1924: The Fascinating Forgotten Election

100 years ago, Republican Calvin Coolidge, who had only been on the job 15 months, sought election in his own right as President of the United States. He succeeded, but the story of the election, not often told in any detail in history books, is a fascinating and illuminating look at the tumultuous politics of America in the mid-1920s. Prohibition, racial discrimination, religion, farming, the power of corporations and the role of women in political life were all issues in the highly explosive mix. This video is a deep dive into the story of the 1924 election, what it means, and why it’s perhaps more important than you might think by the way it casually glides by when the history of the 1920s is told.

Chapters:
00:00-17:07: The Death of Harding
17:07-36:42: Progressivism & Normalcy’
36:42-47:11: Calvin Coolidge
47:11-1:03:09: The Democrats
1:03:09-1:17:17: The Others
1:17:17-1:28:56: The Doomed Convention (Part I)
1:28:56-1:44:34: The Doomed Convention (Part II)
1:44:34-1:54:11: The Power and the Glory
1:54:11-2:05:47: The Campaign?
2:05:47-2:15:33: The Results
2:15:33-2:33:30: The Aftermath & Conclusion

[iammrbeat]

Coolidge is one of my favorite presidents mostly because he didn't want the job and never made the job about him. He may have had outdated opinions by today's standards, but he had integrity and always seemed to try to put the country first. A big influence on my opinion of Coolidge, as it turns out, was the Amity Shlaes book you listed as a source. Great video!

P.S.- Thanks for letting me fulfill my dream of playing Calvin Coolidge in a major motion picture

[Nelsonhojax]

Bob La Follette's quote about how scary the thought of losing your job can be hit me like a ton of bricks. Lost his election, but had enough humilty to know his own privilege, and enough human feeling to empathize for the voters who didn't turn out for him. What a guy.

[hornet]

I’m a current high school student. You and my history teachers are the kind of teachers that make me want to become a teacher after college.

[chaeburger]

Another relic of Prohibition, the absolutely earth-shattering complexity that is liquor laws in the state of Tennessee. For example, the county (Moore) in which Jack Daniels is produced, is completely dry. You cannot buy Jack Daniels at the Jack Daniels distillery outside of a special commemorative bottle and you cannot buy any alcoholic drinks. Tennessee has a variety of whiskey named after it and you can't buy or sell it in a lot of places in the state.

The subject of Tennessee's liquor laws is so famously complicated that it has its own detailed Wikipedia page. There, you find out that within Tennessee's 95 tiny counties, there are not only Wet and Dry counties, but also Moist counties.

[OccasionalNASCARRaces]

Sean, your videos are chicken soup for the historian's soul! As a teacher, I always put your videos on as I grade. Huge Bob LaFollette fan, so when you previewed this video I was quite excited!

[maddenb]

You’ve quickly become my new favorite channel. It’s become a little joke to me how every time you recommend to watch your videos by coming back and using the chapter feature, and while I appreciate your excellent and practical partitioning, I always end up watching the videos all the way through

[topperbishop]

Sean you did a great job on this one. Really enjoy your presentation. As far as the Klan during prohibition, my family is from the rural South and my grandparents (who were wets) pointed out to me that many of the Klansmen of that period were actually bootleggers who depended on Prohibition at either the national or local level for their livelihoods. They also told me about some very prominent citizens in our community from their generation who were in the Klan because they were Christian Nationalists rather than bootleggers. Your experience at the concert in Dallas made me smile. I suppose you were at the old Texas Stadium in Irving? Today's liquor laws in Texas are a hodgepodge of intricacies that almost no one completely understands.

[BuddyNovinski]

Robert K Murray was my advisor at Penn State when i was a graduate teaching assistant in the History Department in 1980-2. He did show us "The 103rd Ballot" and the political cartoon about it in the book.

[HistoryWithCoachT]

As a High School History teacher who grew up on Korn.... That Jonathan Davis joke is gold!

[SlowMoebius]

I may just be an unemployed loser, but these videos really do such a great job explaining the circumstances of the time. Thank you for all the hard work!

[Fillardmillmore]

I think Coolidges inauguration so interesting. Partially because I traveled up to Vermont this August to see the centennial reenactment, starring Coolidges real great grandson, on the real site/homestead. Since the inauguration happened past 2 am, I, among a team of student debaters that had had a banquet there the prior day and other, typically older, people interested in the 100th anniversary, gathered around the house as they reenacted it at the exact time, once inside and once outside, so we could hear. It was a very cool experience. Within the next few days, I also attended a semi-reenactment of the church on the Coolidge property's eulogy for the dead president Harding. It was a bit morbidly humorous hearing that at the time there was the sentiment that he'd be as fondly remembered as the greats. In my opinion, Harding was our worst president. Not to say I don't like him, however. I tend to like the bad ones.

[gakster]

"Sorry, babe. Sean Munger dropped a deep dive tonight."

[ILikePi]

That quote at 2:13:30 from La Follette really make me appreciate the guy
He was aware of the struggle of the regular folks and didn't blame them
It's a really cutting comment considering the Great Depression is just around the corner and a lot of those workers fears would come true

[gregcampwriter]

My high school history teacher was a relative of Calvin Coolidge.

Captain Coolidge was a liberal Democrat, but he maintained a laissez-faire attitude about classes, allowing me to divert the lesson onto a variety of interesting topics of discussion with him.

[Turnidenwa]

I'm so glad you covered this! The 1920s in the USA is one of my favorite historical periods, all the changes, technological and social, it was a crazy time. But it feels like it isn't covered nearly as much as it should be. Thank you!

[superbodypop]

Your Franklin Pierce and Election of 1872 videos are some of the best pieces of media i’ve ever found on American history. I have so much enjoyed keeping up with you since and am so glad you are continuing with “obscure deep dives” but will support you and your presentation style and wit with whatever content you create. I am in school for history with teaching certification degree and have found so much inspiration from you. Thank you Sean!!

[PutDownTheBunny]

29:22 The Prohibition Act did not criminalize the consumption of alcohol, only the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcohol. Great video

[ethanseidl]

Your uploads make me more excited than any other creator right now, thank you Mr. Munger!

[erinthesystem]

About the painting "American Gothic": It's not a married couple that's depicted, but a man guarding his daughter's virtue.
(I just felt like mentioning this because art history is fascinating.)

[douglasfur]

Well you've done it again producing a fascinating documentary. You even got me feeling sympathy towards Coolidge, who in my education was the guy who didn't stop the depression.
He had the symptoms of a major depressive episode and suffered from both penicillin and Prozac not being available.
There are also many topics in the penumbra of this program. I heard whispers of: socialism in America and the red scare; progressivism, Bryant, LaFollette, Humphrey, McGovern; the bonus march (featuring MacArthur and Eisenhower) and the coup Smedly Butler turned down.