Another Return to Normalcy
Reflections from a distant mirror
In the election of 1920, Warren G. Harding called for “A Return to normalcy,” which became his campaign slogan. The people of the United States were weary of “the war to end all wars,” WWI. Many felt Woodrow Wilson had broken his promise to keep the U.S. out of what many felt was a European war. American soldiers were being killed, with many more returning to the U.S. wounded and broken.
The Spanish Flu took the lives of 50 million people, with over 500 million having been infected between the years 1918 and 1920. The impact of this pandemic was staggering across the globe, and without any kind of vaccine to prevent the spread or ease the suffering, it spread through the population unabated.
In 1918, the Bolsheviks overthrew Czar Nicholas in Russia, which sent shockwaves throughout Europe and the United States. The creation of the first communist state resulted in what later was called “the red scare” in the United States. Difficult economic times, labor unrest, and an influx of immigrants caused many in the U.S. to fear a similar event could happen here.
Against this backdrop, an older and visibly frail President Woodrow Wilson did little to inspire the population that things would get better. Wilson’s health was failing fast. In 1919 Wilson suffered a severe stroke…
