English 中文網 漫畫網 愛新聞iNews 翻譯論壇
    中國網站品牌欄目(頻道)
    當前位置: Language Tips> Audio & Video> 新聞播報> Special Speed News VOA慢速

    American history: Warren Harding wins election of 1920

    [ 2010-12-16 13:21]     字號 [] [] []  
    免費訂閱30天China Daily雙語新聞手機報:移動用戶編輯短信CD至106580009009

    STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.

    American history: Warren Harding wins election of 1920

    This week in our series, Doug Johnson and Shirley Griffith discuss the presidential election of 1920 and the man who won, Warren Harding.

    DOUG JOHNSON: The presidential election of 1920 was a turning point in American politics. It ended a period of social reforms at home and an active foreign policy. It began a period of conservative thinking in both the political and social life of the nation.

    American reporter H. L. Mencken described the national feeling this way: "The majority of Americans are tired of idealism. They want capitalism -- openly and without apology."

    SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: President Woodrow Wilson had suffered a stroke during his second term. He was very sick. No one expected him to be a candidate again. Yet he refused to announce that he would not run for a third term.

    Woodrow Wilson had done much during his administration. He helped pass important laws dealing with trade, banking, and the rights of workers. He led the nation through the bloody world war in Europe. He tried, but failed, to have the United States join the new international organization -- the League of Nations.

    The American people honored Wilson for his intelligence and ideas. But they were tired of his policies of social change. And they did not want to be involved in international problems anymore.

    DOUG JOHNSON: The leaders of President Wilson's Democratic Party understood the feelings of the people. They knew they had little chance of winning the presidential election if they nominated a candidate of change.

    Delegates to the democratic nominating convention voted 44 times before agreeing on a candidate. They chose the governor of the state of Ohio, James Cox.

    The Republican Party also had a difficult time at its nominating convention. Four men wanted to be president. The delegates voted six times. None of the men gained enough support. So, several party leaders met in private. They agreed that only one man -- a compromise candidate -- could win the support of the convention. He was a senator from the state of Ohio, Warren Harding.

    The delegates voted ten more times before choosing Harding as their candidate for president. For vice president, they chose Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts.

    Warren Harding had owned a newspaper in Ohio. People advised him to enter politics, because he was such a good public speaker.

    American history: Warren Harding wins election of 1920

    During the campaign, he promised lower taxes, less immigration, and more aid to farmers. He called for "normalcy" -- a new period of peace and quiet, with few changes. That is what the voters wanted to hear in 1920. Warren Harding won the election with 68 percent of the popular vote.

    In his first act as president, he invited people to visit the White House. He permitted them to walk in the garden. The act was a sign. The government seemed to be returning to the people.

    DOUG JOHNSON: Warren Harding is remembered mostly for two events. One was a successful international conference. The other was a shameful national incident.

    After World War One, Britain, Japan, and the United States expanded their navies. They built bigger and better ships. Many members of the United States Congress worried about the cost. They also worried about increased political tension in Asia. They asked President Harding to organize a conference to discuss these issues.

    SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The conference was held in Washington in November, 1921. President Harding invited representatives from the major naval powers of the time: Britain, Japan, France, and Italy. He also invited representatives from countries with interests in Asia: China, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands. He did not invite the new Soviet leaders in Russia.

    Mr. Harding's Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, spoke. He offered the conference a detailed plan to reduce the size of the world's major navies.

    He proposed that the world's strongest nations should stop building warships for ten years. He also proposed that Britain, Japan, and the United States should destroy some ships to make their navies smaller immediately.

    DOUG JOHNSON: Delegates to the conference debated the plan for three months. Japan demanded, and won, the right to have more ships. But the final agreement was very close to the one proposed by Secretary Hughes.

    The conference was not a complete success.

    For example, it did not prevent countries from building some kinds of ships. These ships would prove important in the second world war. Also, it did not create ways to protect China and the islands in the South Pacific Ocean from Japanese expansion. Yet the naval treaty of 1921 was the first in which the world's strongest countries agreed to reduce the size of their armed forces. Most people thought it was a good treaty.

    SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The second thing for which President Harding is remembered is the Teapot Dome scandal. It involved the misuse of underground oil owned by the federal government.

    Warren Harding was an honest man. But he did not have a strong mind of his own. He was easily influenced. And he often accepted bad advice. He explained the problem with these words:

    "I listen to one side, and they seem right. Then I listen to the other side, and they seem just as right. I know that somewhere there is a man who knows the truth. But I do not know where to find him."

    DOUG JOHNSON: President Harding appointed several men of great ability to his cabinet. They included Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, and Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover. However, some of his appointments were dishonest men. One was Interior Secretary Albert Fall. He was responsible for the Teapot Dome scandal.

    Secretary Fall gave a private company the right to take oil from land owned by the federal government. In return, the company gave him money and cattle.

    The oil was not supposed to be taken from the ground. It was supposed to be saved for the United States navy to use in an emergency. Private oil companies and many politicians opposed this policy. They said saving the oil was unnecessary.

    SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Albert Fall opposed the policy when he was a member of the Senate. When he became Interior Secretary, his department took control of the lands containing the underground oil. Then he permitted private companies to use the land for a period of time. During that time, the companies could take out the oil.

    Some of the oil was in the western state of Wyoming. The rock mass on the surface looked like a container for making tea. So, the area was called Teapot Dome. When the Senate uncovered Secretary Fall's wrong-doing, the press quickly called the incident the Teapot Dome scandal.

    The Senate investigation led to several court cases which lasted throughout the 1920s. Secretary Fall was found guilty of misusing his government position. He was sentenced to prison for one year.

    DOUG JOHNSON: President Harding did not live to see the end of the Teapot Dome incident. In the summer of 1923, he made a political trip to Alaska and western states. On the way home, he became sick while in San Francisco. He died of a heart attack.

    Vice President Calvin Coolidge was in the northeastern state of Vermont when he heard that President Harding had died. Coolidge's father was a local court official there. He gave the oath of office to his son. That is how Calvin Coolidge became the 30th president of the United States.

    The story of his administration will be the subject of our program next week.

    (MUSIC)

    STEVE EMBER: Our program was written by David Jarmul. The narrators were Doug Johnson and Shirley Griffith. You can find our series online with transcripts, MP3s, podcasts and historical images at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.

    Related stories:

    American history series: the United States turns inward after World War One

    American history: Wilson urges support for idea of League of Nations

    "Roaring 20s" in America

    There weren't always crowds going wild at presidential inaugurals

    (來源:VOA 編輯:崔旭燕)

     
    中國日報網英語點津版權說明:凡注明來源為“中國日報網英語點津:XXX(署名)”的原創作品,除與中國日報網簽署英語點津內容授權協議的網站外,其他任何網站或單位未經允許不得非法盜鏈、轉載和使用,違者必究。如需使用,請與010-84883631聯系;凡本網注明“來源:XXX(非英語點津)”的作品,均轉載自其它媒體,目的在于傳播更多信息,其他媒體如需轉載,請與稿件來源方聯系,如產生任何問題與本網無關;本網所發布的歌曲、電影片段,版權歸原作者所有,僅供學習與研究,如果侵權,請提供版權證明,以便盡快刪除。
     

    關注和訂閱

    人氣排行

    翻譯服務

    中國日報網翻譯工作室

    我們提供:媒體、文化、財經法律等專業領域的中英互譯服務
    電話:010-84883468
    郵件:translate@chinadaily.com.cn
     
     
    亚洲中文字幕日产乱码高清app| 亚洲va中文字幕无码久久| 久久亚洲AV无码精品色午夜| 无码免费又爽又高潮喷水的视频| 精品欧洲av无码一区二区14 | 日韩精品无码久久久久久| 国内精品久久久久久中文字幕| 国产成人无码精品久久久久免费| 人妻系列AV无码专区| 中文字幕日韩在线| 久久精品中文字幕大胸| 久久久久无码中| 国产精品免费无遮挡无码永久视频| 中文字幕有码无码AV| 人妻精品久久久久中文字幕 | 日本aⅴ精品中文字幕| 亚洲av无码专区在线观看素人| 久久精品无码专区免费青青| 亚洲av无码片在线播放| 国产色综合久久无码有码| 亚洲国产中文字幕在线观看 | 亚洲日韩AV一区二区三区中文| 亚洲一级特黄无码片| 蜜桃视频无码区在线观看| 国产乱人无码伦av在线a| 久久AV高清无码| 国产精品无码无卡在线播放| 国产午夜鲁丝无码拍拍| 无码国产精品一区二区免费16| 亚洲国产精品无码成人片久久| 久久久久亚洲AV无码专区首JN| 中文字幕无码成人免费视频| 中文字幕无码高清晰 | 中文字幕人妻无码一区二区三区| 四虎成人精品国产永久免费无码 | 欧美 亚洲 有码中文字幕| 国产精品 中文字幕 亚洲 欧美| 中文无码vs无码人妻 | 色综合中文字幕| 日韩三级中文字幕| 精品久久久无码21p发布|