Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding | |
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29th President of the United States | |
In office March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923 | |
Vice President | Calvin Coolidge |
Preceded by | Woodrow Wilson |
Succeeded by | Calvin Coolidge |
United States Senator from Ohio | |
In office March 4, 1915 – January 13, 1921 | |
Preceded by | Theodore E. Burton |
Succeeded by | Frank B. Willis |
28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio | |
In office January 11, 1904 – January 8, 1906 | |
Governor | Myron T. Herrick |
Preceded by | Harry L. Gordon |
Succeeded by | Andrew L. Harris |
Member of the Ohio Senate from the 13th district | |
In office January 1, 1900 – January 4, 1904 | |
Preceded by | Henry May |
Succeeded by | Samuel H. West |
Personal details | |
Born | Warren Gamaliel Harding November 2, 1865 Blooming Grove, Ohio, U.S. |
Died | August 2, 1923 San Francisco, California, U.S. | (aged 57)
Resting place | Harding Tomb |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse |
Florence Kling (m. 1891) |
Children | Elizabeth (with Nan Britton) |
Parent |
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Education | Ohio Central College (BA) |
Occupation |
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Signature | |
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Political rise
29th President of the United States
Presidential campaigns
Controversies
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Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was an American politician who served as the 29th president of the United States from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. After his death, a number of scandals were exposed, including Teapot Dome, as well as an extramarital affair with Nan Britton, which tarnished his reputation.
Harding lived in rural
Harding appointed a number of respected figures to his cabinet, including Andrew Mellon at Treasury, Herbert Hoover at Commerce, and Charles Evans Hughes at the State Department. A major foreign policy achievement came with the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–22, where the world's major naval powers agreed on a naval limitations program that lasted a decade. Harding released political prisoners who had been arrested for their opposition to World War I. In 1923, Harding died of a heart attack in San Francisco while on a western tour, and was succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge.
Harding died as one of the most popular presidents in history, but the subsequent exposure of scandals eroded his popular regard, as did revelations of extramarital affairs. Harding's interior secretary,
Early life and career
Childhood and education
Warren Harding was born on November 2, 1865, in Blooming Grove, Ohio.[1] Nicknamed "Winnie" as a small child, he was the eldest of eight children born to George Tryon Harding (usually known as Tryon) and Phoebe Elizabeth (née Dickerson) Harding.[1] Phoebe was a state-licensed midwife. Tryon farmed and taught school near Mount Gilead. Through apprenticeship, study, and a year of medical school, Tryon became a doctor and started a small practice.[2] Harding's first ancestor in the Americas was Richard Harding, who arrived from England to Massachusetts Bay around 1624.[3][4] Harding also had ancestors from Wales, Scotland,[5] and the Netherlands, including the wealthy Van Kirk family.[6]
It was rumored by a political opponent in Blooming Grove that one of Harding's great-grandmothers was
In 1870, the Harding family, who were abolitionists,[10] moved to Caledonia, where Tryon acquired The Argus, a local weekly newspaper. At The Argus, Harding, from the age of 11, learned the basics of the newspaper business.[11] In late 1879, at age 14, he enrolled at his father's alma mater—Ohio Central College in Iberia—where he proved an adept student. He and a friend put out a small newspaper, the Iberia Spectator, during their final year at Ohio Central, intended to appeal to both the college and the town. During his final year, the Harding family moved to Marion, about 6 miles (10 km) from Caledonia, and when he graduated in 1882, he joined them there.[12]
Editor
In Harding's youth, most of the U.S. population lived on farms and in small towns. He spent much of his life in Marion, a small city in rural central Ohio, and became closely associated with it. When Harding rose to high office, he made clear his love of Marion and its way of life, telling of the many young Marionites who had left and enjoyed success elsewhere, while suggesting that the man, once the "pride of the school", who had remained behind and become a janitor, was "the happiest one of the lot".[13]
Upon graduating, Harding had stints as a teacher and as an insurance man, and made a brief attempt to study law. He then raised $300 (equivalent to $9,800 in 2023) in partnership with others to purchase a failing newspaper, The Marion Star, the weakest of the growing city's three papers and its only daily. The 18-year-old Harding used the railroad pass that came with the paper to attend the 1884 Republican National Convention, where he hobnobbed with better-known journalists and supported the presidential nominee, former Secretary of State James G. Blaine. Harding returned from Chicago to find that the sheriff had reclaimed the newspaper.[14] During the election campaign, Harding worked for the Marion Democratic Mirror and was annoyed at having to praise the Democratic presidential nominee, New York Governor Grover Cleveland, who won the election.[15] Afterward, with the financial aid of his father, the budding newspaperman redeemed the paper.[14]
In the later 1880s, Harding built the Star. Marion tended to vote Republican (as did Ohio), but Marion County was Democratic. Accordingly, Harding adopted a tempered editorial stance, declaring the daily Star nonpartisan and circulating a weekly edition that was moderately Republican. This policy attracted advertisers and put the town's Republican weekly out of business. According to his biographer, Andrew Sinclair:
The success of Harding with the Star was certainly in the model of
Machiavelli once pointed out, cleverness will take a man far, but he cannot do without good fortune.[16]
Marion's population grew from 4,000 in 1880 to twice that in 1890, and to 12,000 by 1900. This growth helped the Star, and Harding did his best to promote the city, purchasing stock in many local enterprises. A few of these turned out badly, but he was generally successful as an investor, leaving an estate of $850,000 in 1923 (equivalent to $15.2 million in 2023).[17] According to his biographer and former White House Counsel John Dean, Harding's "civic influence was that of an activist who used his editorial page to effectively keep his nose—and a prodding voice—in all the town's public business".[18] To date, Harding is the only U.S. president to have had full-time journalism experience.[14] He became an ardent supporter of Governor Joseph B. Foraker, a Republican.[19]
Harding first came to know Florence Kling, five years older than he, as the daughter of a local banker and developer. Amos Kling was a man accustomed to getting his way, but Harding attacked him relentlessly in the paper. Amos involved Florence in all his affairs, taking her to work from the time she could walk. As hard-headed as her father, Florence came into conflict with him after returning from music college.[a] After she eloped with Pete deWolfe, and returned to Marion without deWolfe, but with an infant named Marshall, Amos agreed to raise the boy, but would not support Florence, who made a living as a piano teacher. One of her students was Harding's sister Charity. By 1886, Florence Kling had obtained a divorce, and she and Harding were courting, though who was pursuing whom is uncertain, depending on who later told the story of their romance.[20][21]
The budding match snuffed out a truce between the Klings. Amos believed that the Hardings had African American blood, and was also offended by Harding's editorial stances. He started to spread rumors of Harding's supposed black heritage, and encouraged local businessmen to boycott Harding's business interests.[10] When Harding found out what Kling was doing, he warned Kling "that he would beat the tar out of the little man if he didn't cease."[b][22]
The Hardings were married on July 8, 1891,[23] at their new home on Mount Vernon Avenue in Marion, which they had designed together in the Queen Anne style.[24] The marriage produced no children.[25] Harding affectionately called his wife "the Duchess" for a character in a serial from The New York Sun who kept a close eye on "the Duke" and their money.[26]
Florence Harding became deeply involved in her husband's career, both at the Star and after he entered politics.[20] Exhibiting her father's determination and business sense, she helped turn the Star into a profitable enterprise through her tight management of the paper's circulation department.[27] She has been credited with helping Harding achieve more than he might have alone; some have suggested that she pushed him all the way to the White House.[28]
Start in politics
Soon after purchasing the Star, Harding turned his attention to politics, supporting Foraker in his first successful bid for governor in
Harding's success as an editor took a toll on his health. Five times between 1889 (when he was 23) and 1901, he spent time at the
In 1892, Harding traveled to Washington, where he met Democratic Nebraska Congressman
Rising politician (1897–1919)
State senator
Harding wished to try again for elective office. Though a longtime admirer of Foraker (by then a U.S. senator), he had been careful to maintain good relations with the party faction led by the state's other U.S. senator, Mark Hanna, McKinley's political manager and chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). Both Foraker and Hanna supported Harding for state Senate in 1899; he gained the Republican nomination and was easily elected to a two-year term.[34]
Harding began his four years as a state senator as a political unknown; he ended them as one of the most popular figures in the Ohio Republican Party. He always appeared calm and displayed humility, characteristics that endeared him to fellow Republicans even as he passed them in his political rise. Legislative leaders consulted him on difficult problems.[35] It was usual at that time for state senators in Ohio to serve only one term, but Harding gained renomination in 1901. After the assassination of McKinley in September (he was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt), much of the appetite for politics was temporarily lost in Ohio. In November, Harding won a second term, more than doubling his margin of victory to 3,563 votes.[36]
Like most politicians of his time, Harding accepted that patronage and graft would be used to repay political favors. He arranged for his sister Mary (who was legally blind) to be appointed as a teacher at the
Soon after Harding's initial election as senator, he met Harry M. Daugherty, who would take a major role in his political career. A perennial candidate for office who served two terms in the state House of Representatives in the early 1890s, Daugherty had become a political fixer and lobbyist in the state capital of Columbus. After first meeting and talking with Harding, Daugherty commented, "Gee, what a great-looking President he'd make."[38]
Ohio state leader
In early 1903, Harding announced he would run for
Once he and Harding were inaugurated, Herrick made ill-advised decisions that turned crucial Republican constituencies against him, alienating farmers by opposing the establishment of an agricultural college.[40] On the other hand, according to Sinclair, "Harding had little to do, and he did it very well".[41] His responsibility to preside over the state Senate allowed him to increase his growing network of political contacts.[41] Harding and others envisioned a successful gubernatorial run in 1905, but Herrick refused to stand aside. In early 1905, Harding announced he would accept nomination as governor if offered, but faced with the anger of leaders such as Cox, Foraker and Dick (Hanna's replacement in the Senate), announced he would seek no office in 1905. Herrick was defeated, but his new running mate, Andrew L. Harris, was elected, and succeeded as governor after five months in office on the death of Democrat John M. Pattison. One Republican official wrote to Harding, "Aren't you sorry Dick wouldn't let you run for Lieutenant Governor?"[42]
In addition to helping pick a president, Ohio voters in 1908 were to choose the legislators who would decide whether to re-elect Foraker. The senator had quarreled with President Roosevelt over the
Harding sought and gained the 1910 Republican gubernatorial nomination. At that time, the party was deeply divided between progressive and conservative wings, and could not defeat the united Democrats; he lost the election to incumbent Judson Harmon.[47] Harry Daugherty managed Harding's campaign, but the defeated candidate did not hold the loss against him. Despite the growing rift between them, both President Taft and former president Roosevelt came to Ohio to campaign for Harding, but their quarrels split the Republican Party and helped assure Harding's defeat.[48]
The party split grew, and in 1912, Taft and Roosevelt were rivals for the Republican nomination. The
U.S. senator
Election of 1914
Congressman Theodore Burton had been elected as senator by the state legislature in Foraker's place in 1909, and announced that he would seek a second term in the 1914 elections. By this time, the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution had been ratified, giving the people the right to elect senators, and Ohio had instituted primary elections for the office. Foraker and former congressman Ralph D. Cole also entered the Republican primary. When Burton withdrew, Foraker became the favorite, but his Old Guard Republicanism was deemed outdated, and Harding was urged to enter the race. Daugherty claimed credit for persuading Harding to run: "I found him like a turtle sunning himself on a log, and I pushed him into the water."[50] According to Harding biographer Randolph Downes, "he put on a campaign of such sweetness and light as would have won the plaudits of the angels. It was calculated to offend nobody except Democrats."[51] Although Harding did not attack Foraker, his supporters had no such scruples. Harding won the primary by 12,000 votes over Foraker.[52]
Read The Menace and get the dope,
Go to the polls and beat the Pope.
Slogan written on Ohio walls and fences, 1914[53]
Harding's
Harding's
Junior senator
When Harding joined the U.S. Senate, the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, and were led by President Wilson. As a junior senator in the minority, Harding received unimportant committee assignments, but carried out those duties assiduously.[57] He was a safe, conservative, Republican vote.[58] As during his time in the Ohio Senate, Harding came to be widely liked.[59]
On two issues, women's suffrage, and the prohibition of alcohol, where picking the wrong side would have damaged his presidential prospects in 1920, he prospered by taking nuanced positions. As senator-elect, he indicated that he could not support votes for women until Ohio did. Increased support for suffrage there and among Senate Republicans meant that by the time Congress voted on the issue, Harding was a firm supporter. Harding, who drank,[60] initially voted against banning alcohol. He voted for the Eighteenth Amendment, which imposed prohibition, after successfully moving to modify it by placing a time limit on ratification, which was expected to kill it. Once it was ratified anyway, Harding voted to override Wilson's veto of the Volstead Bill, which implemented the amendment, assuring the support of the Anti-Saloon League.[61]
Harding, as a politician respected by both Republicans and
Harding spoke and voted in favor of the resolution of war requested by Wilson in April 1917 that plunged the United States into World War I.[64] In August, Harding argued for giving Wilson almost dictatorial powers, stating that democracy had little place in time of war.[65] Harding voted for most war legislation, including the Espionage Act of 1917, which restricted civil liberties, though he opposed the excess profits tax as anti-business. In May 1918, Harding, less enthusiastic about Wilson, opposed a bill to expand the president's powers.[66]
In the 1918 midterm congressional elections, held just before the
Presidential election of 1920
Primary campaign
With most Progressives having rejoined the Republican Party, their former leader, Theodore Roosevelt, was deemed likely to make a third run for the White House in 1920, and was the overwhelming favorite for the Republican nomination. These plans ended when Roosevelt suddenly died on January 6, 1919. A number of candidates quickly emerged, including General
Harding, while he wanted to be president, was as much motivated in entering the race by his desire to keep control of Ohio Republican politics, enabling his re-election to the Senate in 1920. Among those coveting Harding's seat were former governor Willis (he had been defeated by James M. Cox in 1916) and Colonel William Cooper Procter (head of Procter & Gamble). On December 17, 1919, Harding made a low-key announcement of his presidential candidacy.[71] Leading Republicans disliked Wood and Johnson, both of the progressive faction of the party, and Lowden, who had an independent streak, was deemed little better. Harding was far more acceptable to the "Old Guard" leaders of the party.[72]
Daugherty, who became Harding's campaign manager, was sure none of the other candidates could garner a majority. His strategy was to make Harding an acceptable choice to delegates once the leaders faltered. Daugherty established a "Harding for President" campaign office in Washington (run by his confidant,
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.
Warren G. Harding, speech before the Home Market Club, Boston, May 14, 1920[75]
There were only 16 presidential primary states in 1920, of which the most crucial to Harding was Ohio. Harding had to have some loyalists at the convention to have any chance of nomination, and the Wood campaign hoped to knock Harding out of the race by taking Ohio. Wood campaigned in the state, and his supporter, Procter, spent large sums; Harding spoke in the non-confrontational style he had adopted in 1914. Harding and Daugherty were so confident of sweeping Ohio's 48 delegates that the candidate went on to the next state, Indiana, before the April 27 Ohio primary.[76] Harding carried Ohio by only 15,000 votes over Wood, taking less than half the total vote, and won only 39 of 48 delegates. In Indiana, Harding finished fourth, with less than ten percent of the vote, and failed to win a single delegate. He was willing to give up and have Daugherty file his re-election papers for the Senate, but Florence Harding grabbed the phone from his hand, "Warren Harding, what are you doing? Give up? Not until the convention is over. Think of your friends in Ohio!"[77] On learning that Daugherty had left the phone line, the future First Lady retorted, "Well, you tell Harry Daugherty for me that we're in this fight until Hell freezes over."[75]
After he recovered from the shock of the poor results, Harding traveled to Boston, where he delivered a speech that according to Dean, "would resonate throughout the 1920 campaign and history."[75] There, he stated that "America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy;[c] not revolution, but restoration."[78] Dean notes, "Harding, more than the other aspirants, was reading the nation's pulse correctly."[75]
Convention
The 1920 Republican National Convention opened at the Chicago Coliseum on June 8, 1920, assembling delegates who were bitterly divided, most recently over the results of a Senate investigation into campaign spending, which had just been released. That report found that Wood had spent $1.8 million (equivalent to $27.38 million in 2023), lending substance to Johnson's claims that Wood was trying to buy the presidency. Some of the $600,000 that Lowden had spent had wound up in the pockets of two convention delegates. Johnson had spent $194,000, and Harding $113,000. Johnson was deemed to be behind the inquiry, and the rage of the Lowden and Wood factions put an end to any possible compromise among the frontrunners. Of the almost 1,000 delegates, 27 were women—the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing women the vote, was within one state of ratification, and would pass before the end of August.[79][80] The convention had no boss, most uninstructed delegates voted as they pleased, and with a Democrat in the White House, the party's leaders could not use patronage to get their way.[81]
Reporters deemed Harding unlikely to be nominated due to his poor showing in the primaries, and relegated him to a place among the dark horses.[79] Harding, who like the other candidates was in Chicago supervising his campaign, had finished sixth in the final public opinion poll, behind the three main candidates as well as former Justice Hughes and Herbert Hoover, and only slightly ahead of Coolidge.[82][83]
After the convention dealt with other matters, the nominations for president opened on the morning of Friday, June 11. Harding had asked Willis to place his name in nomination, and the former governor responded with a speech popular among the delegates, both for its folksiness and for its brevity in the intense Chicago heat.[84] Reporter Mark Sullivan, who was present, called it a splendid combination of "oratory, grand opera, and hog calling." Willis confided, leaning over the podium railing, "Say, boys—and girls too—why not name Warren Harding?"[85] The laughter and applause that followed created a warm feeling for Harding.[85]
I don't expect Senator Harding to be nominated on the first, second, or third ballots, but I think we can well afford to take chances that about eleven minutes after two o'clock on Friday morning at the convention, when fifteen or twenty men, somewhat weary, are sitting around a table, some one of them will say: "Who will we nominate?" At that decisive time, the friends of Senator Harding can suggest him and afford to abide by the result.
Harry M. Daugherty[86]
Four ballots were taken on the afternoon of June 11, and they revealed a deadlock. With 493 votes needed to nominate, Wood was the closest with 3141⁄2; Lowden had 2891⁄2. The best Harding had done was 651⁄2. Chairman
The night of June 11–12, 1920 would become famous in political history as the night of the "
Headlines in the morning newspapers suggested intrigue. Historian Wesley M. Bagby wrote, "Various groups actually worked along separate lines to bring about the nomination—without combination and with very little contact." Bagby stated that the key factor in Harding's nomination was his wide popularity among the rank and file of the delegates.[90]
The reassembled delegates had heard rumors that Harding was the choice of a cabal of senators. Although this was not true, delegates believed it, and sought a way out by voting for Harding. When balloting resumed on the morning of June 12, Harding gained votes on each of the next four ballots, rising to 1331⁄2 as the two front runners saw little change. Lodge then declared a three-hour recess, to the outrage of Daugherty, who raced to the podium, and confronted him, "You cannot defeat this man this way! The motion was not carried! You cannot defeat this man!"
General election campaign
The Harding/Coolidge ticket was quickly backed by Republican newspapers, but those of other viewpoints expressed disappointment. The
The
Harding elected to conduct a front porch campaign, like McKinley in 1896.[98] Some years earlier, Harding had had his front porch remodeled to resemble McKinley's, which his neighbors felt signified presidential ambitions.[99] The candidate remained at home in Marion, and gave addresses to visiting delegations. In the meantime, Cox and Roosevelt stumped the nation, giving hundreds of speeches. Coolidge spoke in the Northeast, later on in the South, and was not a significant factor in the election.[98]
In Marion, Harding ran his campaign. As a newspaperman himself, he fell into easy camaraderie with the press covering him, enjoying a relationship few presidents have equaled. His "return to normalcy" theme was aided by the atmosphere that Marion provided, an orderly place that induced nostalgia in many voters. The front porch campaign allowed Harding to avoid mistakes, and as time dwindled towards the election, his strength grew. The travels of the Democratic candidates eventually caused Harding to make several short speaking tours, but for the most part, he remained in Marion. America had no need for another Wilson, Harding argued, appealing for a president "near the normal."[100]
Harding's vague oratory irritated some; McAdoo described a typical Harding speech as "an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea. Sometimes these meandering words actually capture a straggling thought and bear it triumphantly, a prisoner in their midst, until it died of servitude and over work."[101] H. L. Mencken concurred, "it reminds me of a string of wet sponges, it reminds me of tattered washing on the line; it reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is so bad that a kind of grandeur creeps into it. It drags itself out of the dark abysm ... of pish, and crawls insanely up the topmost pinnacle of tosh. It is rumble and bumble. It is balder and dash."[d][101] The New York Times took a more positive view of Harding's speeches, stating that in them the majority of people could find "a reflection of their own indeterminate thoughts."[102]
Wilson had stated that the 1920 election would be a "great and solemn referendum" on the League of Nations, making it difficult for Cox to maneuver on the issue—although Roosevelt strongly supported the League, Cox was less enthusiastic.[103] Harding opposed entry into the League of Nations as negotiated by Wilson, but favored an "association of nations,"[25] based on the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. This was general enough to satisfy most Republicans, and only a few bolted the party over this issue. By October, Cox had realized there was widespread public opposition to Article X, and stated that reservations to the treaty might be necessary; this shift allowed Harding to say no more on the subject.[104]
The RNC hired
During the campaign, opponents spread old rumors that Harding's great-great-grandfather was a
By Election Day, November 2, 1920, few had any doubts that the Republican ticket would win.
Presidency (1921–1923)
Inauguration and appointments
Harding was inaugurated on March 4, 1921, in the presence of his wife and father. Harding preferred a subdued inauguration without the customary parade, leaving only the actual ceremony and a brief reception at the White House. In his inaugural address, he declared, "Our most dangerous tendency is to expect too much from the government and at the same time do too little for it."[113]
After the election, Harding announced that no decisions about appointments would be made until he returned from a vacation in December. He traveled to Texas, where he fished and played golf with his friend
Harding chose pro-League Charles Evans Hughes as Secretary of State, ignoring the advice of Senator Lodge and others. After
The two Harding cabinet appointees who darkened the reputation of his administration by their involvement in scandal were Harding's Senate friend Albert B. Fall of New Mexico, the Interior Secretary, and Daugherty, the attorney general. Fall was a Western rancher and former miner who favored development.[117] He was opposed by conservationists such as Gifford Pinchot, who wrote, "it would have been possible to pick a worse man for Secretary of the Interior, but not altogether easy."[118] The New York Times mocked the Daugherty appointment, stating that rather than selecting one of the best minds, Harding had been content "to choose merely a best friend."[119] Eugene P. Trani and David L. Wilson, in their volume on Harding's presidency, suggest that the appointment made sense then, as Daugherty was "a competent lawyer well-acquainted with the seamy side of politics ... a first-class political troubleshooter and someone Harding could trust."[120]
The Harding cabinet | ||
---|---|---|
Office | Name | Term |
Harry Stewart New 1923 | | |
Secretary of the Navy | Edwin Denby | 1921–1923 |
Secretary of the Interior | Albert B. Fall | 1921–1923 |
Hubert Work | 1923 | |
Secretary of Agriculture | Henry Cantwell Wallace | 1921–1923 |
Secretary of Commerce | Herbert Hoover | 1921–1923 |
Secretary of Labor | James J. Davis | 1921–1923 |
Foreign policy
European relations and formally ending the war
Harding made it clear when he appointed Hughes as Secretary of State that the former justice would run foreign policy, a change from Wilson's hands-on management of international affairs.
This still left the question of relations between the U.S. and the League. Hughes' State Department initially ignored communications from the League, or tried to bypass it through direct contacts with member nations. By 1922, though, the U.S., through its consul in Geneva, was dealing with the League, and though the U.S. refused to participate in any meeting with political implications, it sent observers to sessions on technical and humanitarian matters.[123]
By the time Harding took office, there were calls from foreign governments for reduction of the massive war debt owed to the United States, and the German government sought to reduce the reparations that it was required to pay. The U.S. refused to consider any multilateral settlement. Harding sought passage of a plan proposed by Mellon to give the administration broad authority to reduce war debts in negotiation, but Congress, in 1922, passed a more restrictive bill. Hughes negotiated an agreement for Britain to pay off its war debt over 62 years at low interest, reducing the present value of the obligations. This agreement, approved by Congress in 1923, served as a model for negotiations with other nations. Talks with Germany on reduction of reparations payments resulted in the Dawes Plan of 1924.[124]
A pressing issue not resolved by Wilson was U.S. policy towards
Disarmament
Harding urged disarmament and lower defense costs during the campaign, but it had not been a major issue. He gave a speech to a joint session of Congress in April 1921, setting out his legislative priorities. Among the few foreign policy matters he mentioned was disarmament; he said the government could not "be unmindful of the call for reduced expenditure" on defense.[126]
Idaho Senator
Hughes, in his speech at the opening session of the conference on November 12, 1921, made the American proposal—the U.S. would decommission or not build 30 warships if Great Britain did likewise for 19 vessels, and Japan for 17.
The U.S. had acquired over a thousand vessels during World War I, and still owned most of them when Harding took office. Congress had authorized their disposal
Latin America
Intervention in Latin America had been a minor campaign issue, though Harding spoke against Wilson's decision to
The U.S. had intervened repeatedly in Mexico under Wilson, and had withdrawn diplomatic recognition, setting conditions for reinstatement. The Mexican government under President Álvaro Obregón wanted recognition before negotiations, but Wilson and his final Secretary of State, Bainbridge Colby, refused. Both Hughes and Fall opposed recognition; Hughes instead sent a draft treaty to the Mexicans in May 1921, which included pledges to reimburse Americans for losses in Mexico since the 1910 revolution there. Obregón was unwilling to sign a treaty before being recognized, and worked to improve the relationship between American business and Mexico, reaching agreement with creditors, and mounting a public relations campaign in the United States. This had its effect, and by mid-1922, Fall was less influential than he had been, lessening the resistance to recognition. The two presidents appointed commissioners to reach a deal, and the U.S. recognized the Obregón government on August 31, 1923, just under a month after Harding's death, substantially on the terms proffered by Mexico.[135]
Domestic policy
Postwar recession and recovery
When Harding took office on March 4, 1921, the nation was in the midst of
Mellon's tax cuts
Treasury Secretary Mellon also recommended that Congress cut income tax rates, and that the corporate
In opposing the veterans' bonus, Harding argued in his Senate address that much was already being done for them by a grateful nation, and that the bill would "break down our Treasury, from which so much is later on to be expected".[142] The Senate sent the bonus bill back to committee, but the issue returned when Congress reconvened in December 1921.[142] A bill providing a bonus, though unfunded, was passed by both houses in September 1922, but Harding's veto was narrowly sustained. A non-cash bonus for soldiers passed over Coolidge's veto in 1924.[143]
In his first
Mellon ordered a study that demonstrated historically that, as income tax rates were increased, money was driven underground or abroad, and he concluded that lower rates would increase tax revenues.[147][148] Based on his advice, Harding's revenue bill cut taxes, starting in 1922. The top marginal rate was reduced annually in four stages from 73% in 1921 to 25% in 1925. Taxes were cut for lower incomes starting in 1923, and the lower rates substantially increased the money flowing to the treasury. They also pushed massive deregulation, and federal spending as a share of GDP fell from 6.5% to 3.5%. By late 1922, the economy began to turn around. Unemployment was pared from its 1921 high of 12% to an average of 3.3% for the remainder of the decade. The misery index, a combined measure of unemployment and inflation, had its sharpest decline in U.S. history under Harding. Wages, profits, and productivity all made substantial gains; annual GDP increases averaged at over 5% during the 1920s. Libertarian historians Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen argue that, "Mellon's tax policies set the stage for the most amazing growth yet seen in America's already impressive economy."[149]
Embracing new technologies
The 1920s were a time of modernization for America—use of electricity became increasingly common. Mass production of motorized vehicles stimulated other industries as well, such as highway construction, rubber, steel, and building, as hotels were erected to accommodate the tourists venturing upon the roads. This economic boost helped bring the nation out of the recession.
Harding urged regulation of radio broadcasting in his April 1921 speech to Congress.[153] Commerce Secretary Hoover took charge of this project, and convened a conference of radio broadcasters in 1922, which led to a voluntary agreement for licensing of radio frequencies through the Commerce Department. Both Harding and Hoover realized something more than an agreement was needed, but Congress was slow to act, not imposing radio regulation until 1927.[154]
Harding also wished to promote aviation, and Hoover again took the lead, convening a national conference on commercial aviation. The discussions focused on safety matters, inspection of airplanes, and licensing of pilots. Harding again promoted legislation but nothing was done until 1926, when the
Business and labor
Harding's attitude toward business was that government should aid it as much as possible.
Within broad limits, Harding allowed each cabinet secretary to run his department as he saw fit.[158] Hoover expanded the Commerce Department to make it more useful to business. This was consistent with Hoover's view that the private sector should take the lead in managing the economy.[159] Harding greatly respected his Commerce Secretary, often asked his advice, and backed him to the hilt, calling Hoover "the smartest 'gink' I know".[160]
Widespread strikes marked 1922, as labor sought redress for falling wages and increased unemployment. In April, 500,000 coal miners, led by John L. Lewis, struck over wage cuts. Mining executives argued that the industry was seeing hard times; Lewis accused them of trying to break the union. As the strike became protracted, Harding offered compromise to settle it. As Harding proposed, the miners agreed to return to work, and Congress created a commission to look into their grievances.[161]
On July 1, 1922, 400,000 railroad workers went on strike. Harding recommended a settlement that made some concessions, but management objected. Attorney General Daugherty convinced Judge
By 1922, the
Civil rights and immigration
Although Harding's first address to Congress called for passage of anti-lynching legislation,[10] he initially seemed inclined to do no more for African Americans than Republican presidents of the recent past had; he asked Cabinet officers to find places for blacks in their departments. Sinclair suggested that the fact that Harding received two-fifths of the Southern vote in 1920 led him to see political opportunity for his party in the Solid South. On October 26, 1921, Harding gave a speech in Birmingham, Alabama, to a segregated audience of 20,000 Whites and 10,000 Blacks. Harding, while stating that the social and racial differences between Whites and Blacks could not be bridged, urged equal political rights for the latter. Many African-Americans at that time voted Republican, especially in the Democratic South, and Harding stated he did not mind seeing that support end if the result was a strong two-party system in the South. He was willing to see literacy tests for voting continue, if applied fairly to White and Black voters.[164] "Whether you like it or not," Harding told his segregated audience, "unless our democracy is a lie, you must stand for that equality."[10] The White section of the audience listened in silence, while the Black section cheered.[165] Three days after the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, Harding spoke at the all-Black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He declared, "Despite the demagogues, the idea of our oneness as Americans has risen superior to every appeal to mere class and group. And so, I wish it might be in this matter of our national problem of races." Speaking directly about the events in Tulsa, he said, "God grant that, in the soberness, the fairness, and the justice of this country, we never see another spectacle like it."[166]
Harding supported Congressman
With the public suspicious of immigrants, especially those who might be
Eugene Debs and political prisoners
Harding's Socialist opponent in the 1920 election,
Harding released 23 other war opponents at the same time as Debs, and continued to review cases and release political prisoners throughout his presidency. Harding defended his prisoner releases as necessary to return the nation to normalcy.[173]
Judicial appointments
Harding appointed four justices to the
Harding also appointed six judges to the
Political setbacks and western tour
Entering the 1922 midterm congressional election campaign, Harding and the Republicans had followed through on many of their campaign promises. But some of the fulfilled pledges, like cutting taxes for the well-off, did not appeal to the electorate. The economy had not returned to normalcy, with unemployment at 11 percent, and organized labor angry over the outcome of the strikes. From 303 Republicans elected to the House in 1920, the new 68th Congress saw that party fall to a 221–213 majority. In the Senate, the Republicans lost eight seats, and had 51 of 96 senators in the new Congress, which Harding did not survive to meet.[176]
A month after the election, the lame-duck session of the outgoing 67th Congress met. Harding then believed his early view of the presidency—that it should propose policies, but leave their adoption to Congress—was no longer enough, and he lobbied Congress, although in vain, to get his ship subsidy bill through.[176] Once Congress left town in early March 1923, Harding's popularity began to recover. The economy was improving, and the programs of Harding's more able Cabinet members, such as Hughes, Mellon and Hoover, were showing results. Most Republicans realized that there was no practical alternative to supporting Harding in 1924 for his re-election campaign.[177]
In the first half of 1923, Harding did two things that were later said to indicate foreknowledge of death: he sold the Star (though undertaking to remain as a contributing editor for ten years after his presidency), and he made a new will.[178] Harding had long suffered occasional health problems, but when he was not experiencing symptoms, he tended to eat, drink and smoke too much. By 1919, he was aware he had a heart condition. Stress caused by the presidency and by Florence Harding's own chronic kidney condition debilitated him, and he never fully recovered from an episode of influenza in January 1923. After that, Harding, an avid golfer, had difficulty completing a round. In June 1923, Ohio Senator Willis met with Harding, but brought to the president's attention only two of the five items he intended to discuss. When asked why, Willis responded, "Warren seemed so tired."[179]
In early June 1923, Harding set out on a journey, which he dubbed the "
Harding's political advisers had given him a physically demanding schedule, even though the president had ordered it cut back.[183] In Kansas City, Harding spoke on transportation issues; in Hutchinson, Kansas, agriculture was the theme. In Denver, he spoke on his support of Prohibition, and continued west making a series of speeches not matched by any president until Franklin Roosevelt. Harding had become a supporter of the World Court, and wanted the U.S. to become a member. In addition to making speeches, he visited Yellowstone and Zion National Parks,[184] and dedicated a monument on the Oregon Trail at a celebration organized by venerable pioneer Ezra Meeker and others.[185]
On July 5, Harding embarked on
On July 26, 1923, Harding toured Vancouver, British Columbia as the first sitting American president to visit Canada. He was welcomed by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Walter Nichol,[188] Premier of British Columbia John Oliver, and the Mayor of Vancouver, and spoke to a crowd of over 50,000. Two years after his death, a memorial to Harding was unveiled in Stanley Park.[189] Harding visited a golf course, but completed only six holes before becoming fatigued. After resting for an hour, he played the 17th and 18th holes so it would appear he had completed the round. He did not succeed in hiding his exhaustion; one reporter thought he looked so tired that a rest of mere days would be insufficient to refresh him.[190]
In Seattle the next day, Harding kept up his busy schedule, giving a speech to 25,000 people at the stadium at the University of Washington. In the final speech he gave, Harding predicted statehood for Alaska.[191] The president rushed through his speech, not waiting for applause from the audience.[192]
Death and funeral
Harding went to bed early the evening of July 27, 1923, a few hours after giving the speech at the University of Washington. Later that night, he called for his physician
Harding's unexpected death came as a great shock to the nation. He was liked and admired, both the press and public had followed his illness closely, and had been reassured by his apparent recovery.[196] Harding's body was carried to his train in a casket for a journey across the nation, which was followed closely in the newspapers. Nine million people lined the railroad tracks as the train carrying his body proceeded from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., where he lay in state at the United States Capitol rotunda. After funeral services there, Harding's body was transported to Marion, Ohio, for burial.[197]
In Marion, Harding's body was placed on a horse-drawn hearse, which was followed by President Coolidge and Chief Justice Taft, then by Harding's widow and his father.[198] They followed the hearse through the city, past the Star building and finally to the Marion Cemetery where the casket was placed in the cemetery's receiving vault.[199][200] Funeral guests included inventor Thomas Edison and industrialist businessmen Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone.[201] Warren Harding and Florence Harding, who died the following year, rest in the Harding Tomb, which was dedicated in 1931 by U.S. President Herbert Hoover.[202]
Scandals
Harding appointed friends and acquaintances to federal positions. Some served competently, such as
Most of the scandals that have marred the reputation of Harding's administration did not emerge until after his death. The Veterans' Bureau scandal was known to Harding in January 1923 but, according to Trani and Wilson, "the president's handling of it did him little credit."[204] Harding allowed the corrupt director of the bureau, Charles R. Forbes, to flee to Europe, though he later returned and served prison time.[205] Harding had learned that Daugherty's factotum at the Justice Department, Jess Smith, was involved in corruption. The president ordered Daugherty to get Smith out of Washington and removed his name from the upcoming presidential trip to Alaska. Smith committed suicide on May 30, 1923.[206] It is uncertain how much Harding knew about Smith's illicit activities.[207] Murray noted that Harding was not involved in the corruption and did not condone it.[208]
Hoover accompanied Harding on the Western trip and later wrote that Harding asked what Hoover would do if he knew of some great scandal, whether to publicize it or bury it. Hoover replied that Harding should publish and get credit for integrity, and asked for details. Harding stated that it had to do with Smith but, when Hoover enquired as to Daugherty's possible involvement, Harding refused to answer.[209]
Teapot Dome
The scandal which has likely done the greatest damage to Harding's reputation is
The Interior Department announced in July 1921 that
Hearings into Teapot Dome began in October 1923, two months after Harding's death. Fall had left office earlier that year, and he denied receiving any money from Sinclair or Doheny; Sinclair agreed. The following month, Walsh learned that Fall had spent lavishly on expanding and improving his New Mexico ranch. Fall reappeared and stated that the money had come as a loan from Harding's friend and
Investigators found that Fall and a relative had received a total of about $400,000 from Doheny and Sinclair, and that the transfers were contemporaneous with the controversial leases.[215] Fall was convicted in 1929 of accepting bribes, and in 1931 became the first U.S. cabinet member to be imprisoned for crimes committed in office.[216] Sinclair was convicted only of contempt of court for jury tampering. Doheny was brought to trial before a jury in April 1930 for giving the bribe that Fall had been convicted of accepting, but he was acquitted.[217]
Justice Department
Harding's appointment of Harry M. Daugherty as Attorney General received more criticism than any other. Daugherty's Ohio lobbying and back-room maneuvers were considered to disqualify him for his office.[218] When the various scandals broke in 1923 and 1924, Daugherty's many enemies were delighted at the prospect of connecting him with the dishonesty, and assumed he had taken part in Teapot Dome, though Fall and Daugherty were not friends. In February 1924, the Senate voted to investigate the Justice Department, where Daugherty remained Attorney General.[219]
Democratic Montana Senator
The illicit activity that caused Daugherty the most problems was a Smith deal with Colonel
Veterans' Bureau
Charles R. Forbes, the energetic director of the Veterans' Bureau, sought to consolidate control of veterans' hospitals and their construction in his bureau. At the start of Harding's presidency, this power was vested in the Treasury Department. The politically powerful American Legion backed Forbes and denigrated those who opposed him, like Secretary Mellon, and in April 1922, Harding agreed to transfer control to the Veterans' Bureau.[225] Forbes' main task was to ensure that new hospitals were built around the country to help the 300,000 wounded World War I veterans.[226]
Near the beginning of 1922, Forbes had met Elias Mortimer, agent for the Thompson-Black Construction Company of St. Louis, which wanted to construct the hospitals. The two men became close, and Mortimer paid for Forbes' travels through the West, looking at potential hospital sites for the wounded World War I veterans. Forbes was also friendly with Charles F. Hurley, owner of the Hurley-Mason Construction Company of Washington state.[227] Harding had ordered that all contracts be pursuant to public notice,[228] but Forbes and the contractors worked out a deal whereby the two companies would get the contracts with the profits divided three ways. Some of the money went to the bureau's chief counsel, Charles F. Cramer.[227] Forbes defrauded the government, increasing construction costs from $3,000 to $4,000 per bed.[229] A tenth of the inflated construction billings was set aside for the conspirators, with Forbes receiving a third of the take.[230] The graft then spread to land acquisition, with Forbes authorizing the purchase of a San Francisco tract worth less than $20,000 for $105,000. At least $25,000 of the resulting financial excess was divided between Forbes and Cramer.[227]
Intent on making more money, Forbes in November 1922 began selling valuable hospital supplies warehoused under his control at the Perryville Depot in Maryland.[231] The government had stockpiled huge quantities of hospital supplies during the first World War, which Forbes unloaded for a fraction of their cost to the Boston firm of Thompson and Kelly, at a time when the Veterans' Bureau was buying supplies for the hospitals at a much higher price.[232]
The check on Forbes' authority at Perryville was Dr. Sawyer, Harding's physician and chairman of the Federal Hospitalization Board.[233] Sawyer told Harding that Forbes was selling valuable hospital supplies to an insider contractor.[234] At first Harding did not believe it, but Sawyer secured proof in January 1923.[205] A shocked Harding, who alternated between rage and despondency over the corruption in his administration, summoned Forbes to the White House and demanded his resignation. Harding did not want an open scandal and allowed Forbes to flee to Europe, from where he resigned on February 15, 1923. In spite of Harding's efforts, gossip about Forbes' activities resulted in the Senate ordering an investigation two weeks later,[235] and in mid-March, Cramer committed suicide.[236]
Mortimer was willing to tell all, as Forbes had been in an affair with his wife, which also broke up the Forbes' marriage. The construction executive was the star witness at the hearings in late 1923, after Harding's death. Forbes returned from Europe to testify, but convinced few, and in 1924, he and John W. Thompson, of Thompson–Black, were tried in Chicago for conspiracy to defraud the government. Both were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. Forbes began to serve his sentence in 1926; Thompson, who had a bad heart, died that year before commencing his.[237] According to Trani and Wilson, "One of the most troublesome aspects of the Harding presidency was that he appeared to be far more concerned with political liabilities of a scandal than in securing justice."[205]
Extramarital affairs
External videos | |
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Panel discussion at the Library of Congress on the love letters of Warren G. Harding, July 22, 2014, C-SPAN |
Harding had an extramarital affair with
The allegations of Harding's other known mistress,
Harding's biographers, writing while Britton's allegations remained uncertain, differed on their truth; Russell believed them unquestioningly
Historical views
Upon his death, Harding was deeply mourned—not only in the United States, but around the world. He was called a man of peace in many European newspapers. American journalists praised him lavishly, with some describing him as having given his life for his country. His associates were stunned by his demise. Daugherty wrote, "I can hardly write about it or allow myself to think about it yet."[249] Hughes stated, "I cannot realize that our beloved Chief is no longer with us."[250]
Adams continued to shape the negative view of Harding with several nonfiction works in the 1930s, culminating with The Incredible Era—The Life and Times of Warren G. Harding (1939) in which he called his subject "an amiable, well-meaning third-rate Mr. Babbitt, with the equipment of a small-town semi-educated journalist ... It could not work. It did not work."[255]
Dean views the works of White and Adams "remarkably unbalanced and unfair accounts, exaggerating the negative, assigning responsibility to Harding for all wrongs, and denying him credit for anything done right. Today there is considerable evidence refuting their portrayals of Harding. Yet the myth has persisted."[256]
The opening of Harding's papers for research in 1964 sparked a small spate of biographies, of which the most controversial was Russell's The Shadow of Blooming Grove (1968), which concluded that the rumors of black ancestry (the "shadow" of the title) deeply affected Harding in his formative years, causing both Harding's conservatism and his desire to get along with everyone. Coffey faults Russell's methods, and deems the biography "largely critical, though not entirely unsympathetic."[257] Murray's The Harding Era (1969) took a more positive view of the president, and put him in the context of his times. Trani and Wilson faulted Murray for "a tendency to go overboard" in trying to connect Harding with the successful policies of his cabinet officers, and for asserting, without sufficient evidence, that a new, more assertive Harding had emerged by 1923.[258]
Later decades saw revisionist books published on Harding.
Trani faults Harding's own lack of depth and decisiveness as bringing about his tarnished legacy.[261]
Harding has traditionally been ranked as one of the worst presidents.[262] In a 1948 poll conducted by Harvard University, historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. conducted a survey of scholars' opinions of the presidents, ranking Harding last among the 29 presidents considered.[263] He has also been last in many other polls since then.
Ferrell attributes Harding's negative ratings to scholars who read little that is substantive, and who focus more on sensational accounts of Harding.[262]
Coffey believes "the academic lack of interest in Harding has cost him his reputation, as scholars still rank Harding as nearly dead last among presidents."[257]
Reassessment
In historical rankings of the U.S. presidents during the decades after his term in office, Harding was often rated among the worst. However, in recent decades, some authors and historians have begun to fundamentally reassess the conventional views of Harding's historical record in office.[244][264] In The Spoils of War (2016), Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith place Harding first in a combined ranking of fewest wartime deaths and highest annual per capita income growth during each president's time in office.[265]
Murray argued in his book The Harding Era that Harding deserves more credit than historians have given: "He was certainly the equal of a Franklin Pierce, an Andrew Johnson, a Benjamin Harrison, or even a Calvin Coolidge. In concrete accomplishments, his administration was superior to a sizable portion of those in the nation's history."[266]
Murray notes some general points regarding Harding's poor standing which illustrate the relatively obscure and weak basis for negative critiques of Harding in general. Namely, the conventional views often entail omission of an actual critique or analysis of President's Harding's actions, and often consist of a relatively limited and arbitrary focus on the nature of Harding's appointees, to the omission and detriment of a broader analysis of larger historical facts. Murray states:
In the American system, there is no such thing as an innocent bystander in the White House. If Harding can rightly claim the achievements of a Hughes in State or a Hoover in Commerce, he must also shoulder responsibility for a Daugherty in Justice and a Fall in Interior. Especially must he bear the onus of his lack of punitive action against such men as Forbes and Smith. By his inaction, he forfeited whatever chance he had to maintain the integrity of his position and salvage a favorable image for himself and his administration. As it was, the subsequent popular and scholarly negative verdict was inevitable, if not wholly deserved.[266]
See also
- Cultural depictions of Warren G. Harding
- Harding Home
- Laddie Boy, Harding's dog
- List of memorials to Warren G. Harding
- List of people on the cover of Time Magazine: 1920s: March 10, 1923
- List of presidents of the United States
- List of presidents of the United States by previous experience
- List of presidents of the United States who died in office
- Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
- Warren G. Harding Presidential Center
Notes
- ^ Kling was determined that his daughter be able to make a living if it became necessary, and so sent her to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. After their estrangement, it became necessary. See Dean, p. 15.
- ^ Harding apparently never knew with certainty whether he had any black ancestry, telling a reporter, "One of my ancestors may have jumped the fence."[10]
- ^ Although Harding did not invent the word "normalcy," he is credited with popularizing it. See Russell, p. 347. The other word that Harding popularized was bloviate, which he said was a somewhat-obsolete term used in Ohio meaning to sit around and talk. After Harding's resurrection of it, it came to mean empty oratory. See Dean, p. 37.
- ^ Mencken nevertheless voted for Harding. See Sinclair, p. 165.
- ^ Harding resigned from the Senate in January 1921, waiting until Cox's term as governor expired. A Republican governor, Harry L. Davis, appointed Willis, already elected to a full term on Harding's coattails, to serve the remainder of Harding's term. See Dean, p. 92.
- ^ By Hughes's departure from office in 1925, American forces had left the Dominican Republic and were about to leave Nicaragua. The departure from Haiti was still being planned. See Trani & Wilson, p. 135.
References
- ^ a b Russell, p. 33.
- ^ Russell, p. 35.
- ^ “The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.” Google Books, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1922, www.google.com/books/edition/The_New_England_Historical_and_Genealogi/FpAeAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=George+Tryon+Harding+england&pg=RA1-PA244&printsec=frontcover. Accessed 15 Mar. 2024.
- ^ Gullan, Harold I. Cradles of Power: The Mothers and Fathers of the American Presidents. Google Books, Skyhorse, 4 Oct. 2016, www.google.com/books/edition/Cradles_of_Power/xkJ1EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=harding%20england. Accessed 15 Mar. 2024
- ^ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volumes 76–77. October 1923, p. 244
- ^ Russell, Thomas (1923). The illustrious life and work of Warren G. Harding, twenty-ninth President of the United States. the University of Wisconsin–Madison. p. 51.
- ^ Gage, Beverly (April 6, 2008). "Our First Black President?". The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
- ^ Russell, p. 26.
- ^ a b c d Baker, Peter (August 12, 2015). "DNA Is Said to Solve a Mystery of Warren Harding's Love Life". The New York Times. Retrieved August 13, 2015.(subscription required)
- ^ a b c d e f Baker, Peter (August 18, 2015). "DNA Shows Warren Harding Wasn't America's First Black President". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ^ Dean, p. 6.
- ^ Dean, pp. 7–9.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 6–9.
- ^ a b c Dean, pp. 9–13.
- ^ Nevins, p. 252.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 12–13.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 14–15.
- ^ Dean, pp. 13–14.
- ^ Russell, pp. 56–68.
- ^ a b Gutin, Myra G. "Harding, Florence Kling deWolfe". American National Biography Online.(subscription required)
- ^ Dean, pp. 14–19.
- ^ Dean, pp. 18–19.
- ^ Russell, p. 81.
- ^ Marion Star staff report (August 13, 2015). "Genetic testing confirms Harding's daughter". The Marion Star. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
- ^ a b c Hawley, Ellis W. "Harding, Warren Gamaliel". American National Biography Online.(subscription required)
- ^ Dean, pp. 20–21.
- ^ a b Russell, p. 90.
- ^ Schlesinger, p. 50.
- ^ Russell, pp. 68–70.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 35.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 286.
- ^ a b Dean, pp. 21–23.
- ^ Sibley, p. 20.
- ^ Russell, pp. 105–108.
- ^ Dean, pp. 23–24.
- ^ Russell, pp. 172–173.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 40–42.
- ^ Russell, pp. 108–112.
- ^ Russell, pp. 147–155.
- ^ a b Russell, pp. 155–157.
- ^ a b Sinclair, p. 44.
- ^ Russell, pp. 163–168.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 42–45.
- ^ Russell, p. 188.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 46.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 46–47.
- ^ Russell, pp. 197, 208–210.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 47–49.
- ^ Russell, pp. 227–235.
- ^ Russell, p. 246.
- ^ Dean, pp. 34–35.
- ^ Walters, pp. 291–293.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 54–55.
- ^ Russell, pp. 250–251.
- ^ a b Sinclair, p. 54.
- ^ a b c Dean, p. 35.
- ^ Dean, p. 44.
- ^ Nevins, p. 253.
- ^ Dean, pp. 38, 44.
- ^ Russell, p. 141.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 63–65.
- ^ Dean, pp. 37–39.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 70.
- ^ Russell, p. 283.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 77.
- ^ Russell, p. 299.
- ^ a b Sinclair, p. 82.
- ^ Dean, p. 47.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 91–100.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, p. 21.
- ^ Dean, pp. 49–51.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 659–660.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Russell, pp. 336–339.
- ^ a b c d Dean, p. 56.
- ^ Dean, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Russell, pp. 346–347.
- ^ Russell, p. 347.
- ^ a b Bagby, p. 660.
- ^ Russell, pp. 351–356, 363.
- ^ Murray 1969, p. 33.
- ^ Russell, p. 335.
- ^ Dean, p. 60.
- ^ Russell, pp. 374–375.
- ^ a b c Murray 1969, p. 34.
- ^ Bagby, p. 661.
- ^ Dean, p. 61.
- ^ Bagby, pp. 662–663.
- ^ Murray 1969, p. 38.
- ^ Bagby, pp. 657–674.
- ^ Russell, pp. 387–390.
- ^ Dean, p. 65.
- ^ Russell, pp. 392–394.
- ^ Dean, pp. 66–67.
- ^ a b Dean, p. 67.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 156.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 157–159.
- ^ a b Dean, pp. 71–73.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 61.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 163–165.
- ^ a b Dean, p. 72.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 166.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 43–45.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 27–28.
- ^ Dean, p. 69.
- ^ Morello, pp. 64–65.
- ^ Russell, p. 372.
- ^ Russell, pp. 403–405.
- ^ Murray 1969, p. 62.
- ^ Russell, p. 418.
- ^ Russell, p. 420.
- ^ Murray 1969, p. 66.
- ^ Russell, pp. 2, 14.
- ^ Russell, pp. 420–424.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 181.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 38–39.
- ^ a b Dean, p. 89.
- ^ Noggle, p. 242.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 188.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, p. 43.
- ^ Russell, p. 43.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 142–145.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 145–147.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 162–163.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 116–126.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 149–150.
- ^ Dean, pp. 130–131.
- ^ Russell, p. 481.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 241–245.
- ^ Dean, pp. 132–134.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 174–178.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 133–135.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 340–341.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 136–137.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 130–132.
- ^ Murray 1973, pp. 40–41.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 54–57.
- ^ a b Murray 1973, pp. 52–55.
- ^ Murray 1973, pp. 51–52.
- ^ Murray 1973, pp. 55–58.
- ^ Dean, p. 108.
- ^ a b Dean, pp. 107–108.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 78–79.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 74–75.
- ^ Dean, p. 104.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, p. 74.
- ISBN 9785879551631.
- ISBN 9780674001541.
- ^ Schweikart, Larry; Allen, Michael (2004). A Patriot's History of the United States. New York: Penguin. p. 536.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 206.
- ^ Wynn, pp. 217–218.
- ^ Harding, Warren G. (December 8, 1922). "Second Annual Message to Congress". American Presidency Project. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
- ^ Murray 1973, p. 46.
- ^ a b Trani & Wilson, p. 88.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, p. 83.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 253–254.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Murray 1973, p. 29.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, p. 84.
- ^ Murray 1973, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 97–99.
- ^ Russell, pp. 546–549.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 255–256.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 230–234.
- ^ Radosh, Ronald; Radosh, Allis (July 16, 2014). "What If Warren Harding Wasn't a Terrible President?". Slate. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
- ^ Robenalt, James D. (June 21, 2020). "The Republican president who called for racial justice in America after Tulsa massacre". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- ^ Dean, p. 123.
- ^ Murray 1973, pp. 89–90.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 215.
- ^ Dean, pp. 101–102.
- ^ Sinclair, p. 217.
- ^ Dean, pp. 126–129.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 168–169.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 48–49.
- ^ "Biographical Dictionary of the Federal Judiciary". Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on July 30, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2015. Searches run from page by choosing "select research categories" then check "court type" and "nominating president", then select type of court and Warren G. Harding.
- ^ a b Trani & Wilson, pp. 80–81.
- ^ a b c Murray 1973, p. 95.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 172–173.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 438–439.
- ^ Murray 1969, p. 441.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, p. 172.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 439–440.
- ^ Dean, p. 147.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 442–443.
- ^ Dary, pp. 322–323.
- ^ Dean, p. 149.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 446–447.
- ^ "Item D-01800 – U.S. President Warren Gamaliel Harding and Lieutenant Governor Nichol in a procession on Granville Street, Vancouver". Royal British Columbia Museum. July 26, 1923. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Warren G. Harding & Stanley Park". The History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 447–448.
- ^ Murray 1969, p. 448.
- ^ Lange, Greg (February 10, 1999). "U.S. President Warren G. Harding makes his last speech in Seattle on July 27, 1923". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
- ^ a b Murray 1969, pp. 449–450.
- Hearst Newspapers. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ "After 91 Years, President Warren Harding's Sudden Death Recalled". National Constitution Center. August 1, 2014. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ Murray 1969, p. 450.
- ^ Dean, pp. 152–153.
- ^ Russell, pp. 601–602.
- ^ Russell, p. 602.
- ^ Murray 1969, p. 454.
- ^ "1923: President Warren G. Harding's Funeral". Ohio Magazine. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ^ Russell, pp. 633, 640.
- ^ Nevins, p. 256.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 181–182.
- ^ a b c Trani & Wilson, p. 182.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 179–180.
- ^ Dean, pp. 139–141.
- ^ Murray 1973, pp. 125–126.
- ^ Sinclair, pp. 284–285.
- ^ Murray 1973, p. 107.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 183, 185.
- ^ Noggle, pp. 254–256.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 463–465.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 465–471.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 471–472.
- ^ Russell, pp. 497–498.
- ^ Murray 1969, p. 472.
- ^ Russell, p. 444.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 473–475.
- ^ Murray 1969, p. 478.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, p. 180.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 478–479.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, pp. 180–181.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 480–481.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 459–460.
- ^ Adams, p. 287.
- ^ a b c Murray 1969, p. 460.
- ^ Russell, p. 526.
- ^ Russell, p. 525.
- ^ Ferrell, 2369.
- ^ Adams, pp. 289, 292.
- ^ Russell, pp. 524–525.
- ^ Adams, pp. 232, 292, 294.
- ^ Adams, p. 294.
- ^ Murray 1973, p. 103.
- ^ Russell, p. 563.
- ^ Murray 1973, pp. 106–107.
- ^ "Kenneth W. Duckett Papers". Western Reserve Historical Society. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
- ^ Coffey, p. 84.
- ^ Russell, pp. 650–663.
- ^ Ferrell, 3207.
- ^ Russell, p. 167.
- ^ a b Coffey, p. 85.
- ^ a b Robenalt, James D. (August 13, 2015). "If we weren't so obsessed with Warren G. Harding's sex life, we'd realize he was a pretty good president". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
- ^ a b c Coffey, p. 80.
- ^ a b Sinclair, p. 293.
- ^ a b Strochlic, Nina (August 14, 2015). "Our Dirtiest President's Mistress Tells All". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
- ^ Dean, p. 162.
- ^ Murray 1969, pp. 456–457.
- ^ Murray 1969, p. 457.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, p. 208.
- ^ Ferrell, 2970.
- ^ Russell, pp. 632–633, 639–640.
- ^ Payne 2014, pp. 125, 127.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, p. 209.
- ^ Dean, p. 163.
- ^ a b Coffey, p. 86.
- ^ Trani & Wilson, p. 211.
- ^ Coffey, pp. 88–89.
- ^ Coffey, p. 89.
- Miller Center. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ a b Ferrell, 3474–3485.
- ^ Schlesinger, Arthur M. (November 1, 1948). "Historians Rate the U.S. Presidents". Life. pp. 65–66, 68, 73–74.
- ISSN 1086-1653.
- ^ Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce; Smith, Alastair (2016). The Spoils of War. PublicAffairs. p. 255.
- ^ a b Murray 1969, p. 536.
Bibliography
- Adams, Samuel Hopkins (1939). The Incredible Era: The Life and Times of Warren Gamaliel Harding. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-374-90051-5.
- Bagby, Wesley M. (March 1955). "The 'Smoke Filled Room' and the Nomination of Warren G. Harding". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 41 (4): 657–674. JSTOR 1889182.
- Coffey, Justin P. (2014), "Harding Biographies", in Sibley, Katherine A. S. (ed.), A Companion to Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 79–93, ISBN 978-1-4443-5003-6
- Dary, David (2004). The Oregon Trail: An American Saga. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-41399-5.
- ISBN 978-0-8050-6956-3.
- Downes, Randolph C. (1970). The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865–1920. Columbus, OH: Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-8142-0140-4.
- ISBN 978-0-7867-2163-4.
- Ferrell, Robert H. (1996). The Strange Deaths of President Harding (Kindle ed.). Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-1202-3.
- Morello, John A. (2001). Selling the President, 1920: Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding. Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-97030-7.
- Murray, Robert K. (1969). The Harding Era 1921–1923: Warren G. Harding and his Administration. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-0541-5.
- Murray, Robert K. (1973). The Politics of Normalcy: Governmental Theory and Practice in the Harding–Coolidge Era. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-05474-3.
- OCLC 4171403.
- Noggle, Burl (September 1957). "The Origins of the Teapot Dome Investigation". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 44 (2). Organization of American Historians: 237–266. JSTOR 1887189.
- Payne, Phillip G. (2014), "The Harding Presidency: Scandals, Legacy, and Memory", in Sibley, Katherine A. S. (ed.), A Companion to Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 79–93, ISBN 978-1-4443-5003-6
- ISBN 0-07-054338-0.
- ISBN 978-0-618-34085-9.
- Sibley, Katherine A. S. (2009). First Lady Florence Harding: Behind the Tragedy and Controversy. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1649-7.
- Sinclair, Andrew (1969) [1965]. The Available Man: The Life behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding (1st Quadrangle Paperback ed.). Chicago: Quadrangle Books. OCLC 422550801.
- Trani, Eugene P.; Wilson, David L. (1977). The Presidency of Warren G. Harding. American Presidency. Lawrence, KS: The Regents Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-0152-3.
- Walters, Everett (1948). Joseph Benson Foraker: An Uncompromising Republican. The Ohio History Press. OCLC 477641.
- Walters, Ryan S. The Jazz Age President: Defending Warren G. Harding (2022) excerpt also online review
- Wynn, Neil (1986). From Progressivism to Prosperity: World War I and American Society. New York: Holmes & Meier. ISBN 978-0-8419-1107-9.
External links
- Works related to Proclamation 1606 at Wikisource – Harding's Presidential Proclamation authorizing U.S. troops to put down the miners' strike known as the Battle of Blair Mountain
- White House biography
- United States Congress. "Warren G. Harding (id: H000192)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Full audio and text of a number of Harding speeches, Miller Center of Public Affairs
- Warren G. Harding collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- President Harding and Calvin Coolidge, a film from 1920
- Warren Harding: A Resource Guide, Library of Congress
- Extensive essays on Warren Harding and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
- "Life Portrait of Warren G. Harding", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 20, 1999
- Works by Warren G. Harding at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Warren G. Harding at Internet Archive
- Works by Warren G. Harding at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Warren G. Harding Personal Manuscripts
- Warren G. Harding at IMDb
- Newspaper clippings about Warren G. Harding in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW