ELECTION #34, 1920. The NASTY-METER goes to 9.

QUOTE from New York Times in 1920: "Harding is a very respectable Ohio politician of the second class."

Wilson had to break his promise to keep the U.S. out of the war in Europe when Germany opened up unrestricted submarine warfare against merchant shipping, and several American vessels were sunk by U-boats. Wilson and Congress declared war on Germany in April, 1917. When the war ended in November, 1918, Wilson wanted to join the new League of Nations that he had proposed in his famous Fourteen Points to secure a lasting peace. But the Republicans in Congress thwarted him on every issue and we did not join. Worn out, Wilson suffered a stroke which left him partially disabled for the remember of his term. The end of the war brought higher costs for goods and widespread unemployment. This was just the opportunity the Republicans hungered for - a chance to reposition themselves as the party of the full dinner pail and the good old uncomplicated prewar days.

The CANDIDATES in 1920.

REPUBLICAN: WARREN G. HARDING

Warren G. Harding was the horniest candidate in the history of the U.S. Republican Party bosses asked Harding if he had anything hidden in his closet that would "disqualify" him from winning the presidency. He could have pondered that he chewed tobacco, played poker, loved to drink, and was having affairs with not only the wife of a friend but also a young woman thirty years his junior, with whom he had an illegitimate daughter. Then he said, "nope, nothing to hide, guys - it's all good." He chose Calvin Coolidge, governor of Massachusetts as he VP.

DEMOCRAT: JAMES M. COX.

Their nominee was James Cox, the liberal governor of Ohio, who promised to campaign for the Wilson's Leauge of Nations. His VP running mate was the young and charismatic assistant secretary of the navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, distant cousin and nephew-in-law of Teddy Roosevelt.

The CAMPAIGN in 1920.

The Republicans knew they had to get rid of the evidence regarding Harding's sex partners so they sent his married lover on an extended, all-expenses-paid tour of Asia, along with her entire family. (I wonder who paid for that trip? Could it have been some Wall Street bankers?) And just to be completely safe, Republicans also sent Harding's brother-in-law to Europe because he had married a Catholic (and Catholics were not popular in the Midwest.)

Then Harding went on the campaign trail professing about bringing "normalcy" back to America. Normalcy apparently meant small-town, turn-of-the-century American values. Harding was never too clear about what these values were but it played well with the American people who were becoming more and more conservative.

Cox and the Democrats attacked and called Harding "weak, colorless, and mediocre." and "a dummy, an animated automaton, a marionette." But nothing stuck.

A biographer of Harding said "he was a brilliant politician, shrewd when it came to giving people satisfying emptiness." And Harding's campaign consultant, a Chicago ad and PR guy, saw to it that Harding was photographed with the Hollywood stars of the day which included Al Jolson, Lillian Russell, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford. The American people had no trouble deciding which candidate was more fun. (It definitely was not Cox.)

The WINNER was WARREN G. HARDING and he became the 29th president of the U.S.

Harding got 16,153,115 popular and 404 electoral.

Cox got 9,133,092 popular and 127 electoral.

It was a huge landslide for Harding, especially among women. (Women were voting for the first time - for some reason they liked this horny guy.)