1920: The Year of the Six Presidents

580 Pages·3.346 MB·English

by  David Pietrusza

Pietrusza-1920:Layout 1 1/30/08 4:05 PM Page 1
HISTORY
Selected as one of Kirkus’s Best Books of the Year
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1920 WAS AMONG THE MOST DRAMATIC EVER. PIETRUSZA
Six once-and-future presidents—Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Teddy and
Franklin Roosevelt—jockeyed for the White House. With voters ultimately choosing
between Wilson’s League of Nations and Harding’s front-porch isolationism, the 1920
electionshapedmodernAmerica.
Womenwonthevote.RepublicansoutspentDemocratsby4to1,asvoterswitnessedthe
firstextensivenewsreelcoverage,moderncampaignadvertising,andresultsbroadcaston
radio.Americahadbecomeanurbannation:automobiles,massproduction,chainstores,
and easy credit transformed the economy. 1920paints a vivid portrait of America, beset
by the Red Scare, jailed dissidents, Prohibition, smoke-filled rooms, bomb-throwing
terrorists,andtheKlan,gingerlycrossingmodernity’sthreshold.
“AhugelyfascinatingepisodeinAmericanhistory,toldwithinsightandgreathumor,
byanauthorincommandofhissubject.”—Kirkus Reviews (starredreview)
“Absorbing…abroad,satisfyingpoliticalandsocialhistory.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Aterrificandfunread.”
—Bloomberg Radio
6.125 x 9.25
“[A]campaignlikenootherbeforeorsince.DavidPietrusza…buildsthesuspenseof
B:1-1/8”
the1920campaignsoeffectivelythatthereadereasilysuspends,forthemoment,
BA
knowledgeoftheoutcome,asifitwerestillabouttohappen.”
PB
—The Weekly Standard
4/color process
TEMPLATE t/k
matte poly finish
DAVID PIETRUSZA
has written or edited more than
thirty books. His previous book, Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder ofthe Criminal Genius
WhoFixedthe1919WorldSeries, was nominated for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar
AwardintheBestFactCrimecategory.Anexpertonthe1920s,Pietruszahasservedon
the Board of Directors of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation. He lives
in upstateNewYork.
$18.95US/$20.50CAN
CoverdesignbyTomMcKeveny
ISBN978-0-7867-2102-3
Backgroundphotograph©Corbis 51895
PresidentialimagesfromTheLibraryofCongress
WITH A NEW EPILOGUE
AMemberofthePerseusBooksGroup
www.basicbooks.com
9 780786 721023
Praise for David Pietrusza’s 1920
“A colorful, nonacademic account ... Most of all, there are the characters.
Pietrusza draws them sharply: the imperious Wilson, the obliging Harding,
the dour and honest Coolidge and the ambitious and dissembling Franklin
Roosevelt. Fans of political history will enjoy this book.”
—Seattle Times
“Fascinating and compelling ... Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal
“An ably popular treatment that fans of campaign histories will enjoy.”
—Booklist
“More than just a story of six men who either already had been president
or would be, this is the story of America as it moved into the modern age.”
—Denver Post
“A very vivid portrait of each of these presidents.”
—Ann Compton, ABC News
“Through a lens trained on a long-ago election, David Pietrusza’s 1920:
The Year of Six Presidents, delivers a rich and compelling narrative of Amer-
ican politics. Exploring a year when giant figures of American history
were waxing and waning, he deftly explains how we ended up with a
presidential showdown between two largely unknown—yet surprisingly
randy—editors of small-town Ohio newspapers, which Warren Harding
won principally by being ‘nice.’”
—David O. Stewart, author of The Summer of 1787:
The Men Who Invented the Constitution
“Sweeping and original.” —The History Book Club
“In 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents, writer David Pietrusza shows the
right way to pull together disparate characters into a coherent narra-
tive ... this book portrays an America that has stopped looking backward
and has begun to craft a new country and a new world role.”
—The Washington Times
“An absolutely wonderful book ... I loved [it], absolutely marvelous,
absolutely wonderful research ... just a great read, marvelously done,
brilliantly constructed and really integrates the entire story of one year—
1920 ... if I were teaching a history class of early twentieth century
America this is the book I would use . . . It reads like a novel but it’s
fact ... a great book.” —John Rothman, KGO (San Francisco)
“I just love 1920: The Year of Six Presidents by David Pietrusza. It’s not
historical fiction, but plain old history that zips along like good fiction.
I just wish I’d read it before I wrote my book.”
—Jonah Goldberg, National Review Online
“With a storyteller’s eye for characters and drama, Pietrusza re-creates
America at a post-World War I turning point, when the country wanted
steady leadership but got scandal instead.”
—Washington CEO Magazine
“A fine and lively recommendation both for high school and college
collections strong in American history and politics in particular, or even
public lending libraries.” —California Bookwatch
“Pietrusza’s volume brings the vivid history of the 1920 election to life.
Both entertaining and insightful, it provides exceptionally well crafted
“mini” biographies of the Six Presidents and how their careers inter-
sected that year. The narrative is rich and compelling as it peeks into
the backrooms and describes the national mood. Pietrusza’s handling
of the personalities, issues, trends and techniques that went on to
define American politics in the first half of the 20th century is to be
recommended to anyone with an interest in presidential biography or
U.S. political history.”
—Dr. Ron Faucheux, former Editor-in-Chief,
Campaigns and Elections magazine and
Campaign Insider newsletter; Former Louisiana
legislator and Secretary of Commerce
1920
The Year of the
Six Presidents

1920
The Year of the
Six Presidents
DAVID PIETRUSZA
A MEMBEROFTHEPERSEUSBOOKSGROUP
NEWYORK
Copyright © 2007 by David Pietrusza
Hardcover edition first published in 2007 by Carroll & Graf Publishers
Paperback edition first published in 2008 by Basic Books,
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part
of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
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Designed by Bettina Wilhelm
A CIP catalog record for the hardcover is available from
the Library of Congress.
HC ISBN: 978-0-78671-622-7
PB ISBN: 978-0-78672-102-3
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To
the folly of Man
and
the mercy of God
(cid:2)

Contents
(cid:2)
The Players in Our Drama 1
Chapter 1 “DISCOVER A COMMON HATE” 9
Chapter 2 “SOMETHING QUEER WAS HAPPENING” 26
Chapter 3 “I SEEM TO HAVE GONE TO PIECES” 36
Chapter 4 “HE IS THE ONLY CANDIDATE” 55
Chapter 5 “A TURTLE ON A LOG” 72
Chapter 6 “I AM GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS” 90
Chapter 7 “HE IS CERTAINLY A WONDER” 105
Chapter 8 “A TWENTIETH-CENTURY APOLLO” 122
Chapter 9 “CRIMINAL INTRIGUES EVERYWHERE” 140
Chapter 10 “SUPERIOR BIOLOGIC VALUES” 155
Chapter 11 “THE FUNERAL BAKE MEATS” 167
Chapter 12 “A ‘SAFE’ KIND OF LIBERAL” 187
Chapter 13 “RED FEATHERS, TIN BEARS, AND
CARDBOARD ORANGES” 201
Chapter 14 “WARREN HARDING IS THE BEST OF
THE SECOND-RATERS” 224