Presidents

Question 1

Warren Harding (1921-23)

Answer 1

-promised a return to normalcy (returning life in the USA to pre-World War One)
-promoted isolationism (not getting involved in foreign affairs)
-allegations of ‘cronyism’ (hiring his friends over people who knew what they were doing)
-Involved in teapot dome scandal (Secretary Fall received bribes from oil companies)

Question 2

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1928)

Answer 2

-idea of minimal government
-believed prosperity could be achieved by allowing big businesses to do whatever they want
-nicknamed ‘Silent Cal’ due to his refusal to engage in small talk

Question 3

Herbert Hoover (1929-33)

Answer 3

-laissez-faire approach
-believed in ‘rugged individualism’ (a term used to describe the American view that people achieved success through their own hard work and effort)
-his laissez-faire approach hindered America during the Wall Street Crash of 1929

Question 4

Franklin D Roosevelt (1933-45)

Answer 4

-made the President the key figure in the US government
-New Deal (series of domestic programs enacted, helped control the banking sector, making banks unregulated, set up a relief administration to help reduce unemployment and created pensions for people)
-prioritised domestic policy over foreign policy
-first president to understand the power of the media
-Fireside chats (asking the nation to tell him their problems)
-appointed people fit for the roles in government, not his friends

Question 5

Harry Truman (1945-53)

Answer 5

-Truman doctrine (help countries threatened by communism, in the hope of containing it)
-got America involved in the Cold+Korea War
-had to deal with a post-war America which had become a global superpower