"Return to normalcy" was a campaign slogan used by

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...

during the

1920 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 2, 1920. The Republican ticket of senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio and governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts defeated the Democratic ticket of governor James M. Cox of ...

. Harding won the election with 60.4% of the popular vote.

1920 election

In a speech delivered on May 14, 1920, Harding proclaimed that America needed "not nostrums, but normalcy". Two months later, during a homecoming speech, Harding reaffirmed his endorsement of "normal times and a return to normalcy."

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

had upended life, and Harding said that it altered the perspective of humanity. He argued that the solution was to seek normalcy by restoring life to how it was before the war. Harding's conception of normalcy for the 1920s included

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

civic engagement Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to ...

, and

isolationism Isolationism is a term used to refer to a political philosophy advocating a foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality an ...

. He rejected the idealism of

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

and the activism of Roosevelt, favoring the earlier isolationist policy of the United States. Detractors of the time tried to belittle the word "normalcy" as a

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

as well as a

malapropism A malapropism (; also called a malaprop, acyrologia or Dogberryism) is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound, either unintentionally or for comedic effect, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An exam ...

, saying that it was poorly coined by Harding, as opposed to the more accepted term '' normality''. There was contemporaneous discussion and evidence that ''normalcy'' had been listed in dictionaries as far back as 1857. According to some historians, ''normalcy'' was an "obscure math term" before its use by Harding during the campaign. Harding, a newspaper editor, addressed the issue of the word's origin, claiming that ''normalcy'' but not ''normality'' appeared in his dictionary. Harding prominently featured his dog Laddie Boy in the press to instill the domestic image associated with his vision of normalcy. Harding's position attracted support during the 1920 presidential election, winning 60.3% of the popular vote.

Other usage

Chalmers M. Roberts of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' compared the desire for a "return to normalcy" in 1920 to the 1946 midterms following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the 1992 presidential election following the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. The 12th episode of '' Boardwalk Empire'' takes place during the 1920 election and is titled " A Return to Normalcy". The phrase "return to normalcy" became associated with the 2020 presidential campaign of Joe Biden, specifically referring to Biden's promises to end the "divisiveness of the Trump years," as well as his campaign's focus on tackling the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...

References

External links

"Normalcy"''The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy'', 3rd ed.
edited by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., et al. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. {{ISBN, 0-618-22647-8.
"A Time for Normalcy"
by Evan Jenkins, ''Columbia Journalism Review'', January/February 2002 American political catchphrases United States presidential domestic programs Warren G. Harding

1920 election

Other usage

See also

References

External links