POLITICAL SITUATION
Democratic President Woodrow Wilson, when elected for the second time in 1917, promised the Americans that the USA would remain neutral in the First World War. As we know, this was not the case, indeed the same year Wilson decided to go to war to help the allies: France and England. For this reason, in the 1921 elections, the people voted for Harding, a Republican president.
The USA, during the 1920s, was led by three Republican Presidents. They were:
- Warren Harding (1921-1923);
- Calvin Coolidge(1923-1929);
- Herbert Hoover (1929-1933).
All three Republican presidents had fairly similar economic policies, which aimed to help the country's economy.
To this end, a period of isolationism has begun, that is, of disinterest in events outside one's own country. Additionally, they lowered taxes, so companies had more money to invest and the public had more money to spend on consumer items.
Moreover, to implement protectionist policies, the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act 1922 imposed high tariffs on goods from other countries. This made foreign products more expensive than domestic ones, which encouraged Americans to buy only American goods.