In 1924, the American economy seemed to be in great shape.  Unemployment was low, business was doing well, and there didn’t seem to be any significant threat of war overseas.  A sense of optimism pervaded the nation.   Prohibition was in full swing, but for a lot of people, there weren’t too many sorrows they needed to drown. The presidential election that year was an unusual one.  The big issue among Democrats was Prohibition: the party was divided over whether to support it or to push for its repeal.  The 1924 Democratic Convention was so divided over the Prohibition issue that it wasn’t until the 103rd ballot that the party finally settled on John W. Davis, a compromise candidate who opposed Prohibition, but who was also a conservative who opposed women’s suffrage, child labor laws, and the 15th Amendment, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting laws.  The presence of Davis on the Democratic ticket drove the progressive wing of the party ...