What is the 'return to normal' that the President of the United States addressed during a Spanish cold pandemic 100 years ago?
The global epidemic has changed due to the epidemic of new coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19), and the way of our society has changed greatly. William De Berel, a historian at the University of Southern California, describes the president who advocated 100 years ago during the Spanish cold epidemic, saying, 'Return as usual from major social changes.'
Warren Harding Tried to Return America to'Normalcy 'After WWI and the 1918 Pandemic. It Failed. | History | Smithsonian Magazine
The 28th President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, advocated ' idealism ' to build peace through international cooperation. In World War I, which lasted from 1918 to 1919, the United States initially showed a neutral attitude, but Wilson abandoned the neutral attitude, saying that it was 'a war to end the war .' The United States took part in the Allied side during World War I and became a victorious country.
However, immediately after the end of World War I, the country's economy deteriorated. Furthermore, the pandemic of the flu called ' Spanish cold ' has killed more than 500,000 people in the United States, and American society has been completely exhausted.
Meanwhile, Warren Harding, a Senator from the Ohio state, ran for a Republican candidate in the 1920 presidential election and gave a speech calling for ' return to normal .'
“There is nothing wrong with world civilization, but humanity only sees it through the filter of the turbulent war, and the Spanish cold epidemic has left us restless, nervous, and inhuman. It has become rational, 'he said,' what America needs now is not a heroic act, but a healing. It should return to normal. It is not a revolution, but a revival. ' What Harding aimed for was not the idealism advocated by Wilson, but the
Harding's appeal to the US society, which continued to sue for world peace and hope, to remember the prewar situation by holding the United States first, seemed to be effective, and in the presidential election, Harding was a Democratic candidate with a general vote With a huge difference of 26.2 points, he won and became the 29th President of the United States. Harding then refused to join the League of Nations, which was formed by former President Wilson's efforts, and aimed to maintain 'a strong United States as a major power in Europe.'
Harding tried to tackle post-war economic problems by raising tariffs and reducing taxes. However, it was not possible to do so without getting the understanding of the US Congress. In addition, the scandal and the corruption case of the person concerned were reported, and the popularity fell. He died of illness in 1923 during his tenure. Regarding Harding, there have been moves to be re-evaluated in recent years, but basically there is no remarkable achievement other than the Washington Navy Disarmament Treaty , and it has received a low reputation until today.
'We want to go back to our normal lives,' said Deverell, who said that we had a pandemic and changed our lifestyles in common with Harding's 'return to normal' 100 years ago. Insists.
“We look back on past technological changes and want bigger and faster innovation, but the impact of advanced communications technology has been huge and has allowed the hoax to spread as a result. If we are unsuspecting, where does the technology that builds our modern community guide us? '
'The lesson from Harding is that' returning to normal 'is never safe. In fact, it's dangerous to get back to normal,' he said. We're thinking about the future and we can do better. If you're trying to find a way out of the status quo, at least put 'as usual' aside, 'Deberell said.
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