Thomas R. Marshall: Progressive Era Politics, a Presidential Hoax, and the 1920 Election

Authors

Andrew J. Bramlett, Kennesaw State UniversityFollow
David B. Parker, Kennesaw State UniversityFollow

Name of Faculty Sponsor

Dr. David Parker

Faculty Sponsor Email

dparker@kennesaw.edu

Author Bio(s)

Andrew J. Bramlett is a history major and Kennesaw local. He volunteers with the Kennesaw Historical Society, the Historic Preservation Commission for the City of Kennesaw, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, the Cobb County Genealogical Society, the Save Acworth History Foundation, and the Friends of Kennesaw Mountain. In 2018, he received a Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council award for Local History Advocacy. In 2023, he was nominated the Honorary City Historian for the City of Kennesaw.

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

In 1919, Vice President Thomas Marshall was speaking in Atlanta when he was told the president had died in Washington. Marshall was understandably shocked and felt the burden of the presidency suddenly on his shoulders. Happily for him, the story he was told was a hoax from an unknown perpetrator. This paper explores the life of Thomas Marshall, vice president of the United States for eight years, from his Indiana origins until the end of his time in office. Along the way, Marshall and his beliefs of the Progressive movement are highlighted, as are the national politics of his day. Marshall could have easily been the Democratic candidate in the 1920 election, but he chose not to run because of the incident in Atlanta. This paper proposes that he would have been more electable than the eventual nominee, James M. Cox, and could have won the election. A Marshall victory in 1920 would have extended the Progressive Era into the 1920s, which instead were a time of Harding and Coolidge’s laissez-faire presidencies. America could have been easily affected by a Marshall presidency, yet this hoax in Atlanta stopped it from happening.