending the [[American Expeditionary Forces]] to France under the command of General [[John J. Pershing]]. W

ilson played a dominant role in ending the war with his [[Fourteen Points]] and played the central role at the Versailles Conference that set the peace terms in 1919. He was the idealist who envisioned Wilson advocated a new international order founded on self-determination, unfettered international trade, the end of militarism, and a worldwide organization of states - the League of Nations. He failed to obtain Senate approval for the Versailles treaty because it required American entry into the [[League of Nations]] and a possible loss of control over the war-making power. Wilson refused to involve the Republicans in the peace-making, even though they controlled Congress, and refused the GOP compromise that would have allowed American entry into the League without giving up sovereignty.

Wilson was a very complex man filled with paradox. He was a southern conservative--an elitist with a profound distrust of radical ideas and such left-wing populists as [[William Jennings Bryan]], but became the Democratic Party's most effective advocate of advanced progressivism. His progressivism in 2009 terms is a mix of liberal and conservative ideas, with a much deper religious underpining than is seen today. He ranks with Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson and Ronald Reagan as the nation's most active and dominant chief executives. He ranks with Abraham Lincoln and Reagan as the most articulate spokesman for national values. He was a war president who largely ignored military affairs and focused on very complex diplomatic issues. He won his war, reshaped the world at the peace conference, and saw his nation reject his idealist League of Nations because he refused to work with republicans on its mechanics.

A rigid, self-exacting personality, whose uncompromising adherence to principles barred agreement on some of his most important political goals, he was a brilliant opportunist who won stunning electoral victories and led controversial laws through Congress. He understood diplomacy and dometic affairs in depth, and was the first to recognize a solution that could satisfy most of the needs of the interested parties. He was willing to negotiate endlessly, usually getting his way in the end, esopecially when his powerful rhetoric energized his backers. A devout Presbyterian who studied the Bible every day, he elevated a religious style of idealism to the central place in American diplomacy. A lonely intellectual, he had few friends, and broke one-by-one with his closest advisors, until in his last two years in office he was an invalid controlled in large part by his wife.

Wilson's idealistic foreign policy, called "Wilsonianism" sought to end militarism as a force in world affairs, vigorously promote national self determination, create international bodies to head off serious disputes, and use American resources to promote democracy. Wilsonianism (and "idealism" generally) is opposed to "realism" in foreign policy, which stresses a concern for American self-interest, especially in economic and military terms. Wilsonianism reshaped the world in the aftermath of the Great War; its values lie at the core of the foreign policy of [[George W. Bush]] (2001-2009). [[File:Ww-sargent.jpg|thumb|350px|1917 portrait by [[John Singer Sargent]]]]
Wilson was the most profoundly Christian political leader in the world in the 20th century. He felt assured that he was following God's guidance. Wilson considered the United States a Christian nation destined to lead the world. He was a prophet and a postmillenarian, and if idealism clashed with reality, he was certain idealism would prevail.

==Family==
Wilson's father Joseph Ruggles Wilson (1822-1903), born in Ohio, was a Presbyterian minister of Scotch Irish descent. Woodrow's mother Jesse was born in Carlisle, England, to a Scottish-born Presbyterian minister; her family moved to Canada in 1835 and to Ohio in 1837. Woodrow's parents moved South in 1851, owned house slaves, and identified themselves with the culture and political values of the South. The father Joseph Wilson was a theologian, defended slavery and soon emerged as a leader of the Southern Presbyterian Church and an avid supporter of the Confederacy.<ref> In the 1880s Joseph Wilson argued at length that evolution was NOT in conflict with the Bible; he was thereupon forced out as head of the Presbyterian seminary in South Carolina. See Fred Kingsley Elder, ''Woodrow: Apostle of Freedom'' (1996) [http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642(199711)63%3A4%3C898%3AWAOF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O&cookieSet=1 online review]</ref>

Wilson's grandfather (Joseph Wilson's father) was James Wilson, who immigrated to the United States from northern Ireland in 1807 and was first an editor of the [[Jeffersonian Republican]] newspaper the ''Aurora'' in Philadelphia, and later published Whig newspapers in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Since his father had been ostracized by the northern relatives, Woodrow had no contact with his grandfather or uncles, who were active in antislavery Republican politics in Ohio and Pennsylvania.<ref>Francis P. Weisenburger, "The Middle Western Antecedents of Woodrow Wilson," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review,'' Vol. 23, No. 3 (Dec., 1936), pp. 375-390 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1886371 in JSTOR]</ref>

Woodrow grew up in the South during the Civil War and Reconstruction his father was a chaplain for the Confederate army. Woodrow saw the humiliation, economic ruin and shame that the loser of a war experiences and the hatred that grows from this, as well as the rampant corruption during Reconstruction in Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. A victim of childhood dyslexia, he became an avid reader. His father imparted a love of literature and politics to his son; much family activity revolved around Bible readings, daily prayers, and worship services at the father's church.

In 1885 Wilson married Ellen Louise Axson (1860 – 1914), the daughter of a Presbyterian minister in Savannah, Georgia. She was an accomplished painter and a successful hostess; they had three daughters.<ref> See [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/ew28-1.html White House biography of Ellen Louise Axson Wilson]</ref>

==Education==
Woodrow studied at Davidson College in North Carolina in 1873-1874 and at Princeton University from 1875 to 1879. he proved a exceptional student, primarily interested in debate and politics. His father always wanted him to be a minister; Wilson greatly admired the British Priome Minister [[William E. Gladstone]], a Christian in politics, and decided to emulate him. Wilson saw politics as a divine vocation--to be a statesman was an expression of Christian service, he believed, a use of power for the sake of principles or moral goals. Wilson saw the "key to success in politics" as "the pursuit of Perfection through hard work and the fulfillment of ideals." Politics would allow him to spread spiritual enlightenment to the American people.

He was an editor of the ''Princetonian'' and wrote his senior thesis on "Cabinet Government in the United States;" it was later published. The essay stressed the superior qualities of the British cabinet system and said it ought to be tried in the United States.<ref>Edward S. Corwin, "Woodrow Wilson and the Presidency," ''Virginia Law Review,'' Vol. 42, No. 6 (Oct., 1956), pp. 761-783 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1070269 in JSTOR]. It was published in a journal edited by [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who became Wilson's bitter enemy in 1919.</ref> After graduation in 1879 he studied law at the University of Virginia; he was admitted to the bar and practiced in Atlanta, in 1882. It was too boring. Wilson's scholarship led him in 1883 to enter the new Johns Hopkins University graduate school where he studied government and history, taking a PhD in 1885. Wilson is the only president to earn a PhD.
==Academic leader==
In 1885 Wilson was appointed instructor in in history at Bryn Mawr College, an elite Quaker school for women near Philadelphia, as a salary of $1500 a year (which was enough to hire a servant). In 1888 he moved to Wesleyan University, a Methodist college in Connecticut. His reputation as an outstanding leader in political science brought him a professorship of jurisprudence and political economy at [[Princeton University]] in 1890. For the next twelve years he taught at Princeton, popular alike with students and faculty; he became the president of the school in 1902.<ref>W. Barksdale Maynard, Woodrow Wilson: Princeton to the Presidency (2008)</ref>

Henry Wilkinson Bragdon, ''Woodrow Wilson: The Academic Years'' (1967)</ref>

Wilson soon emerged as the nation's foremost academic, in heavy demand in elite circle for his brilliant speeches.

At Princeton he created academic departments but otherwise downplayed the Germanic model of the PhD-oriented research university in favor of the "Oxbridge" (Oxford and Cambridge) model of intense small group discussions and one-one-one tutorials. He hired 50 young professors, called preceptors, to meet with students in small conferences, grilling them about their reading. Complaining that Princeton was dominated by "eating clubs" in which students ate with each other and ignored the professors, he sought to build Oxford-style colleges where students and faculty would eat and talk together. He failed--the eating clubs are still there.<ref>Yale and Harvard later did adopt the college model for undergraduates, but not Princeton. W. Barksdale Maynard, Woodrow Wilson: Princeton to the Presidency (2008)</ref>

Wilson promote the leadership model, whereby the college focused on training a small cadre of undergraduates for national leadership, "the minority who plan, who conceive, who superintend," as he called them in his inaugural address as the university's president. "The college is no less democratic because it is for those who play a special part." He confronted the dean of the graduate school, who had the German research model in mind and outmaneuvered Wilson by obtaining outside funding for a graduate complex for serious scholarlhip that was well separated from the fun-loving undergraduates.
===Political theory===
Wilson made significant contributions to political science.<ref> he also wrote popular history of high quality, including a five-volume history of the United States and a life of George Washington.</ref> In 1885 he published his influential treatise ''Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics'', based on his PhD dissertation. It set a new standard in analyzing the actual workings of the federal government with striking clarity and thoroughness. Although Wilson had never visited Congress, his emphasis on the centrality of committees in Congress was a major contribution to the study of political science. Noting how the Constitution's separation of powers had been eroded since the Civil War by the increasing power of Congress, he suggested a remedy for this in a cabinet-style government of the variety proposed by [[Walter Bagehot]] in Britain. By criticizing the Constitutionalist and Federalist traditions that had characterized American politics for a century, and showing their faults, Wilson sought to open a serious debate on the political changes in the United States in the intervening century and whether the Constitution remained an adequate regulator of these. By the time he wrote ''Constitutional Government in the United States'' (1908), Wilson was advocating the need for constitutional reform that would make Congress and president more representative and, above all, the need for a strong president who could influence Congress rather than submit to it.

Wilson originated the notion that political parties, besides running campaigns, need to be responsible for clearly designed public policies, which they present to the electorate for approval. The key to responsibility was the presidency. Hegelian conceptions of monarchy strongly influenced Wilson, and his view of public opinion contrasted sharply with the Madisonian view of factionalism. Consequently Wilson viewed parties as primarily the machinery through which strong leaders interpret and pursue the public will.<ref> Scot J. Zentner, "President and Party in the Thought of Woodrow Wilson," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly''; 1996 26(3): 666-677, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/27551624 in JSTOR]</ref>

===Public administration===
Wilson was a founder of the study of public administration by political scientists. Wilson believed in a strong, active role for the central government and as president succeeded in establishing legislation that significantly enlarged its regulatory powers. With the publication of ''Congressional Government'' in 1885, Wilson established himself as a leader of the political reform movement of the day. The book was the first of its kind to analyze policymaking by the central government and to provide recommendations for changing the process. Wilson was one of the three most prominent public administrationists of the 1880's and 1890's. As an academician, he promoted a separate department for the study of public administration and wrote 'The Study of Adminstration' (1887), the first published essay by a university scholar on the subject, established Wilson as the leading authority in the field. During the next year he inaugurated a course in public administration at Johns Hopkins University, providing three 6-week lecture series arranged in a 3-year cycle. In 1889, Wilson published a textbook, ''The State,'' and, in 1891, he began at Hopkins a new 3-year course which was a further significant step in the development of the study of administration. He was one of the first scholars to realize fully that all government was ultimately to be administration.<ref> Richard J. Stillman, II, "Woodrow Wilson and the Study of Administration: A New Look at an Old Essay," ''American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 67, No. 2 (Jun., 1973), pp. 582-588 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1958787 in JSTOR]; Larry Walker, "Woodrow Wilson, Progressive Reform, and Public Administration," ''Political Science Quarterly'', Vol. 104, No. 3 (Autumn, 1989), pp. 509-525 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2151276 in JSTOR]</ref>

===Football===
Wilson as president of Princeton, and [[Theodore Roosevelt]] as president of the United States, took an intense interest in the controversy over the reform of college football. In the 1890s and early 1900s, college football faced sharp of criticism over injuries and the role of athletics in college life. Roosevelt and Wilson, loyal followers of Harvard and Princeton, had defended football in the 1890s. In the fall of 1905, however, President Roosevelt called a conference of football experts at the White House to discuss brutality and unsportsmanlike conduct. Thereafter, Roosevelt worked behind the scenes to bring about sufficient reform to preserve football and insure that it would continue to be played at Harvard. In the years 1909-10, when college football again faced an injury crisis, Wilson worked with the presidents at Harvard and Yale to make reasonable reforms. Both Roosevelt's and Wilson's approaches were consistent with their strategies for national political change. In the years that followed the reforms on the gridiron, football evolved rapidly into the 'attractive' game that Wilson had advocated and a far less brutal game than the unruly spectacle that Roosevelt had tried to control.<ref>John S. Watterson, III, "Political Football: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and the Gridiron Reform Movement," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1995 25(3): 555-564 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/27551467 in JSTOR]</ref>
===Southerner===
Wilson was the first southerner elected president since [[Zachary Taylor]] in 1848, and much of his political base came from young progressives in that region, especially intellectuals, editors and lawyers.<ref> Arthur S. Link, "Woodrow Wilson: The American as Southerner," ''Journal of Southern History,'' Vol. 36, No. 1 (Feb., 1970), pp. 3-17 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2206599 in JSTOR] Andrew Johnson was not elected; he moved from vice president to president after Lincoln's death in 1865.</ref>

Many Civil War veterans were still alive and Wilson used the memory of the War to build nationalism and to facilitate reunion between the North and the South. In his academic work and public comments, Wilson stressed the theoretical and constitutional causes of the war, devaluing the slavery issue and stressing the moral equality of North and South, all in the interest of lessening sectional animosity. During World War I and the struggle for the League of Nations, Wilson frequently drew comparisons between Lincoln and the Union's sacrifices to save the nation and American soldiers' sacrifices during World War I to save the world. He succeeded in overcoming Southern isolationism by convincing the middle class in the region that God had preserved the Union in the Civil War in order to spread democracy throughout the world. He appealed to Southerners to demonstrate the patriotism that many said they lacked. He was able to convince them that they could wage war for democracy abroad without endangering white supremacy at home.<ref> Anthony Gaughan, "Woodrow Wilson and the Legacy of the Civil War," ''Civil War History'' 1997 43(3): 225-242; online in [[Questia]]; Gaughan, "Woodrow Wilson and the Rise of Militant Interventionism in the South," ''Journal of Southern History'' 1999 65(4): 771-808, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2587587 in JSTOR]</ref>

Wilson drew on Southern conservatism in the development of his political philosophy and identity as a politician from the 1890s to 1921. While Wilson forged a Progressive reformist outlook that encompassed limited government intervention in social and economic matters, he embraced a conservative, organic conception of social change drawn partially from the thought of Edmund Burke and partially from a mythical vision of the Old South as a model of social stability and integration. Deeply alarmed by labor and agrarian radicalism in the 1890s, Wilson resolved to cleanse the Democratic Party of Populist influence. His political vision ultimately sought to adapt American society to the new economic conditions of the 20th century, chiefly defined by the magnification of corporate power, while retaining the race and class hierarchies of tradition. Wilson's vision of Southern conservatism as a regenerative force set the precedent for the conservative ideology that dominated American politics since the 1980s.<ref> Michael Dennis, "Woodrow Wilson and Southern Reform Conservatism," ''Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South'' 2006 13(3-4): 1-28. </ref>

==Reform governor==
As early as 1906 Wilson came under the influence of Colonel George Harvey (1864-1928), a conservative Democrat who owned a publishing empire that included the ''New York World'' and ''Harper's Weekly'' magazine, reaching the nation's intellectual elite. Harvey, with close ties to Wall Street and [[J. P. Morgan]], saw a future conservative president and promoted Wilson heavily. Wilson became the intellecual leader of the anti-Bryan, anti-Populist wing of the Democratic Party. Harvey helped convince the old-fashioned bosses in New Jersey's cities to make Wilson the Democratic nominee for gobvernor in 1910, explaining this would bring in the mioddle class vote. Wilson, frustrated at Princeton, made the move and was elected. Wilson then broke with the bosses, and Harvey, denounced Wall Street and the bosses, and electrified the nation with his Progressive reforms in the notoriously corrupt government of New Jersey. Wilson by 1912 had emerged as the cleanest, most religious, best known and most dynamic leader of the [[Progressive Movement]] in the Democratic Party.

==Election of 1912==
William Frank McCombs, a New York lawyer and a a friend from college days, instigated and managed Wilson's campaign for president in 1912. Much of Wilson's support came from the South, especially from young progressive professionals. Wilson managed to maneuver through the complexities of local politics. For example, in Tennessee the Democratic Party was divided on the issue of prohibition. Wilson was progressive and sober, but not a dry, and appealed to both sides. They united behind him to win the presidential election in the state, but divided over state politics and lost the gubernatorial election.<ref> Arthur S. S. Link, "Democratic Politics and the Presidential Campaign of 1912 in Tennessee," ''East Tennessee Historical Society's Publications'' 1979 51: 114-137</ref>

At the convention deadlock went on for over 40 ballots as a two-thirds vote was needed. A leading opponent was House Speaker [[Champ Clark]], a prominent progressive strongest in the border states. Other contenders were Judson Harmon of Ohio, and Oscar Underwood of Alabama. They lacked Wilson's charisma and dynamism. Clark was supported by publisher [[William Randolph Hearst]], a leader of the left-wing of the party. The critical role was played by [[William Jennings Bryan]], the nominee in 1896, 1900 and 1908, who blocked the nomination of any candidate who had the support of 'the financiers of Wall Street.' He finally announced for Wilson, who won on the 46th.<ref> Arthur S. Link, "The Baltimore Convention of 1912," ''American Historical Review'' 1945 50(4): 691-713 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1842698 in JSTOR]</ref>

Wilson enjoyed the support of many black leaders including [[W.E.B. DuBois]] (a liberal at the time). Wilson's speeches and letters expressed the sentiments of a defender of the underprivileged. However the rejoicing over Wilson's victory was short-lived among blacks as segregationist white Southerners took control of Congress and many executive departments.<ref> Nancy J. Weiss, "The Negro and the New Freedom: Fighting Wilsonian Segregation," ''Political Science Quarterly'' 1969 84(1): 61-79, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2147047 in JSTOR]</ref>

In the campaign Wilson promoted the "New Freedom," emphasizing limited federal government and opposition to monopoly powers--positions that he reversed on coming to office.

President [[William Howard Taft]] defeated ex-President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] in a bitter contest for the Republican nomination, but Roosevelt walked out of the Republican convention and ran as a third party candidate. Wilson's success in the electoral college was assured, despite his 41.8% of the popular vote.<ref> Lewis L. Gould, ''Four Hats in the Ring: The 1912 Election and the Birth of Modern American Politics,'' (2008); Link (1947)</ref>.

==President: 1913-21==
===First term===
====Domestic policy====
[[File:Ww-prog.jpg|thumb|580px|left]]
====Immigration=====
Wilson twice vetoed the Burnett Immigration Restriction Bill, which required a literacy test for immigrants and would have sharply reduced the number of poor immigrants from Poland, Italy and other parts of eastern and southern Europe . As a moderate progressive, Wilson believed southern and eastern European immigrants, though often poor and illiterate, to be capable of assimilation into a homogeneous middle class with other whites. He considered so-called hyphenated immigrants unacceptable because they acted as groups rather than blending into the common population. Indeed he denounced the hyphenates. Wilson sought to achieve American strength through unity, blending together the best characteristics of every nationality to create the ideal citizenry, opposing [[Henry Cabot Lodge]]'s nativist view that American civilization must be based on an Anglo-Saxon foundation. Immigration from Europe practically ended when the war began, so the issue was postponed ino the 1920s, when a quota system was set up to keep the country's ethnic balance unchanged.<ref> Hans Vought, . Division and Reunion: Woodrow Wilson, Immigration, and the Myth of American Unity. Journal of American Ethnic History; 1994 13(3): 24-50.</ref>

====Foreign Policy====
=====Mexico=====
The extremely violent civil war that broke out in Mexico in 1911 drove hundreds of thousands of refugees north across the border, and forced Wilson to intervene. [[Francisco Madero]], an idealistic reformer who came to power in 1911. Madero tried to violently upend the social order in Mexico by destroying the landed aristocracy and the Catholic Church. When Madero was overthrown and murdered by [[Victoriano Huerta]] in February 1913, days before Wilson took office, he refused to recognize the new Mexican government. Relations deteriorated between the two countries. After American sailors were arrested in Tampico in April 1914 by Huerta's soldiers, the armed conflict loomed. American soldiers occupied Vera Cruz. In July 1914 Huerta fled to Spain. In 1916 the civil war between warlords [[Venustiano Carranza]] and [[Pancho Villa]] continued, and in March Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico, killing 20 Americans.<ref>James A. Sandos, "Pancho Villa and American Security: Woodrow Wilson's Mexican Diplomacy Reconsidered," ''Journal of Latin American Studies,'' Vol. 13, No. 2 (Nov., 1981), pp. 293-311 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/156072 in JSTOR]</ref> Wilson sent Brigadier General [[John J. Pershing]] deep into Mexico to capture Villa. Villa escaped the Americans. Despite the demands of outraged senators, Wilson did not declare war on Mexico. He ran for reelection in 1916 on the slogan, "He kept us out of war," meaning out of a war with Mexico.

====Reelection====
[[File:WW-WIN16.jpg|thumb|400px]]
====Woman suffrage====
In the 1910s, suffragists campaigned for the passage of a federal constitutional amendment that would grant women the right to vote. They argued it would purify politics because the new voters would be far lessliable to corruption and saloon influences. The movement was led by Protesntant northern women, many of whom were active in the prohibition movement at the same time. Wilson, originally opposed to the amendment, was converted through the efforts of women suffragists and became an advocate of critical importance. Both the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the National Women's Party (NWP) used symbolic representations of President Wilson, conferring on him real or symbolic images of presidential power. In practice Wilson hedged, realizing that male Democrats in the bg city machines in the North and in the rural South were hostile to woman suffrage. The meaning of democracy was at issue: the NWP portrayed Wilson as a tyrant, the NAWSA depicted him as a champion of freedom. Both organizations played essential roles in the passage of the 19th Amendment. After 1919, the absence of a common goal was a contributing factor to the subsequent divisions within the woman's rights movement, as was the loss of a unique adversary.<ref> Christine A. Lunardini, and Thomas J. Knock, Woodrow Wilson and Woman Suffrage: A New Look. Political Science Quarterly; 1980-1981 95(4): 655-671, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2150609 in JSTOR]</ref>

===Second term===

===Entering the war===
====Domestic policy====
====Foreign Policy====
====Russia====
Wilson's commitment to the principle of self-determination affected his decision to intervene in Russia in 1918, as the Bolsheviks (Communists) took power. Unswayed by British, French, and Japanese pressure, Wilson insisted that, unless the Russians invited them, the Allies should not interfere with Russia's internal affairs. In the summer of 1918, the president sent American troops into Siberia with the sole purpose of protecting Czechoslovak soldiers who had broken oujt of POW camps and were an independent force. Later Wilson realized that the other Allied nations were using the rescue mission as an 'anti-Bolshevik' crusade and for imperialistic motives. As a result, the president ordered US forces to withdraw.<ref> </ref> Wilson and subsequent presidents until 1933 refused to recognize the new Communist government, and Russia was not invited to the Paris Peace Conference.<ref> Betty Miller Unterberger, "Woodrow Wilson and the Bolsheviks: the 'Acid Test' of Soviet-American Relations," ''Diplomatic History'' 1987 11(2): 71-90,</ref>
====Mideast====
In November 1917, Wilson endorsed the [[Zionism|pro-Zionist]] [[Balfour Declaration]] issued by Britain. Wilson's aims in this endorsement were both practical and religious. His deep Christian sentiment led him to seek 'a direct governing role in the Near East in the name of peace, democracy and, especially, Christianity. By agreeing to the use of the mandate system by which the transition governments of the Middle East were partially controlled by Britain and France after the war, Wilson was both contradicting and reaffirming his own ideals by allowing only limited self-determination of Middle-Eastern peoples while assuring some respect for property and order.<ref> Frank W. Brecher, Woodrow Wilson and the Origins of the Arab-israeli Conflict. American Jewish Archives; 1987 39(1): 23-47,</ref>

====Paris Peace Conference, 1919====
=====Fight for the League=====

==Wilson and religion==
A Presbyterian of deep religious faith, he appealed to a gospel of service and infused a profound sense of moralism into Wilsonianism.<ref>John Morton Blum, ''Woodrow Wilson and the Politics of Morality'' (1956); Richard M. Gamble, "Savior Nation: Woodrow Wilson and the Gospel of Service," ''Humanitas'' Volume: 14. Issue: 1. 2001. pp 4+; Cooper, ''Woodrow Wilson'' (2009) p 560.</ref>

Link finds that Wilson from his earliest days had imbibed the beliefs of his denomination - in the omnipotence of God, the morality of the Universe, a system of rewards and punishments and the notion that nations, as well as man, transgressed the laws of God at their peril.<ref> Arthur S. Link, "A Portrait of Wilson," ''Virginia Quarterly Review''1956 32(4): 524-541</ref> Blum (1956) argues that he learned from [[William Gladstone]] a mystic conviction in the superiority of Anglo-Saxons, in their righteous duty to make the world over in their image. Moral principle, constitutionalism, and faith in God were among the prerequisites for alleviating human strife. While he interpreted international law within such a brittle, moral cast, Wilson remained remarkably insensitive to new and changing social forces and conditions of the 20th century. He expected too much justice in a morally brutal world which disregarded the self-righteous resolutions of parliaments and statesmen like himself. Wilson's triumph was as a teacher of international morality to generations yet unborn.<ref>John Morton Blum, ''Woodrow Wilson and the Politics of Morality'' (1956), p p10, 197-99</ref> [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] sees Wilson's vision of world order anticipated humanity prevailing through the "Holy Ghost of Reason," a vision which rested on religious faith.<ref> David Steigerwald, ''Wilsonian Idealism in America'' (1994) p. 230.</ref>

Wilson was a Presbyterian elder and the son of a leading theologian. He read the Bible daily; he felt 'sorry for the men who do not read the Bible every day.' The Bible, he argued, was 'the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life.' Wilson was prone to make explicitly Christian claims about his nation, even excluding the word ''Judeo'' from his characterization of the nation's religious heritage. 'America was born a Christian nation,' he explained in a speech on "The Bible and Progress" in 1911:
"America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture."<ref>Arthur S. Link, ed. ''The Papers of Woodrow Wilson'' (1977) 23:20, speech on the Bible, in Denver May 7, 1911</ref>

He held that the Bible "is the one supreme source of revelation, the revelation of the meaning of life, of the nature of God and the spiritual nature and need of men. It is the only guide of life which really leads the spirit in the way of peace and salvation."<ref> Josephus Daniels, ''The Life of Woodrow Wilson 1856-1924'' (1924) p. 359</ref>

God was central in Wilson's life and thought. His profound Presbyterian style of thinking assured him that he was following God's guidance. Wilson personified American optimism and considered the United States a Christian nation destined to lead the world. He was a prophet and a postmillenarian, and if idealism clashed with reality, he was certain idealism would prevail. He saw himself as God's messenger and statesman in a divinely predestined nation; thus he saw himself as God's agent in promoting democracy and world peace. His Fourteen Points and his Covenant of the League of Nations, were, in his view, divinely inspired paths to achieving a new world order.<ref> Malcolm D. Magee, '' What the World Should Be: Woodrow Wilson and the Crafting of a Faith-Based Foreign Policy'' (2008) </ref>

===China policy===
Wilson’s discussions with Presbyterian missionaries visiting Princeton shaped his diplomacy toward [[History of China|China]]. Wilson viewed Christianity as a unifying force in the world and the Chinese Revolution of 1911 as the first step toward the spread of Christianity and democracy for China. Wilson gained the admiration of the missionaries and Chinese when he prohibited US participation in a European loan to China. He moved to recognize the government of Yuan Shih-k'ai, hoping that that regime could bring stability to China favorable to the introduction of Christianity. He sought to appoint an ambassador to China who could express Christian values. During World War I, missionaries successfully urged Wilson's opposition to Japanese demands on China. Although the war and its aftermath diverted Wilson from Chinese problems, his foreign policy continued to be influenced by missionaries, particularly Dr. Samuel I. Woodbridge and the Reverend Charles E. Scott. <ref> Eugene P. Trani, "Woodrow Wilson, China, and the Missionaries, 1913-1921," ''Journal of Presbyterian History'' 1971 49(4): 328-351, </ref>

==Democracy==
Wilson advocated a new international order founded on self-determination, democracy, unfettered international commerce, and a worldwide organization of states - the League of Nations. Wilson framed American participation in the war as the first step in ending all wars. Although 'Wilsonian nationalism' has been blamed for the nationalistic emphasis on race and territory in Europe during the 1920's and 1930's, Wilson's policies had actually used ethnic and territorial issues to encourage self-determination and the development of democracy in postwar nations.

Woodrow Wilson's most lasting political philosophy was his view that [[democracy]] should be installed around the world. As a major player in setting the terms to end World War I, he helped to break up the [[Austria-Hungary|Austrian-Hungarian Empire]] to advance his goal of installing democracy for each ethnic subpopulation. Similar independence was granted with the breakup of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Many of these new nations were receiving self determination for the first time in centuries. Wilson's view of installing democracy worldwide has since been copied by the [[neoconservatives]]. Wilson was awarded the 1919 [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for his efforts to start the [[League of Nations]].
==Historiography==
Historians have been fascinated by Wilson and have vigorously defended him (Link) or attacked him (New Left). Since the collapse of the Communism in Europe in 1989, the mood had shifted in Wilson's favor. Even [[George Kennan]], a harsh critic who favored "realism" against Wilson's idealism. has changed his tune. The New Left attacks represented by Lloyd Gardner's highly critical ''A Covenant with Power'' have given way to Thomas Knock's laudatory ''To End All Wars''. The leftist tendency to trace back to Wilson a tradition of economic self-seeking and arrogant interventionism has yielded to a new impulse to see Wilsonian diplomacy as having established "a new American agenda for world affairs," as Akira Iriye writes, built upon "the ideas of economic interdependence and of peaceful settlement of disputes."<ref> see Steigerwald,(1999)</ref>

==Bibliography==
===Biography===
* Brands, H. W. ''Woodrow Wilson 1913-1921'' (2003) [http://www.amazon.com/Woodrow-Wilson-H-W-Brands/dp/0805069550/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259210644&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search] 169pp; good short summary by scholar [[File:Ww-stamp.jpg|thumb|180px|left]]
* Cooper, John Milton. ''Woodrow Wilson: A Biography'' (2009), 720 pp. major new biography by leading scholar
* Cooper, John Milton. ''The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt'' (1985), fascinating double biography by leading scholar [http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Priest-Woodrow-Theodore-Roosevelt/dp/0674947517/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259210893&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Hofstadter, Richard. "Woodrow Wilson: The Conservative as Liberal" in ''The American Political Tradition'' (1948), ch. 10. influential essay; at [http://humanitiesebook.org/ ACLS E-books]
* Link, Arthur S. "Woodrow Wilson" in Henry F. Graff ed., ''The Presidents: A Reference History '' (2002) pp 365-388
* Link, Arthur Stanley. ''Wilson: The Road to the White House'' (1947), first volume of standard biography (to 1917); ''Wilson: The New Freedom'' (1956); ''Wilson: The Struggle for Neutrality: 1914-1915'' (1960); ''Wilson: Confusions and Crises: 1915-1916'' (1964); ''Wilson: Campaigns for Progressivism and Peace: 1916-1917'' (1965), the last volume of standard biography; [http://humanitiesebook.org/ online at ACLS E-Books]
* Maynard, W. Barksdale. ''Woodrow Wilson: Princeton to the Presidency'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Woodrow-Wilson-Prof-Barksdale-Maynard/dp/0300136048/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259267777&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Walworth, Arthur. ''Woodrow Wilson'' 2 Vol. (1958); Pulitzer prize winning biography [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=24215014 vol 1 online]; well-written but old-fashioned (it was written in the 1950s), it has been replaced by Cooper (2009).

===Domestic affairs and ideas===
[[File:$100k.jpg|250px|thumb|Wilson's image appeared on the now-withdrawn $100,000 bill]]
* Abrams, Richard M. "Woodrow Wilson and the Southern Congressmen, 1913-1916," ''Journal of Southern History,'' Vol. 22, No. 4 (Nov., 1956), pp. 417-437 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2954640 in JSTOR]
* Clements, Kendrick A. ''The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson'' (1992), covers domestic and foreign policies; liberal tone
* Cooper, John Milton. ''Woodrow Wilson: A Biography'' (2009), 720 pp.
* Cuff, Robert D. "Woodrow Wilson and Business-Government Relations during World War I," ''Review of Politics,'' Vol. 31, No. 3 (Jul., 1969), pp. 385-407 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1406552 in JSTOR]
* Curti, Merle. "Woodrow Wilson's Concept of Human Nature," ''Midwest Journal of Political Science,'' Vol. 1, No. 1 (May, 1957), pp. 1-19 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2109008 in JSTOR]
* Daniel, Marjorie L. "Woodrow Wilson--Historian," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review,'' Vol. 21, No. 3 (Dec., 1934), pp. 361-374 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1897380 in JSTOR]
* Dimock, Marshall E. "Woodrow Wilson as Legislative Leader," ''The Journal of Politics,'' Vol. 19, No. 1 (Feb., 1957), pp. 3-19 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2127283 in JSTOR]
* Link, Arthur S. ''Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917'' (1954), remains the standard history of his first term.
* Link, Arthur S. "Woodrow Wilson: The American as Southerner," ''Journal of Southern History,'' Vol. 36, No. 1 (Feb., 1970), pp. 3-17 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2206599 in JSTOR]
* Link, Arthur S. "Woodrow Wilson and the Democratic Party," ''Review of Politics'', Vol. 18, No. 2 (Apr., 1956), pp. 146-156 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1405064 in JSTOR] cover 1913-14
* Livermore, Seward W. ''Woodrow Wilson and the War Congress, 1916-1918'' (1966)
* Macmahon, Arthur W. "Woodrow Wilson as Legislative Leader and Administrator," ''American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 50, No. 3 (Sep., 1956), pp. 641-675 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1951550 in JSTOR]
* Malin, James C. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5260560 ''The United States after the World War'' ] (1930)
* Pestritto, Ronald J. ed. ''Woodrow Wilson and the roots of modern liberalism'' (2005) ISBN: 0742515176' argues Wilson subverted the ideas of the Founders by his progressivism
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six President''s New York: Union Square Press, 2007.
* Saunders, Robert M. ''In Search of Woodrow Wilson: Beliefs and Behavior'' (1998)
* Turner, Henry A. "Woodrow Wilson and Public Opinion," ''Public Opinion Quarterly,'' Vol. 21, No. 4 (Winter, 1957-1958), pp. 505-520 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2746762 in JSTOR]
* Wolgemuth, Kathleen L. "Woodrow Wilson and Federal Segregation," ''The Journal of Negro History,'' Vol. 44, No. 2 (Apr., 1959), pp. 158-173 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2716036 in JSTOR]
* Weinstein, Edwin A., James William Anderson and Arthur S. Link. "Woodrow Wilson's Political Personality: A Reappraisal," ''Political Science Quarterly,'' Vol. 93, No. 4 (Winter, 1978-1979), pp. 585-598 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2150104 at JSTOR]
* Wolfe, Christopher. "Woodrow Wilson: Interpreting the Constitution," ''Review of Politics,'' Vol. 41, No. 1 (Jan., 1979), pp. 121-142 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1406981 in JSTOR]
* Woodward, Carl R. "Woodrow Wilson's Agricultural Philosophy," ''Agricultural History,'' Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct., 1940), pp. 129-142 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3739508 in JSTOR]

===Foreign policy===
* Ambrosius, Lloyd E., “Woodrow Wilson and George W. Bush: Historical Comparisons of Ends and Means in Their Foreign Policies,” ''Diplomatic History'', 30 (June 2006), 509–43.[[File:Ww-war-1917.jpg|thumb|350px]]
* Bailey; Thomas A. ''Wilson and the Peacemakers: Combining Woodrow Wilson and the Lost Peace and Woodrow Wilson and the Great Betrayal'' (1947)
* Clements, Kendrick, A. ''Woodrow Wilson: World Statesman'' (1999)
* Clements, Kendrick A. ''The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson'' (1992), covers foreign policy
* Clements, Kendrick A. "Woodrow Wilson and World War I," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 34:1 (2004). pp 62+.
* Cooper, John Milton. ''Woodrow Wilson: A Biography'' (2009), 720 pp.
* Davis, Donald E. and Eugene P. Trani; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109328821 ''The First Cold War: The Legacy of Woodrow Wilson in U.S.-Soviet Relations''] (2002)
* Greene, Theodore P. ed. ''Wilson at Versailles'' (1957)
* Henderson, Peter V. N. "Woodrow Wilson, Victoriano Huerta, and the Recognition Issue in Mexico," ''The Americas'', Vol. 41, No. 2 (Oct., 1984), pp. 151-176 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1007454 in JSTOR]
* Knock, Thomas J. ''To End All Wars: Woodrow Wilson and the Quest for a New World Order'' (1995)
* Kimitada, Miwa. "Japanese Opinions on Woodrow Wilson in War and Peace," ''Monumenta Nipponica,'' Vol. 22, No. 3/4 (1967), pp. 368-389 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2383073 in JSTOR]
* Levin, Jr., N. Gordon ''Woodrow Wilson and World Politics: America's Response to War and Revolution'' (1968)
* Link, Arthur Stanley. ''Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917'' (1972) sumarizes diplomatic history
* Link, Arthur S.; ''Wilson the Diplomatist: A Look at His Major Foreign Policies'' (1957)
* Link, Arthur S.; ''Woodrow Wilson and a Revolutionary World, 1913-1921'' (1982)
* Magee, Malcolm D. '' What the World Should Be: Woodrow Wilson and the Crafting of a Faith-Based Foreign Policy'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/What-World-Should-Be-Faith-based/dp/1602580707/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259268113&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* May, Ernest R. ''The World War and American Isolation, 1914-1917'' (1959)
* Trani, Eugene P. “Woodrow Wilson and the Decision to Intervene in Russia: A Reconsideration.” ''Journal of Modern History'' (1976). 48:440—61. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1878747 in JSTOR]
* Walworth, Arthur. ''Wilson and His Peacemakers: American Diplomacy at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=104399613 online edition]
===Historiography===
[[File:Ww-cooper.jpg|thumb|280px]]
* Clements, Kendrick A. "The Papers of Woodrow Wilson and the Interpretation of the Wilson Era", ''The History Teacher,'' Vol. 27, No. 4 (Aug., 1994), pp. 475-489 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/494510 in JSTOR]
* Seltzer, Alan L. "Woodrow Wilson as 'Corporate-Liberal': Toward a Reconsideration of Left Revisionist Historiography," ''Western Political Quarterly,'' Vol. 30, No. 2 (Jun., 1977), pp. 183-212 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/447405 in JSTOR]
* Steigerwald, David. The Reclamation of Woodrow Wilson? Diplomatic History; 1999 23(1): 79-99, on foreign policy in [[EBSCO]]; notes that New Left revisionism (by William Appleman Williams and N. Gordon Levin, Jr.) claiming that Wilson's Open Door was a facade for the imperialistic extension of American economic advantage, has faded away
* Watson, Jr., Richard L. "Woodrow Wilson and His Interpreters, 1947-1957," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review,'' Vol. 44, No. 2 (Sep., 1957), pp. 207-236 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1887188 in JSTOR], summarizes different interpretations as of 1957
* [http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/americanpresident/wilson Extensive essay on Woodrow Wilson and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs]

==Primary sources==
* Pestritto, Ronald J. ed. ''Woodrow Wilson: The Essential Political Writings'' (2005)
* Link, Arthur S., ed. [http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/catalogs/series/pw.html ''The Papers of Woodrow Wilson'' complete in 69 vol, at major academic libraries. Annotated edition of all of WW's letters, speeches and writings plus many letters written to him]
* Tumulty, Joseph P. ''Woodrow Wilson as I Know Him '' (1921)] memoir by chief of staff [[http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/8wwik10.txt online edition]
* Wilson, Woodrow. ''The New Freedom'' (1913) 1912 campaign speeches [http://books.google.com/books?id=MW8SAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:woodrow+inauthor:wilson&lr=&as_brr=1 online edition]
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext04/whwar10h.htm Wilson, Woodrow. ''Why We Are at War'' (1917)] six war messages to Congress, Jan- April 1917
* Wilson, Woodrow. ''Selected Literary & Political Papers & Addresses of Woodrow Wilson'' (3 vol 1918 and later editions)
* Wilson, Woodrow. ''Messages & Papers of Woodrow Wilson'' 2 vol (ISBN 1-135-19812-8)
* Wilson, Woodrow. ''The New Democracy. Presidential Messages, Addresses, and Other Papers (1913-1917)'' 2 vol 1926 (ISBN 0-89875-775-4
* Wilson, Woodrow. [http://www.usa-presidents.info/speeches/fourteen-points.html ''President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points (1918)''].
* [http://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=10&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_brr=1&lr=&as_vt=&as_auth=woodrow+wilson&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb=c&as_miny=&as_maxy=&as_isbn= full text of Wilson books and messages online]
==External links==
* [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1919/wilson-bio.html Nobel Prize biography]

==References==
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Woodrow}}

[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Peace]]
[[Category:Children of Clergy]]
[[Category:Progressive Era]]
[[Category:Historians]]
[[Category:Political Scientists]]
[[category:diplomacy]][[category:United States History]]
[[Category:New Jersey Governors]]
[[Category:Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Religion and Politics]]

Warren G. Harding

2010-01-09T14:44:53Z

Reservoir: /* Bibliography */

{{President
|image=Jgftyr.jpg
|seq=29
|term_start=March 4, 1921
|term_end=August 2, 1923<ref>http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm</ref>
|party=Republican
|vp=Calvin Coolidge
|previous=Woodrow Wilson
|next=Calvin Coolidge
|birth_date=November 2, 1865
|birth_place=Near Blooming Groove, Ohio
|death_date=August 2, 1923
|death_place=San Francisco, California
|spouse=Florence Kling Harding
|spouse2=
|religion=[[Baptist]]
}}

'''Warren G. (Gamaliel) Harding''' (November 2, 1865 - August 2, 1923) was the 29th [[President of the United States of America]], elected in a [[Republican Party|Republican]] landslide in 1920 and serving from 1921 until his sudden death in 1923. After the [[First World War]]. His conservative presidency was marked as a "return to normalcy", with an end to strikes and race riots, broad-scale prosperity, and peace abroad. He looked like a president, and was highly popular; after his deaths any number of scandals were blamed on him, by Democrats and by his Republican successor [[Calvin Coolidge]], so that his reputation among both conservative and liberal scholars is near the bottom.

Despite his ethical weaknesses, Harding deserves praise for winding down World War I and the animosities, hatreds, strikes, race riots, and economic depression it caused, and for his appointments of strong conservatives to the highest positions, especially [[Charles Evans Hughes]] at State, [[Andrew Mellon]] at Treasury, [[Herbert Hoover]] at Commerce, as well as [[William Howard Taft]] as Chief Justice and [[Charles G. Dawes]] as budget director (a new position)

==Career==
Harding's undeviating Republicanism and vibrant speaking voice, plus his willingness to let the machine bosses set policies, led him far in Ohio politics. He served in the state Senate and as Lieutenant Governor, and unsuccessfully ran for Governor. He delivered the nominating address for President [[William Howard Taft|Taft]] at the 1912 Republican Convention. In 1914 he was elected to the U.S. Senate. An Ohio admirer, Harry Daugherty, began to promote Harding for the 1920 Republican nomination because, he later explained, "He looked like a President." <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh29.html</ref>

==1920 Election==
Harding won a sweeping landslide victory over fellow Ohioan James Cox (with [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] as the defeated nominee for Vice President). Harding succeeded by promising to end the highly emotional debates of the Wilson years, and promising realism instead of idealism in foreign policy. Irish Catholics, angry at Wilson for not promoting the independence of Ireland as he had promised, were in control of the Democratic party in most large cities. They sat out the election allowing the GOP sweep all the major cities.

Morello (2001) shows that advertising genius [[Albert Lasker]] sold candidate Harding to the American people by using new advertising strategies and techniques, borrowed from business and from the wartime bond campaigns. Lasker used the three pillars of consumer advertising: "reason why" selling, which compared products directly--aided especially by Harding's photogenic image; testimonial advertising, using endorsements by famous people; and "preemptive advertising," which rushed to claim common characteristics as unique features of the advertised commodity. Lasker used new technology such as movies. He adjusted the front porch campaign style used by [[William McKinley]] in 1896 to shield his weak candidate from uncontrolled public scrutiny. Lasker launched a sharp, relentlessly negative campaign against the policy failures of incumbent Democrat [[Woodrow Wilson]]. The result, Morello concludes, was a triumph of modern advertising technique which propelled the Republicans back into the White House and furthered the commodification of candidates in modern electoral contests.

==Presidency==
=== Key Accomplishments ===
*Eliminated wartime controls
*Slashed taxes
*Established a Federal budget system,
*Restored the high protective tariff
*Imposed tight limitations upon immigration
*Ended the Depression of 1921
*Launched the Roaring Twenties
*Fought the KKK.

=== Immigration Control ===

Mr. Harding signed into law the [[Emergency Quota Act]]<ref>http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1920s/QuotaAct1918.html</ref> which sought to control immigration following [[World War I]] and preserve the distinctive American culture by ensuring the majority of immigrants came from the historically compatible cultures of Northern Europe. This law aimed to bring wages of hard working Americans under control by limiting immigration to 3% of the 1910 census. It was followed on by a similar act in 1924, after Mr. Harding's death.<ref>http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/Race/quota_acts.htm</ref>

=== Justice ===

Harding pardoned the [[socialist]] [[Eugene Debs]] who was imprisoned in 1918 for inciting resistance to the draft during World War I. Despite their political differences, Harding was cordial to him and met with him in the [[White House]], "I have heard so damned much about you, Mr Debs, that I am very glad to meet you personally."<ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/vodebs.htm</ref>

Harding defined the [[Supreme Court]] for two decades, appointing four solidly conservative justices. Harding's appointments included former President [[William Howard Taft]] to be Chief Justice (1921), [[George Sutherland]] (1922), [[Pierce Butler]] (1923) and [[Edward Terry Sanford]] (1923). Two of these justices (Taft and Sanford) served until 1930. The other two (Sutherland and Butler) served until the late 1930s and stood up to the liberal policies of President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]].

In selecting Pierce for the bench, Harding broke with tradition by picking a conservative Democrat even though Harding was a Republican.

Harding sought to calm race relations during the 1921 [[Tulsa Race Riot]]. <ref>see [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3812/is_199911/ai_n8854233 online]</ref>

=== Economics ===
Harding cut federal spending, lowered taxes, and began paying off the wartime national debt. He restored prosperity by 1921, opening a decade of rapid growth known as the ''Roaring 20s''.

Harding created the Bureau of the Budget to allow the White House to monitor all federal spending. Shortly after taking office, Harding also successfully passed promotion of US Agriculture, repeal of the wartime "excess profits" tax and reduction of rail rates.

Rader (1971) challenges the view that the tax policies of Harding's Treasury Secretary [[Andrew Mellon]], reversed the progressive policies of the Wilson years and allowed the wealthy to become wealthier. A congressional coalition of Democrats and insurgent Republicans shared responsibilities with Mellon for the tax legislation of that period, which was written by civil servants in the Treasury. The new rates were very low for most people, and yet were high enough to retire the war debt and generate a budget surplus. The net effect of this legislation, Rader argues, was to "impose more progressivity on the federal income tax structure than has existed in any other peace-time period of American history."

Winters (1990) examines Harding's farm policies and those of Henry Cantwell Wallace, the Secretary of Agriculture (1921-24). Wallace's handling of the postwar collapse of land values and the weakening of the farm economy was inconsistent and largely ineffective because of conflicting views of the value of agriculture in society. On one hand, he saw farming as a business that needed to improve its efficiency; on the other hand, he saw farmers as "yeoman," a special group, embodying republican virtues of independence, which deserved to be subsidized. Programs based on one view often negated those based on the other. Hoover meanwhile argued that the long-term solution lay in modernizing agricultural machinery, seeds, animal breeding and, especially, business practices.
===Foreign and military affairs===
Grant (1995) shows that during World War I the U.S. loaned ove $4 billion to Britain. This British war debt was not part of the agenda of the Paris Peace Conference or the 1921 settlement of the Reparation Commission. In response to an appeal by President Harding in his 1921 state of the union address, Congress passed the World War Foreign Debt Commission Act in 1922. The commission was mandated to determine each European nation's debt and negotiate payment over a period up to 25 years. In 1923 the British government agreed to pay $4.6 billion, with an initial payment of $4.1 million, the remainder to be paid over 62 years at 3% interest for the first ten years, 3.5% thereafter. Britain was able to pay because it received large war repoarations annually from Germany. Germany in turn borrowed the money from the U.S. During the [[Great Depression]] President [[Herbert Hoover]] suspended all payyments, and they were never resumed.

Irwin (2003) shows that the Harding Navy department oversaw or initiated the development of fleets of aircraft carriers, the strengthening of submarine forces and naval aviation, and the Marine Corps' adoption of amphibious assault strategies, all of which contributed significantly to US naval success in World War II.

=== Labor and economic issues ===
Labor unions were very weak in the Harding years. Under [[Andrew mellon]] the Treasuty systematically reduced federal income taxes, which had soared during the war, and sumultaneously paid off most of the wartime debt. Harding today has come under criticism by both liberal economists and free trade advocates for [[protectionist]] policies--high tariffs.

==Scandals==
=== Teapot Dome Scandal===
Harding appointed a close friend anddrinking partner Senator Albert B. Fall of New Mexico as his Secretary of the Interior. Fall had charge of valuable oil lands known as "Teapot Dome" that were for the long-term use of the Navy. Fall secretly leased oil rights to an old friend, who paid bribes to Fall of over $400,000. The scandal was discovered after Harding's death by Harding's enemies in Congress in late 1923. Fall had entangled other businessmen and politicians into his wrongdoing which lead to other indictments of both Democrats and Republicans and continued into the Coolidge administration. Harding did not know about these dealings until shortly before his death.
===Interpretation===
Fine (1990) explains why Harding's reputation took a nose dive, as the new president Calvin Coolidge blamed the troubles of the day on his dead predecessor. "Reputational entrepreneurs" attempt to control the memory of historical figures through motivation, narrative facility, and institutional placement, says Fine. Men remembered as great heroes or great vilains or evil are explained by the Durkheimian theory of consensus and cohesion, but this does not explain the memory of the "incompetent" like Harding. Reputational politics is an arena in which forces compete to control memory. Reputations are grounded in a social construction of character, subsequently generalized to policy and the character of the society. In the case of Harding, the president rated lowest by historians and the public, political opponents set the agenda, while potential supporters did not defend him, given their political interests, structural positions, and a lack of credible narrative.
== Strange Death ==
Harding appeared to be in good health until his collapse and death. The surprise soon gave rise to a savage case of character assassination by insinuations of murder, all thoroughly unfounded. <ref>Ferrell, Robert H. (1996), The Strange Deaths of President Harding, University of Missouri Press p.31</ref>

Shaken by the talk of corruption among the friends he had appointed to office, he began a tour on June 20, 1923 of the West and Alaska. Although suffering from high blood pressure and an enlarged heart, he seemed to enjoy himself and the food -- especially the seafood in Alaska. On his return journey, he became ill with food poisoning. The Presidential train rushed to [[San Francisco]], where his condition worsened. He developed [[pneumonia]], and complicated by his heart ailment, died suddenly on August 23, he suffered a [[heart attack]] in the evening, while his wife was reading to him. He died quietly and instantaneously.

After Harding’s death, the reputation of his administration was ruined by revelations of scandal, primarily the Teapot Dome scandal and a scandal in the [[Veteran’s Administration]] which was particularly distasteful in that post World War I period. The scandals were pushed forward by congressional hearings, but were greeted by the public with what historian Frederick Lewis Allen concedes was brief resentment at both scandals and scandalmongers, followed by apathy.<ref>see [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/ALLEN/ch6.html Allen, ''Only Yesterday'']</ref>

In 1926, author [[Samuel Hopkins Adams]] published the novel “Revelry”, with characters which appeared to be thinly disguised members of the Harding administration. The president in the novel, “Willis Markham” poisons himself by accident, but does not take an available antidote, because he realizes that his death “will wipe out the whole score” of soon to be revealed scandals involving oil and the Veteran’s Administration. The novel was later dramatized .<ref>Ferrell, ''The Strange Deaths of President Harding,'' p.33</ref>.

In 1928, Nan Britton published a book entitled "The President's Daughter" claiming that she and Harding had been lovers and had conceived a child in 1919. According to her, the affair continued for six years, and the lovers' meeting-places included a coat closet in the executive offices of the White House. Historians generally agree she was indeed his lover.

In 1930, Gaston B. Means, who served briefly as an FBI agent during the Harding administration, published ''The Strange Death of President Harding, by Gaston B. Means as told to May Dixon Thacker'', in which he alleged that Mrs. Harding murdered her husband out of jealousy of Ms. Britton, and out of fear of the soon to be revealed Teapot Dome and Veteran’s Administration scandals. Means, who had a long criminal record, provided no evidence and historians dismiss his outlandish claims.

No evidence has ever been found to suggest that Harding had been poisoned by anyone, let alone his wife. The suggestion that she had a motivation to kill the president because of Florence Harding’s jealousy over an affair with Nan Britton makes little sense since she had long known her husband was a womanizer. The suggestion that she would murder the President to somehow deflect scandals that would be met by public apathy is similarly unlikely. Yet despite the source of these charges, their utter lack of factual support, and the unlikeliness of the alleged motives of the First Lady, Frederick Lewis Allen repeated these charges in his very successful book ''Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s'' in 1931. Coming as it did in the deepest part of the [[Great Depression]], Allen’s book, which depicted all of the Republican presidents of the 1920s as bumbling incompetents, was eagerly accepted by a public looking for someone to blame.

== Trivia ==
* Out of all of the Presidents of the U.S. he had the largest feet.
* He was the first president to visit Alaska.
* He was the first President to speak on the radio and the first to have a radio in the White House.
* Harding, [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Barack Obama]] are the only three sitting United States Senators elected to the Presidency.

==Bibliography==
* Anthony, Carl S. ''Florence Harding: The First Lady, the Jazz Age, and the Death of America's Most Scandalous President.'' (1998)
* Downes Randolph C. ''The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865-1920.'' (1970), standard biograpohy to 1920
* Fine, Gary Alan. "Reputational Entrepreneurs and the Memory of Incompetence: Melting Supporters, Partisan Warriors, and Images of President Harding." ''American Journal of Sociology'' 1996 101(5): 1159-1193. Issn: 0002-9602 Fulltext: in Jstor and Ebsco
* Grant, Philip A., Jr. "President Warren G. Harding and the British War Debt Question, 1921-1923." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1995 25(3): 479-487. Issn: 0360-4918
* Grieb, Kenneth J. ''The Latin American Policy of Warren G. Harding'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=2970223 1976 online]
* Irwin, Manley R. "Harding Policies Foster Future Naval Success." ''Naval History'' 2003 17(4): 28-31. Issn: 1042-1920 Fulltext: at Ebsco
* Malin, James C. ''The United States after the World War'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5260560 1930. online] detailed analysis of foreign and economic policies by a conservative historian
* Morello, John A. ''Selling the President, 1920: Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding.'' Praeger, 2001. [http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=201811039533562 online review]
* Murray, Robert K. ''The Harding Era 1921-1923: Warren G. Harding and his Administration.'' (1969), the standard academic study; by a conservative historian
* Payne, Phillip. "Instant History and the Legacy of Scandal: the Tangled Memory of Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon, and William Jefferson Clinton." ''Prospects'' 2003 28: 597-625. Issn: 0361-2333
* Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New York: Union Square Press, 2007.
* Rader, Benjamin G. "Federal Taxation in the 1920s: a Re-examination." ''Historian'' 1971 33(3): 415-435. Issn: 0018-2370
* Russell, Francis. ''The Shadow of Blooming Grove'' , 1968. biography
* Sinclair, Andrew. ''The Available Man: The Life behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding'' (1965) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=8550753 online full-scale biography]
* Winters, Donald L. "Ambiguity and Agricultural Policy: Henry Cantwell Wallace as Secretary of Agriculture." ''Agricultural History'' 1990 64(2): 191-198. Issn: 0002-1482
===Primary sources===
* Warren G. Harding, ''Our Common Country: Mutual Good Will in America.'' 2003; essays written in late 1920; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109794562 online edition]

==References==
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Warren G.}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Corruption]]

United States presidential election, 1920

2010-01-09T14:42:42Z

Reservoir: /* Notes and References */

In 1920 many people were unhappy with [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s policies and World War I. The Republicans nominated Ohio Senator, [[Warren G. Harding]]. Wilson was in no condition to run for a third term, and the Democrats instead nominated Ohio Governor, [[James M. Cox]], as their candidate <ref> Ironically, while Cox never won the presidency, both running mates would go on to win the Presidency. They were [[Calvin Coolidge]] and [[Franklin Roosevelt]]. </ref>. Cox supported many of Wilson's ideas and policies, while Harding called for a "return to normalacy." He eventually won in what remains the highest (percentage-wise) popular vote margin in history. <ref> [[Encyclopedia of Presidents, Warren G. Harding]], by Linda R. Wade, Children's Press, 1989. </ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! candidates
! popular vote
! electoral vote
|-
| Warren G. Harding
| 16, 143, 407
| 404
|-
| James M. Cox
| 9, 130, 328
| 127
|-
| [[Eugene V. Debs]]
| 919, 799
| 0
|-
| [[P.P. Christensen]]
| 265, 411
| 0
|-
| [[Aaron S. Watkins]]
| 189, 408
| 0
|-
| [[James E. Ferguson]]
| 48, 000
| 0
|-
| [[W.W. Cox]]
| 31, 715
| 0
|}
<ref> [[A Pictoral History of the U.S. Presidents]], by Clare Gibson, Gramercy Books, 2001. </ref>

==Bibliography==
Pietrusza, David ''1920: The Year of the Six Presidents'' New York: Union Square Press, 2007.

==Notes and References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:1920, United States presidential election,}}
[[Category:United States Presidential Elections]]