"PRESIDENT IS POOREST ADVERTISER IN U.S. TODAY"

LABOR SECRETARY SAYS HARDING WORKS AT HIS JOB BUT DOESN'T TALK ABOUT IT

Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) On April 2, 1923, Secretary of Labor James J. Davis*, speaking to the Women's Republican Club of Boston, said President Warren G. Harding is "not bothering his head over much about the politics of 1924."

The Secretary said...

"President Harding is probably the poorest advertiser in the United States today."

He added that in his view the smallest corner grocer could better sell himself to the public saying the President...

"work(s) at his job" rather than "talk about it."

*James John Davis (1873-1947) was born in Tredegar, Wales & served as Secretary of Labor 1921-1930 & U.S. Senator (R-PA) 1930-1945.

SOURCE

"President Called Poor Advertiser," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., April 2, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

James J. Davis

June 5 1925

National Photo Company

Library of Congress

"ONE-FIFTH OF U.S. WOMEN EMPLOYED"

PRESIDENT SAYS WOMEN'S STATUS CHANGE IN BUSINESS WORLD IS REVOLUTIONARY

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 11, 1923, President Warren G. Harding's message to the women's industrial conference meeting at the New National Museum* here in the Nation's Capital was read by Secretary of Labor James J. Davis**.

The President's message states "revolutionary change has taken place in the status of women in the world of business."  

Mr. Harding calls this change "justified."

The Secretary said that more than one-fifth of the women of the nation are employed.

JFK+50 NOTE

While 20% of women in the United States were employed in January 1923, 58% were employed as of September 2022.

*The new U.S. National Museum, now the National Museum of Natural History, opened in 1910 housing art, culture, history, & natural history collections.  The building was expanded in 1965.

**James John Davis (1873-1947) was born in Tredegar, Wales & served as Secretary of Labor 1921-1930.  JJD is one of only 3 cabinet officers to serve under 3 consecutive POTUS.  He served in the U.S. Senate representing Pennsylvania 1930-1945. 

SOURCES

"A Brief History of NMNH," National Museum of Natural History, www.naturalhistory.si.edu/

"President Lauds Industrial Women," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., January 11, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/ 

 

 

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Washington, D.C.

Photo by Melizabeth123

www.wikimedia.org/

 

 

"TO PLACE AS MANY AS POSSIBLE IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES"

PRESIDENT CALLS FOR CONFERENCE ON UNEMPLOYMENT

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On August 28, 1921, the New York Tribune reports that President Warren G. Harding "stepped into the middle of the unemployment problem and will undertake to place as many men as is humanely possible in the various industries...by the winter months."

The Secretary of Labor, James J. Davis*, has advised the unemployment totals have reached 5,735,000.  In response, the President called for a national conference on unemployment to be held here in the Nation's Capital.  The request was made through Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover who said...

"The object of the conference will be to inquire into the volume of needed employment, the distribution of unemployment, (and) to make recommendations (on)...speeding up of employment."

*James John Davis (1873-1947) was born in U.K. & served as Secretary of Labor under Harding & Coolidge, 1921-1930.  JJD was a puddler's^ assistant in a steel mill before entering public service.  He was known as the "Iron Puddler."

^Puddling is a step in the manufacture of high grade iron invented in Great Britain. 

SOURCE

"Harding Calls Conference to Help Jobless," The New York Tribune, August 29, 1921, www.chroniclingamerica.com/

 

 

James J. Davis

National Photo Company (1925)

Library of Congress