President Harding lets Big Business into the Government

President Harding was seen as a weak willed President, and he was a prime target to be taken advantage of. Harding always had trouble saying no. When appointing his cabinet, Harding was pressured to take people into his cabinet who were not the best fit for the position. He was pressured to take in more radical republicans who wanted to return things back to the way they were. Harding appointed an anti-conservationalist in Senator Albert Fall to the position of Secretary of the interior. Senator Fall was supposed to safe guard the nation's natural resources, but his goal was anti conservationalist. Harding also made Harry M. Daugherty his attorney general even though he was a crook. Harding was surrounded by hardcore republicans many of who owned large businesses. Andrew W. Mellon, an aluminum magnate, was chosen to be secretary of the treasurery. President Harding now had his advisors filled with hardcore republicans who had the wishes to keep the government out of private business. Harding appointed fellow republicans into the offices who believed that the government's role in society should be smaller. Most importantly, Harding put 4 new justices into the supreme court. The supreme court immediately stripped labor of its accomplishments in the courts. The judges were radical enough to reverse the supreme court's own decision in Adkins v Children's Hospital (1923). These new federal hand picked officials were lax on anti trust laws, and corporations gained power. These drastic changes all occured only because President Harding let Big business sneak into government by appointing the wrong people.