1920 : The Year of the Six Presidents

The presidential election of 1920 was among history’s most dramatic. Six once-and-future presidents-Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt-jockeyed for the White House. With voters choosing between Wilson’s League of Nations and Harding’s front-porch isolationism, the 1920 election shaped modern America. Women won the vote. Republicans outspent Democrats by 4 to 1, as voters witnessed the first extensive newsreel coverage, modern campaign advertising, and results broadcast on radio. America had become an urban nation: Automobiles, mass production, chain stores, and easy credit transformed the economy. __1920__ paints a vivid portrait of America, beset by the Red Scare, jailed dissidents, Prohibition, smoke-filled rooms, bomb-throwing terrorists, and the Klan, gingerly crossing modernity’s threshold.

the Presidential Election Of 1920 Was One Of The Most Dramatic Ever. For The Only Time In The Nation’s History, Six Once-and-future Presidents Hoped To End Up In The White House: Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, And Theodore Roosevelt. It Was An Election That Saw Unprecedented Levels Of Publicity — The Republicans Outspent The Democrats By 4 To 1 — And It Was The First To Garner Extensive Newspaper And Newsreel Coverage. It Was Also The First Election In Which Women Could Vote. Meanwhile, The 1920 Census Showed That America Had Become An Urban Nation — Automobiles, Mass Production, Chain Stores, And Easy Credit Were Transforming The Economy And America Was Limbering Up For The Most Spectacular Decade Of Its History, The Roaring ’20s. Award-winning Historian David Pietrusza’s Riveting New Work Presents A Dazzling Panorama Of Presidential Personalities, Ambitions, Plots, And Counterplots — A Picture Of Modern America At The Crossroads.

publishers Weekly

pietrusza's (rothstein) Chronicle Of The Presidential Election Of 1920 Is Absorbing, Despite The Subtitle's Rather Tangential Claim That The Election Involved Six Men Who Had Served Or Would Serve As President: Harding, Wilson, Coolidge, Hoover And Both Roosevelts (though Teddy Had Died In 1919). This Book Isn't Really About Them, Nor Is It Merely The Story Of One Electoral Race. Rather, Pietrusza Is Telling A Grander Tale, Of A Country Toppling Into Modernity, Or What Passed For It. In 1920, The Automobile Had Overtaken The Horse, Jazz And The Fox-trot Were Replacing The Camp Meeting As Popular Entertainment, People Were Learning To Buy On Installment, And More And More Of Those Fox-trotting Shoppers Lived In Cities. Presidential Candidates, For The First Time, Courted Women Voters. (democrat Cox Was Divorced, Which Was Expected To Play Badly With The Fairer Sex.) Both Parties Waffled On The So-called Race Question, Seeking Black Votes While Either Tacitly Or Explicitly Endorsing White Supremacy. Given Harding's Electoral Victory And Death During His Term, Pietrusza Could Have Devoted More Space To The Abiding Importance Of This Election. All In All, Pietrusza Has Produced A Broad, Satisfying Political And Social History, In The Style Of Doris Kearns Goodwin. 16 Pages Of B&w Illus. (feb. 7) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Annotation The presidential election of 1920 was among history's most dramatic. Six once-and-future presidents-Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt-jockeyed for the White House. With voters choosing between Wilson's League of Nations and Harding's front-porch isolationism, the 1920 election shaped modern America. Women won the vote. Republicans outspent Democrats by 4 to 1, as voters witnessed the first extensive newsreel coverage, modern campaign advertising, and results broadcast on radio. America had become an urban nation: Automobiles, mass production, chain stores, and easy credit transformed the economy. 1920 paints a vivid portrait of America, beset by the Red Scare, jailed dissidents, Prohibition, smoke-filled rooms, bomb-throwing terrorists, and the Klan, gingerly crossing modernity's threshold Presents a chronicle of the 1920 U.S. presidential election, during which Harding, Wilson, Coolidge, Hoover, and both Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for office and the country began to pass into modern times with the automobile, jazz, and the increase of women voters, campaign spending, radio-broadcast results, and more