1920 United States elections
The 1920 United States elections was held on November 2. In the aftermath of World War I, the Republican Party re-established the dominant position it lost in the 1910 and 1912 elections. This was the first election after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the constitutional right to vote.
In the presidential election, Republican Senator Warren G. Harding from Ohio defeated Democratic Governor James M. Cox of Ohio. Harding won a landslide victory, taking every state outside the South and dominating the popular vote. Harding won the Republican nomination on the tenth ballot, defeating former Army Chief of Staff Leonard Wood, Illinois Governor Frank Lowden, California Senator Hiram Johnson, and several other candidates. Cox won the Democratic nomination on the 44th ballot over former Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, New York Governor Al Smith, and several other candidates. Future president Calvin Coolidge won the Republican nomination for vice president, while fellow future president Franklin D. Roosevelt won the Democratic nomination for vice president. Harding was the first sitting Senator to be elected president.
The Republicans made large gains in the House and the Senate, strengthening their majority in both chambers. They picked up sixty-two seats in the House of Representatives, furthering their majority over the Democrats. The Republicans also strengthened their majority in the Senate, gaining ten seats.
