In our previous episode, we covered the unlikely rise of Warren G. Harding from Smalltown, Ohio,

to the presidency of the United States. As he took the oath of office in March of 1921, his administration

marked the end of the first progressive era in American history and the start of a new

conservative decade. How Harding led the nation during this time

of transition is the subject of this episode of this American president.

Music As we covered previously, back in 1912, then President William Howard Taft boosted Harding's career by asking him to give his nomination speech at the Republican Convention.

Now that Harding was president, he had a chance to return the favor.

When Chief Justice Edward

Douglas White died in May 1921, Harding used the opportunity to name Taft as White's replacement.

Taft was quickly confirmed by the Senate and sworn in. For much of his career, Taft had

aspired to becoming Chief Justice, and thanks to Harding, he had finally

attained the coveted seat. Taft, thus far, is the only American to serve as both

President of the United States and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. As I alluded to earlier,

the nation was an economic crisis. Despite decades of growth,

the transition to a peacetime economy had been anything but smooth. Unemployment had risen from

2.3% in 1919 to 11.9% in 1920. The nation was rocked by record levels of deflation. Industrial production had

plummeted by a third, while car production went down by 60 percent. Businesses across the

country were failing. For Harding, it was clear that his first priority was to find a way to deal with

the declining economy. Harding differed

with his progressive predecessors in terms of policy, but also in the way policy was implemented,

specifically in the role presidents had in fashioning policy. Theodore Roosevelt had no

problem advocating for new legislation or vigorously enforcing existing legislation, whether it was backing up the Sherman Antitrust Act or pushing for the passage of the Hepburn Act to regulate railroads.

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