Return to normalcy

Return to normalcy, referring to a return to the way of life before World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic, was United States presidential candidate Warren G. Harding's campaign slogan for the election of 1920. Although detractors of the time tried to belittle the word "normalcy" as a neologism as well as a malapropism, 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.[1] Harding's promise was to restore the United States' pre-war mentality, without the thought of war tainting the minds of the American people. To sum up his points, he stated:

America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality.[2]

Harding called for "A Return to Normalcy".

1920 election

Harding's position attracted support and was important during the 1920 United States presidential election, which he won with 60.3% of the popular vote.[3]

During the campaign, Harding addressed the issue of the word's origin, claiming that normalcy but not normality appeared in his dictionary:

I have noticed that word caused considerable news editors to change it to "normality". I have looked for "normality" in my dictionary and I do not find it there. "Normalcy", however, I did find, and it is a good word.[4]

2020 presidential campaign of Joe Biden

"Return to normalcy" has also become associated with the 2020 presidential campaign of Joe Biden, specifically because of the effects of COVID-19 on American life, and the divisive presidency of Donald Trump.[5] Joe Biden ended up defeating Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

See also

References
  1. "The Mavens' Word of the Day: normalcy", June 25, 1999, randomhouse.com.
  2. "Return to Normalcy". teachingamericanhistory.org. Archived from the original on 2006-10-03.
  3. "Election of 1920: Republican and the Return to Normalcy".
  4. Kory Stamper (29 October 2013). "Obama didn't use improper grammar. Cut him and other public figures a break". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  5. Klein, Ezra (2019-05-20). "Joe Biden's promise: a return to normalcy". Vox. Retrieved 2020-09-15.


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