Question

How did postwar conditions explain Warren Harding’s landslide victory in the 1920 presidential election?

Answer 1

By the time of the 1920 presidential election, Americans were affected by the tension and fighting of WW I and all the damages it had caused: politicians argued whether to enter the League of Nations and adopt peace treaties, economic upheaval and high inflation rated due to the previous wartime production, there were riots, strikes, violent racial conflicts and labor clashes in the nation, people feared radicals and terrorists, and with the return of the American soldiers, a strain of influenza appeared that made over twenty million Americans fell ill from the flu.

Facing all these difficult and chaotic times, Americans did not want another Progressive President that get them involved in international treaties and organizations, Americans, instead wanted to focus on domestic issues and adopt an isolationist policy as soon as possible, and the Harding's campaign promised them just that: a return to "normalcy" with immigration restriction and noninterference in world affairs policies. Consequently, in the presidential election, Harding won with a landslide victory, with 404 votes to 127 in the Electoral College, and 60 percent of the popular vote.