Book Reviews and Notices : This Was Normalcy: An Account of Party Politics During Twelve Republican Years: 1920-1932. BY KARL SCHRIFTGIESSER. (Boston: Atlantic-Little, Brown and Company. 1948. Pp. x, 325. $3.00. )
| Author | Bernard L. Kronick |
| Published date | 01 September 1948 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591294800100328 |
| Date | 01 September 1948 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
333
This
Was
Normalcy:
An
Account
of
Party
Politics
During
Twelve
Repub-
lican
Years:
1920-1932.
BY
KARL
SCHRIFTGIESSER.
(Boston:
Atlantic-
Little,
Brown
and
Company.
1948.
Pp.
x,
325.
$3.00. )
The
subject
of
this
brief
and
popular
history
is
exactly
indicated
in
the
sub-title.
It
is
not
a
history
of
life
and
literature
nor
of
men
and
manners
after
the
fashion
of
Frederick
Lewis
Allen’s
Only
Yesterday.
It
treats
of
the
more
limited
topic
of
the
political
events
of
the
age
of
normalcy.
It
is
limited
in
its
scope,
but
it is
not
narrowly
conceived,
for
the
author
is
ever-
mindful
of
the
profound
social
and
human
implications
of
his
materials.
Stress
is
laid
on
the
mistakes
of
the
age,
for
they
were
characteristic,
and
blame
is
measured
out
for
the
disastrous
results
of
the
shameful
politics
and
sorry
leadership
of
this
unhappy
time.
Here
is
the
woeful
tale
of
a
period
in
which
the
American
people
by
losing
control
of
their
leaders
lost
their
grip
on
destiny.
Greed
became
the
principal
source
of
political
behavior,
personal
inadequacy,
the
primary
condition
of
admission
to
high
office,
materialism
the
badge
of
the
middle
classes,
complacency
the
habit
of
the
masses;
history
was
forgotten
and
men
were
condemned
to
repeat
their
errors.
At
first
glance
the
book
may
appear
to
be
a
mere
partisan
political
tract,
for
it
has
no
good
words
for
the
Republican
Old
Guard.
Not
a
shred
of
extenuation
is
rescued
from
these
tattered
years.
A
careful
reading,
how-
ever,
will
dispell
the
unfavorable
first
impression
of
undue
bias;
and
one
will
not
have
to
be
a
Democrat
or
Progressive
to
be
convinced
that
the
poli-
tical
leadership
of
the
period
was
thoroughly
deplorable.
A
collapse
of
pub-
lic
morality
gave
birth
to
a
generation
of
cynicism.
Isolationism
removed
our
weight
from
the
council
of
nations
and
unbalanced
the
scales
of
peace.
High
tariff
policies
accentuated
the
forces
of
economic
disturbance
and
in-
sured
consequent
political
disaster
for
the
nations
of
the
old
world.
The
chain
of
evils
is still
lengthening
and
the
catalogue
of
blunders
is
still
the
guide
to
action
of
many
who
make
policy
and
opinion.
A
higher
type
of
leadership
was
available
in
that
period.
It
could
not
make
its
voice
heard
over
the
clamor
of
interested
stupidity.
Schriftgiesser
is
careful
to
avoid
the
widespread
error
that
politicians
of
courage
and
intelligence
could
not
be
found
in
those
years.
It
is
simply
not
true
to
say
that
the
American
people
had
no
choice.
In
1920
the
electorate
could
have
chosen
Cox
who
was
an
enlightened
and
relatively
progressive
man
instead
of
the
criminally
irresponsible
and
tragically
incompetent
Harding.
In
1924
the
electorate
could
have
chosen
John
W.
Davis
whose
great
intelligence
and
high
political
principles
would
in
all
likelihood
have
enabled
him
to
distinguish
between
the
interests
of
his
Wall
Street
clients
and
the
legis-
lative
needs
of
the
American
people.
Above
all,
the
author
reminds
us
of
the
debt
we
owe
to
those
insurgent
Republicans
and
progressive
Democrats
who
fought
the
tendencies
of
a
corrupt
age.
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