Synopses & Reviews
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. As people chose between the Wilsonian legacy of the League of Nations and Harding's more isolationist stand, this election would shape America's course in the twentieth century like no other. 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 American was limbering up for the roaring '20s, one of the most spectacular decades of its history. Pietrusza's riveting new work presents a dazzling panorama of presidential personalities, ambitions, plots, and counterplots--a picture of modern America at the crossroads.
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
The presidential election of 1920 was among historys 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 Wilsons League of Nations and Hardings 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 modernitys threshold.
Synopsis
A vivid portrait of the election that shaped modern America
About the Author
David Pietrusza, CASEY Award winner, has authored or edited over thirty books. His Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius who Fixed the 1919 World Series was nominated for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award in the Best Fact Crime category. He lives in upstate New York.