President Trump has just been inaugurated, and America and the world know that major political changes will occur. Some may be uniquely Trump-like, but others are reminiscent of past politics. The 1924 and 2024 presidential elections have much in common and are fine reminders of the adage Ƶhistory repeats itself.Ƶ
In the 1924 election, Republican President Calvin Coolidge (who ascended to the presidency in 1923 when President Warren G. Harding died in office) defeated the Democratic nominee, West Virginian John W. Davis, who had been the ambassador to Great Britain. It took 103 ballots for Davis to receive his partyƵs nomination. Both major parties were considered highly conservative, and the economy was great for the rich and even good for many in the middle class. Yet, Wisconsin Sen. Robert LaFollette thought both parties were too conservative and formed the Progressive Party, which won almost 17% of the vote. Coolidge won the Electoral College and the popular vote 15 million to 8 million for Davis.
The mid-1920s are generally viewed as an optimistic period in American history. The 1918-19 flu epidemic and World War I had ended. Employment opportunities were good, and investors loved the skyrocketing stock market with few governmental controls. Coolidge enacted three major tax cuts and kept tariffs high.
However, all was not well. Income inequality was strong. The top 1% of families received almost 25% of pretax income, while many earned wages that barely covered their basic needs. An anti-labor climate was strong. Prohibition was in effect, which meant that illegal liquor sales and organized crime thrived.
Americans were staunchly anti-immigrant. Sound familiar? This prompted the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924, which included the Ƶian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act, especially directed to restricting immigration from Eastern Europe.
The United States was internally focused. Coolidge kept the nation out of the League of Nations. The Ku Klux Klan had a resurgence.
The excitement of the ƵRoaring TwentiesƵ came to a screeching halt in October 1929 when the stock market crashed, which many believed was caused by unregulated investment policies.
The U.S. economy didnƵt completely recover until World War II; the stock market didnƵt regain its 1929 level until 1954.
Today, Americans have physically recovered from COVID-19, but the restrictions, deaths and economic losses have left many people angry and confused. While the unemployment rate is historically low, finances remain a problem for many, and anti-labor sentiments are strong. The Republican Party is extremely conservative, but the Democrats are becoming less liberal. Those with money to invest find the historically high stock market rewarding. Racial, religious and ethnic prejudices are high. Anti-immigration sentiments are fanned by the same attitudes that were present 100 years ago.
2025 politics are very similar to those of 1925. Conservatives are fully in charge, extreme anti-immigration attitudes are popular, stock market prices are at an all-time high, income inequality is extreme and negative racial, ethnic and religious sentiments are abundant. Republicans now want most restrictions off finance, technology and the environment.
ItƵs disquieting how much the values behind the 1924 and 2024 presidential elections have in common. They should hold a lesson for AmericaƵs future, especially as we head toward 2029.
Diane W. Mufson is a retired psychologist and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch Opinion page.
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