American history

The Roaring Twenties

With the end of World War I, Republican Senator Warren G. Harding ran for President advocating "a Return to Normalcy", and won with over 60% of the vote.

Harding implemented laissez faire economic policies, and shifted responsibility for departmental spending plans to himself, enabling him to balance the budget (the federal debt was reduced by about a third from 1920 to 1930).

Harding fought for tariff reform and repeal of excess profits law and high income taxes. Upon Harding's death in 1923, these policies were continued by his successor, Calvin Coolidge. The nation saw good economic growth for the decade.

This period of prosperity, along with the culture of the time, was known as the Roaring Twenties. However, in 1929, the stock market crashed and banks began to fail. Some historians blame the crash on a lack of foresight in President Coolidge, pointing out that his Secretary of the Treasury was the third-richest man in the country and would not be the least bit impacted by any economic decline. Whatever the reason for the crash, federal mismanagement would turn the recession in to something far worse.