Comparsion Between Fitzgerald and Babe Ruth

An impact is "the force of impression of one thing on another" (Webster 485). Two men of great influence for people of today and yesterday were George Herman Ruth Jr. and Francis Scott Fitzgerald. Both had a great impact upon the lifestyles of everyday citizens and although they accomplished this through different means of communication, they both were successful in bettering the lives of the common man during the time period of the "Roaring Twenties".

The "Roaring Twenties" was a decent time period for many people living in the United States. After World War I, the United States entered a peacetime economy and it eventually became the richest nation on Earth during this period of time (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). During the early 1920s gross and net output doubled and non-white employment increased by 88% (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). Technology had helped to improve the economy and feeling during this time period. Henry Ford had established his Model T, and assembly line and by 1927 he had sold more than 15 million of the Model T's (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). Other technologies used during this time were the radio, machinery, and the airplane, which was used for Charles A. Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic Ocean (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). With the help of this technology workers no longer needed to live close to their workplace, and instead they could live farther away and still arrive at their jobs with ease because the cars provided quick transportation (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). Homemakers could run errands with greater convenience and the overall increase in productivity and efficiency left the American people with more time for entertainment and recreation (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). Families could visit relatives on a constant basis, even distant relatives. Since World War I had ended, the allie powers had made Germany pay reparations or money for the cost of the war, which was impossible to pay off (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). These reparations caused Germany's economy to inflate and become in even more debt. Also during this time the Allies had owed money to the United States for helping them during the war, and the United States demanded payment in gold and dollars, which the allies borrowed from creditor nations, creating even greater debt somewhere else (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). From 1925-1929, Europe entered a period of relative prosperity and stability. However the unemployment rate and population were growing rapidly. The Great Depression struck the United States in 1929, which began to hurt European nations in the 1930s (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). The economic time period had a great deal to do with Babe Ruth because he was a part of this new money coming in and he helped to make money by sparking an interest in baseball. He was one of the highest paid persons in the United States, if not the highest paid. F. Scott Fitzgerald was aware of this corruption eating at the world and he decided to express his feelings about it in his books.

Politics during the 1920's was very different than any other time. People were very uptight and afraid of the communists of the Soviet Union. During the beginning of the 1920s, Warren G. Harding, the current president at that time, declared a "return to normalcy," which signaled isolationism, and a laissez-faire attitude, or laid back attitude (Smith 84). After Harding's death in 1923, Calvin Coolidge replaced his as president from 1923-1929, and he was fairly similar to Harding. President Coolidge refused to use Federal economic power to check the growing economy (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). His first message to Congress in December 1923 called for isolation in foreign policy, and for tax cuts, economy, and limited aid to farmers (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). People were very uptight and afraid of the communists in the Soviet Union during this time period also (http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade20.html). A prime example of this is the Sacco and Vanzetti case, were two Italians were killed for holding radical views (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html). During the red scare many people died or were exiled because people feared them as being communists. The Ku Klux Klan also began to reappear, and there were very strict immigration laws because of the red scare, and the 18th amendment had been passed, which was prohibition (http://www.u-s-history.com/about.html).

George Herman Ruth Jr. was born on February 6, 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland (Berke 18). His parents were Kate Schamberger-Ruth and George Herman Ruth and they both worked in a bar (Berke 18). George didn't have a happy childhood because he would watch himself most of the time (Berke 18). Ruth was unsuccessful in public school and often played hooky, so George Sr. decided to take George Jr. to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory and orphanage (Nicholson 21). During his 12 years at St. Mary's George would only see Kate Ruth and her sister Mamie on Kate's off days (Nicholson 23) Ruth began to turn to Brother Mathias who was 6 foot 6 inches, 250 pounds, and was known as the "boss" (Nicholson 24) Brother Mathias became an inspiration to George in baseball as well as in other aspects of life (Nicholson 24). George Jr. liked to work with his hands, and he excelled in vocational training, learning carpentry, and rolling cigars before he tailored (Nicholson 23). George was well liked and made friends easily (Nicholson 24). When George was 19 he signed a contract with the Baltimore Orioles (a minor league team at that time) (Berke 23). The Boston Red Sox then purchased his contract. With the Boston Red Sox he won two world championships and may have been the best left-handed pitcher in the game at that time (Berke 31). However, in December 1926, Boston owner Harry Frazee decided to sell Babe Ruth to produce Broadway shows. This created "the curse of the bambino," because it would the Boston Red Sox 86 years to win a world series after 1918 (Nicholson 61). Ruth revolutionized baseball with the New York Yankees. Homeruns back then were not very common because the players focused more on technical and the fundamentals, but when Babe switched from pitcher to outfield he demonstrated a lot of power. Ruth hit 54 home runs in his first year, which was more than any other team in the league (Nicholson 68). People flocked the parks to see him play (Nicholson 68). Babe's homeruns helped revolutionize the game. The Yankees attendance in 1919 without Babe had been 619,164, but with the babe their attendance drastically increased to 1,289,422 (Nicholson 69). The thing that was amazing though, is that Babe Ruth consistently hit a lot of homeruns every year, which many people didn't