The Presidential election of 1920 involved in one way or another six former, current, and future Presidents:
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Woodrow Wilson
- Warren Harding
- Calvin Coolidge
- Herbert Hoover
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
The election ultimately pitted the Republican ticket of Harding and Coolidge against Democrats James M. Cox and FDR. By including six Presidents, Pietrusza presents a fuller picture of the election.
The Campaign and Sex Scandals
Pietrusza does an excellent job of painting colorful and surprising portraits of these six men. He describes Harding's extramarital relationships with two women. Carrie Phillips, a close friend of Mr. and Mrs. Harding, was so upset with Harding's treatment of her that she threatened to reveal their affair to the press unless she was paid. Another affair was with eighteen year old Nan Britton, who had a child with Harding.
FDR also faced a scandalous threat during the campaign. In 1919 as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, FDR organized an investigation of homosexual activitity at the Naval base in Newport, RI. Forty-one sailors were recruited to entrap homosexuals. Outraged by these tactics, newspaper publisher John Rathom instigated a Senate investigation in which FDR ducked responsibility.
No less surprising were two waning Presidents. At the end of 1918, Theodore Roosevelt was presumed the Republican frontrunner. He was on good terms with the conservative wing of the party despite his progressive credentials. However, TR died in January of 1919, throwing the nomination wide open. On the Democratic side, Wilson, despite the two term tradition and a debilitating stroke, entertained a third term. He derailed the candidacy of frontrunner William McAdoo, his son-in-law, in the process.
Racism, Women's Suffrage, and Normalcy
Pietrusza wisely addresses the social issues and events of the campaign. Race played a curious role that year. Professor William Chancellor, who disliked Harding and blacks, researched Harding's geneology and claimed Harding was one-eighth black. Ohio Democrats hoped to ignited a firestorm with this, forcing Harding on a brief whistle-stop tour of Ohio denying he was black to white voters.
The 1920 Presidential election was the first in which women could vote. Pietrusza devotes a chapter to the efforts of Alice Stokes Paul and the women's suffrage movement, highlighting the abuse they suffered while picketing the White House. He also tells the story of Tennessee Representative Harry Burn, who cast the deciding vote for passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, following the advice of his mother.
Pietrusza accurately depicts 1920 American society shuddering in fear of foreigners and Communists. With bombings, including the one on Wall Street in September 1920, and Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer's raids to round up and deport foreigners, we have a good feel for the times in which Americans yearned for what Harding termed as "normalcy."
Overall, this book provides a clear snapshot of 1920 and the Presidential election that is accessible to the general reader. Even though there is not much long term analysis of the effects of the election on the rest of the century and the world, it provides facts and anecdotes that many people don't know about.
Published by Carroll & Graf, 2007, ISBN-13: 978-0-78671-622-7, ISBN-10: 0-7867-1622-3
William L. Wunder - BA in History, University of Iowa, 1994, with Dean's List honors. History Buff- constant reader of books in American ...
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