Return to normalcy was the slogan that the president Warren G. Harding coined for the campaign to the presidency of the USA which he won with 60.3% of the popular vote. He wanted America to return to the way it was before the war. In practice his government had many scandals like he selected incompetent people for important positions, including secretary of interior Albert B. Fall and Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty. Congress discovered Fall had accepted bribes for granting oil leases near Teapot Dome, Wyoming. Daugherty also took bribes for agreeing not to prosecute certain criminal suspects. Harding died in 1923 when he was still the president. This time was tainted with corruption as you can see.
On the other hand, the laissez faire during the gilded age (1865 -1900) brought wealth to the hands to many Americans and many people solved their bare necessities and saved money too. This figure shows how good the gilded age was for people: In 1860 the nation's total wealth was 16 billion dollars. By 1900, it was 88 billion dollars which took the personal income from 500 dollars to 1100 dollars.
