Republican Warren Harding, a former lieutenant governor and senator from Ohio, entered the White House following an era of upheaval. He promised to “think of America first” and restore “normalcy” after a period of sweeping social reforms, increases in racial segregation, and the trauma of World War I. Under Harding’s leadership at the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–22, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan joined the United States in signing a treaty that slowed a global arms race. Although Harding lowered taxes and reduced the national debt, the Teapot Dome Scandal of 1921–23, which involved one of his top appointees, marked a lowpoint in his brief term.