Harding, Warren Gamaliel (1865-1923), was elected president in 1920 by a people weary of wartime restraints and world problems. His supporters expected him to turn back the clock and restore the more carefree atmosphere of the days before World War I (1914-1918). Harding, an easygoing newspaper publisher and senator, encouraged this belief by campaigning on the slogan of “Back to Normalcy.” Actually, Americans would probably have elected any Republican candidate to the White House in 1920 in protest against the policies of Democratic President Woodrow Wilson. They opposed particularly Wilson’s definition of American ideals and his unwillingness to accept any changes in his plan for a League of Nations. They wished to reduce their responsibilities in world affairs and to resume their normal activities with as little bother as possible.
It was easier to praise “normalcy” than to produce it during the Roaring Twenties. The word meant so many different things to different people. Some were rebels. They danced in cabarets, drank bootleg gin, and poked fun in novels and plays at “normal” American life. Others, reacting against the rebels, wanted to standardize thought and behavior. They persecuted radicals, tried to enforce prohibition, and fought to ban the teaching of evolution in the public schools. With so many crosscurrents at work in American society, Harding was unable to assert himself and provide a vision for the nation.
The popularity of Harding’s administration was damaged by the short but severe depression of 1921. Within two years, the Teapot Dome oil scandal and other graft in governmental agencies destroyed faith in his administration. Harding became aware of this widespread corruption early in 1923.
Historians almost unanimously rank Harding as one of the weakest presidents. But these historians have recognized that the very qualities that made him weak also made him appealing in 1920. He failed because he was weak-willed and a poor judge of character.
Harding was the sixth president to die in office. He was succeeded by his vice president, Calvin Coolidge.
Early life
Childhood.
Harding was born on Nov. 2, 1865, on a farm near Corsica (now Blooming Grove), about 5 miles (8 kilometers) east of Galion, in north-central Ohio. He was the eldest of the eight children of George Tryon Harding and Phoebe Dickerson Harding. George Harding supplemented his small income as a farmer by becoming a homeopathic doctor. He was descended from an English family that had landed at Plymouth in 1624.
Warren attended grammar schools at Corsica and Caledonia. He learned to set type on the Caledonia Argus, a weekly newspaper in which his father had a half ownership. Warren attended Ohio Central College, a high school in Iberia. He disliked the study of chemistry, and once put a bottle of ill-smelling hydrogen sulfide in his teacher’s desk drawer. While in high school, Harding edited the school newspaper.
Newspaper career.
In 1882, Harding passed an examination that allowed him to teach school. He taught for a term in a one-room schoolhouse near Marion, Ohio. Later he called teaching “the hardest job I ever had.” Harding also read law and sold insurance before turning to journalism. He first worked for the Marion Democratic Mirror. But he was fired in 1884 for supporting James G. Blaine, the Republican candidate for President. Harding and two friends then bought the Marion Star, a bankrupt newspaper, for $300.
Marriage.
In 1891, Harding married Florence Kling De Wolfe (Aug. 15, 1860-Nov. 21, 1924), the daughter of a prominent Marion banker. She was a divorcee, five years his senior. Florence, nicknamed “Duchess” by Harding, had a dominating personality, and great ambitions for her husband. She helped him build the Star into a prosperous newspaper. He became a director of several corporations, and a trustee of the Trinity Baptist Church. The Hardings had no children.
Political career
Entry into politics.
Harding soon became known as both an editor and a skillful orator. He was elected Republican state senator in 1899 and reelected in 1901. He was elected lieutenant governor in 1903 but lost the 1910 election for governor.
While in state politics, Harding gained the devoted friendship of Harry M. Daugherty, a shrewd Ohio political strategist. Years later, Daugherty worked hard to make Harding president.
In 1912, Harding was chosen to nominate President William Howard Taft for a second term at the Republican National Convention. This honor, he said, gave him a greater thrill than his own nomination. At the 1916 national convention, Harding gave the keynote speech and also served as permanent chairman.
U.S. senator.
Urged on by Daugherty and by his wife, Harding ran successfully for the United States Senate in 1914. Genial and popular, he enjoyed the good fellowship and prestige of the Senate but introduced no major bills during his six-year term. He missed almost half of the roll calls and spent more time hunting jobs for his friends than in studying legislation. Harding usually voted with the Republican leadership. He favored high tariffs and opposed the League of Nations and federal regulation of industry. He voted for prohibition and woman suffrage but had no firm commitment to either cause.
The smoke-filled room.
Early in 1919, some newspapers began to mention Harding as a compromise candidate for president. Harding insisted that the Senate was “far more to my liking than the presidency possibly could be.” But Daugherty, aided by Mrs. Harding, persuaded him to run and became his campaign manager.
The 1920 Republican National Convention opened in Chicago on a sweltering June day. Most of the delegates supported Governor Frank O. Lowden of Illinois; Major General Leonard Wood, former Army chief of staff; or Senator Hiram W. Johnson of California. But the ever-present Daugherty was busy behind the scenes. His welcomers greeted every delegate, urging them to support Harding as a second- or even third-choice candidate.
On the first day of voting, the convention adjourned in deadlock after four ballots. That night, a small group of powerful senators and political bosses met at the Blackstone Hotel in what Daugherty called a “smoke-filled room.” At about 2 a.m., they agreed upon Harding as a compromise candidate. The delegates nominated Harding the next day on the 10th ballot and chose Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts as his running mate.
The Democrats nominated Governor James M. Cox of Ohio for president and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt for vice president.
The front porch campaign.
Harding conducted a front porch campaign from his home in Marion. He made speeches there and met visiting delegations. He told his secretary that handshaking “is the most pleasant thing I do.” Harding avoided a clear-cut stand on the League of Nations by denouncing it but promising to work for an “association of nations.” He also evaded specific domestic issues by promising “normalcy.”
Harding won an overwhelming victory and became the first man to be elected to the presidency while serving in the Senate. It was the first presidential election in which all women could vote and in which the returns were broadcast by radio.
Harding’s administration (1921-1923)
From the beginning of his administration, Harding depended on Congress and on his Cabinet to provide leadership. Like most Republicans, he felt that during World War I President Wilson had taken powers that properly belonged to Congress.
Return to normalcy.
Harding moved quickly to end the deadlock on the League of Nations. He signed peace treaties that did not include the League covenant with Germany and the other Central Powers. Congress took the leadership in domestic legislation. In 1921, it placed quotas on immigration for the first time and reduced taxes. In 1922, it raised tariffs to record heights.
Secretary of Agriculture Henry C. Wallace reorganized the Department of Agriculture and promoted legislation that benefited farmers. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, who later became president himself, proposed regulations for commercial aviation and radio broadcasting and helped end the 12-hour workday in the steel industry. Under the leadership of Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, the Washington Disarmament Conference was held in 1921 and 1922 (see Washington Conference).
Government scandals.
Harding brought so many friends to Washington that they became known as “the Ohio gang.” Some were untrustworthy, but he enjoyed them socially and gave them important jobs. A tide of corruption soon began to rise. The Teapot Dome scandal was the most shocking case. It involved Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall, who accepted a bribe for leasing government-owned oil reserves to private companies. He was sentenced to prison in 1929 and began serving his term in 1931.
Harry Daugherty, whom Harding had named attorney general, was tried in 1926 on charges concerning his administration of the Alien Property Custodian’s Office. Two juries failed to agree on a verdict, and Daugherty was freed.
Jesse W. Smith, a friend of Daugherty, committed suicide in May 1923. It had been revealed that Smith was arranging settlements between the Department of Justice and law violators. Misuse of funds in the Veterans’ Bureau resulted in the suicide of Charles F. Cramer, legal adviser of the agency, and the imprisonment of Charles R. Forbes, the director.
Death.
A depression in the farm economy caused the Republicans to slip badly in the 1922 congressional elections. In June 1923, Harding sought to revive confidence in his administration by making a speaking tour. With his wife and a large official party, he crossed the country and made the first presidential visit to Canada and Alaska. A long message in code from Washington reached Harding en route. It brought disturbing news about a Senate investigation of oil leases. Reporters later said that the depressed Harding asked them what a president could do when his friends betrayed him.
As his train passed through Seattle, Harding fell ill, presumably of food poisoning. The trip was halted in San Francisco, where doctors reported that Harding had pneumonia. After what seemed to be a short rally, the president died there on August 2. No autopsy was performed, and the exact cause of Harding’s death is not known.
The scandals had not yet become public, and sorrowing crowds gathered along the route as Harding’s body was returned to Washington. In an effort to protect his memory, Mrs. Harding burned as much of his correspondence as she could. She died the following year, and was buried beside Harding in Marion.
