Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923.
Harding died of a heart attack in San Francisco while on a western tour, and was succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge. ==Early life and career== ===Childhood and education=== Warren Harding was born on November 2, 1865 in Blooming Grove, Ohio.
In 2015, genetic testing of Harding's descendants determined, with more than a 95% chance of accuracy, that he lacked sub-Saharan African forebears within four generations. In 1870, the Harding family, who were abolitionists, moved to Caledonia, where Tryon acquired The Argus, a local weekly newspaper.
In late 1879, at the age of 14, Harding enrolled at his father's alma mater—Ohio Central College in Iberia—where he proved an adept student.
Afterward, with the financial aid of his father, the budding newspaperman redeemed the paper. Through the later years of the 1880s, Harding built the Star.
According to his biographer, Andrew Sinclair: The population of Marion grew from 4,000 in 1880 to twice that in 1890, increasing to 12,000 by 1900.
During his final year, the Harding family moved to Marion, about from Caledonia, and when he graduated in 1882, he joined them there. ===Editor=== In Harding's youth, the majority of the population still lived on farms and in small towns.
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.
Sinclair suggested that a harsher standard was applied to Harding compared with Grover Cleveland, who was elected president in 1884 although it was known he had a mistress and may have fathered a son out of wedlock. ==Historical view== Upon his death, Harding was deeply mourned.
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. ===Start in politics=== Soon after purchasing the Star, Harding turned his attention to politics, supporting Foraker in his first successful bid for governor in 1885.
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. A truce between the Klings was snuffed out by the budding match.
He was a delegate to the Republican state convention in 1888, at the age of 22, representing Marion County, and would be elected a delegate in most years until becoming president. 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 Battle Creek Sanitorium for reasons Sinclair described as "fatigue, overstrain, and nervous illnesses".
According to his biographer, Andrew Sinclair: The population of Marion grew from 4,000 in 1880 to twice that in 1890, increasing to 12,000 by 1900.
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.
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." The Hardings were married on July 8, 1891, at their new home on Mount Vernon Avenue in Marion, which they had designed together in the Queen Anne style.
Florence Harding practiced strict economy and wrote of Harding, "he does well when he listens to me and poorly when he does not." In 1892, Harding traveled to Washington, where he met Democratic Nebraska Congressman William Jennings Bryan, and listened to the "Boy Orator of the Platte" speak on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Harding traveled to Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893.
During one such absence from Marion, in 1894, the Star's business manager quit.
Democrats generally won Marion County's offices; when Harding ran for auditor in 1895, he lost, but did better than expected.
Both Cox and Harding were economic conservatives, and were reluctant progressives at best. Harding elected to conduct a front porch campaign, like McKinley in 1896.
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. 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 served in the Ohio State Senate from 1900 to 1904, then as lieutenant governor for two years.
According to his biographer, Andrew Sinclair: The population of Marion grew from 4,000 in 1880 to twice that in 1890, increasing to 12,000 by 1900.
Five times between 1889 (when he was 23) and 1901, he spent time at the Battle Creek Sanitorium for reasons Sinclair described as "fatigue, overstrain, and nervous illnesses".
It was usual at that time for state senators in Ohio to serve only one term, but Harding gained renomination in 1901.
After first meeting and talking with Harding, Daugherty commented, "Gee, what a great-looking President he'd make." ===Ohio state leader=== In early 1903, Harding announced he would run for Governor of Ohio, prompted by the withdrawal of the leading candidate, Congressman Charles W.
In April 1921, Harding gained the ratification of the Thomson–Urrutia Treaty with Colombia, granting that nation $25 million (equivalent to $ million in ) as settlement for the U.S.-provoked Panamanian revolution of 1903.
He served in the Ohio State Senate from 1900 to 1904, then as lieutenant governor for two years.
Foraker and Hanna (who died of typhoid fever in February 1904) both campaigned for what was dubbed the Four-H ticket.
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.
One Republican official wrote to Harding, "Aren't you sorry Dick wouldn't let you run for Lieutenant Governor?" In addition to helping pick a president, Ohio voters in 1908 were to choose the legislators who would decide whether to re-elect Foraker.
On January 6, 1908, Harding's Star endorsed Foraker and upbraided Roosevelt for trying to destroy the senator's career over a matter of conscience.
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.
He was defeated for governor in 1910, but was elected to the United States Senate in 1914, the state's first direct election for that office.
Also helpful in saving Harding's career was the fact that he was popular with, and had done favors for, the more progressive forces that now controlled the Ohio Republican Party. Harding sought and gained the 1910 Republican gubernatorial nomination.
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.
The act reduced the numbers of immigrants to 3% of those from a given country living in the U.S., based on the 1910 census.
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. The party split grew, and in 1912, Taft and Roosevelt were rivals for the Republican nomination.
The 1912 Republican National Convention was bitterly divided.
He was defeated for governor in 1910, but was elected to the United States Senate in 1914, the state's first direct election for that office.
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.
In 1914, the start of World War I and the prospect of a Catholic senator from Ohio increased nativist sentiment.
Harding did not attack Hogan (an old friend) on this or most other issues, but he did not denounce the nativist hatred for his opponent. Harding's conciliatory campaigning style aided him; one Harding friend deemed the candidate's stump speech during the 1914 fall campaign as "a rambling, high-sounding mixture of platitudes, patriotism, and pure nonsense".
Wood campaigned in the state, and his supporter, Procter, spent large sums; Harding spoke in the non-confrontational style he had adopted in 1914.
Schlesinger Jr., Coffey deemed that book the most revisionist to date, and faults Dean for glossing over some unfavorable episodes in Harding's life, like his silence during the 1914 Senate campaign, when his opponent Hogan was being attacked for his faith. Harding has traditionally been ranked as one of the worst presidents.
She became her husband's top assistant at the Star on the business side, maintaining her role until the Hardings moved to Washington in 1915.
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. Harding, as a politician respected by both Republicans and Progressives, was asked to be temporary chairman of the 1916 Republican National Convention and to deliver the keynote address.
Harding reached out to Roosevelt once the former president declined the 1916 Progressive nomination, a refusal that effectively scuttled that party.
In the November 1916 presidential election, despite increasing Republican unity, Hughes was narrowly defeated by Wilson. 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.
Cox in 1916) and Colonel William Cooper Procter (head of Procter & Gamble).
In the November 1916 presidential election, despite increasing Republican unity, Hughes was narrowly defeated by Wilson. 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.
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. In the 1918 midterm congressional elections, held just before the armistice, Republicans narrowly took control of the Senate.
The Senate debated Versailles in September 1919, and Harding made a major speech against it.
These plans ended when Roosevelt suddenly died on January 6, 1919.
On December 17, 1919, Harding made a low-key announcement of his presidential candidacy.
Coolidge, popular for his role in breaking the Boston police strike of 1919, was nominated for vice president, receiving two and a fraction votes more than Harding had.
By 1919, he was aware he had a heart condition.
He ran for the Republican nomination for president in 1920, and was considered a long shot until after the convention began.
As during his time in the Ohio Senate, Harding came to be widely liked. 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.
With an incapacitated president in the White House and less support in the country, the treaty was defeated. ==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.
Pershing. 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.
Despite the candidate's work, according to Russell, "without Daugherty's Mephistophelean efforts, Harding would never have stumbled forward to the nomination." There were only 16 presidential primary states in 1920, of which the most crucial to Harding was Ohio.
Chairman Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, the Senate Majority Leader, adjourned the convention about 7 p.m. The night of June 11–12, 1920 would become famous in political history as the night of the "smoke-filled room", in which, legend has it, party elders agreed to force the convention to nominate Harding.
It is balder and dash." 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." 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.
Wooster College professor William Estabrook Chancellor publicized the rumors, based on supposed family research, but perhaps reflecting no more than local gossip. By Election Day, November 2, 1920, few had any doubts that the Republican ticket would win.
Congress had authorized their disposal in 1920, but the Senate would not confirm Wilson's nominees to the Shipping Board.
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." ====Embracing new technologies==== The 1920s were a time of modernization for America.
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.
Coolidge later signed the Immigration Act of 1924, permanently restricting immigration to the U.S. ====Debs and political prisoners==== Harding's Socialist opponent in the 1920 election, Eugene Debs, was serving a ten-year sentence in the Atlanta Penitentiary for speaking against the war.
From 303 Republicans elected to the House in 1920, the new 68th Congress would see that party fall to a 221–213 majority.
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." ==Extramarital affairs== Harding had an extramarital affair with Carrie Fulton Phillips of Marion, which lasted about 15 years before ending in 1920.
Works written in the late 1920s helped shape Harding's dubious historical reputation: Masks in a Pageant, by William Allen White, mocked and dismissed Harding, as did Samuel Hopkins Adams' fictionalized account of the Harding administration, Revelry.
Harding Laddie Boy, Harding's dog 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 Memorials to Warren G.
troops to put down the miners' strike known as the Battle of Blair Mountain White House biography Full audio and text of a number of Harding speeches, Miller Center of Public Affairs 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.
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923.
A major foreign policy achievement came with the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–1922, in which the world's major naval powers agreed on a naval limitations program that lasted a decade.
The Republicans greatly increased their majority in each house of Congress. ==President (1921–1923)== ===Inauguration and appointments=== Harding was sworn in on March 4, 1921, in the presence of his wife and father.
Treaties with Germany, Austria and Hungary, each containing many of the non-League provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, were ratified in 1921. This still left the question of relations between the U.S.
When famine struck Russia in 1921, Hoover had the American Relief Administration, which he had headed, negotiate with the Russians to provide aid.
He gave a speech to a joint session of Congress in April 1921, setting out his legislative priorities.
Harding concurred, and after some diplomatic discussions, representatives of nine nations convened in Washington in November 1921.
We know not whence he came, only that his death marks him with the everlasting glory of an American dying for his country". Hughes, in his speech at the opening session of the conference on November 12, 1921, made the American proposal—the U.S.
The troops stationed in Cuba to protect American interests were withdrawn in 1921; U.S.
In April 1921, Harding gained the ratification of the Thomson–Urrutia Treaty with Colombia, granting that nation $25 million (equivalent to $ million in ) as settlement for the U.S.-provoked Panamanian revolution of 1903.
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.
recognized the Obregón government on August 31, 1923, just under a month after Harding's death, substantially on the terms proffered by Mexico. ===Domestic policy=== ====Postwar recession and recovery==== When Harding took office on March 4, 1921, the nation was in the midst of a postwar economic decline.
It was not until November that the revenue bill finally passed, with higher rates than Mellon had proposed. Harding had opposed payment of a bonus to veterans, arguing 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." The Senate sent the bonus bill back to committee, but the issue returned when Congress reconvened in December 1921.
The top marginal rate was reduced annually in four stages from 73% in 1921 to 25% in 1925.
Unemployment was pared from its 1921 high of 12% to an average of 3.3% for the remainder of the decade.
To improve and expand the nation's highway system, Harding signed the Federal Highway Act of 1921.
From 1921 to 1923, the federal government spent $162 million (equivalent to $ billion in ) on America's highway system, infusing the U.S.
In 1922, Harding proclaimed that America was in the age of the "motor car", which "reflects our standard of living and gauges the speed of our present-day life." Harding had urged regulation of radio broadcasting in his April 1921 speech to Congress.
He sought to get them to work together at a conference on unemployment that he called to meet in September 1921 at Hoover's recommendation.
On October 26, 1921, Harding gave a speech in Birmingham, Alabama, to a segregated audience of 20,000 Whites and 10,000 Blacks.
Three days after the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, Harding spoke at the all-Black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
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." Harding had spoken out against lynching in his April 1921 speech before Congress, and supported Congressman Leonidas Dyer's federal anti-lynching bill, which passed the House of Representatives in January 1922.
Murray noted that it was hastened to its end by Harding's desire to have the ship subsidy bill considered. With the public suspicious of immigrants, especially those who might be socialists or communists, Congress passed the Per Centum Act of 1921, signed by Harding on May 19, 1921, as a quick means of restricting immigration.
The president did not feel he could release Debs until the war was officially over, but once the peace treaties were signed, commuted Debs' sentence on December 23, 1921.
When Chief Justice Edward Douglass White died in May 1921, Harding was unsure whether to appoint former president Taft or former Utah senator George Sutherland—he had promised seats on the court to both men.
When the Harding administration took office, Interior Secretary Fall took up Lane's argument and Harding signed an executive order in May 1921 transferring the reserves from the Navy Department to Interior.
Denby. The Interior Department announced in July 1921 that Edward Doheny had been awarded a lease to drill along the edges of the Elk Hills naval reserve in California.
By 1922, though, the U.S., through its consul in Geneva, was dealing with the League, and though the U.S.
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.
was established in 1922) hoped in vain that the agreement would lead to recognition.
A bill providing a bonus, without a means of funding it, was passed by both houses in September 1922.
Harding, when he enacted the Fordney–McCumber Tariff Act on September 21, 1922, made a brief signing statement, praising only that the bill gave him some power to adjust rates.
Based on his advice, Harding's revenue bill cut taxes, starting in 1922.
By late 1922, the economy began to turn around.
In 1922, Harding proclaimed that America was in the age of the "motor car", which "reflects our standard of living and gauges the speed of our present-day life." Harding had urged regulation of radio broadcasting in his April 1921 speech to Congress.
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.
Harding greatly respected his Commerce Secretary, often asked his advice, and backed him to the hilt, calling Hoover "the smartest 'gink' I know". Widespread strikes marked 1922, as labor sought redress for falling wages and increased unemployment.
As Harding proposed, the miners agreed to return to work, and Congress created a commission to look into their grievances. On July 1, 1922, 400,000 railroad workers went on strike.
The injunction succeeded in ending the strike; however, tensions remained high between railroad workers and management for years. By 1922, the eight-hour day had become common in American industry.
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." Harding had spoken out against lynching in his April 1921 speech before Congress, and supported Congressman Leonidas Dyer's federal anti-lynching bill, which passed the House of Representatives in January 1922.
When it reached the Senate floor in November 1922, it was filibustered by Southern Democrats, and Lodge withdrew it so as to allow the ship subsidy bill Harding favored to be debated (it was likewise filibustered).
Walsh to lead the investigation, and Walsh read through the truckload of material provided by the Interior Department through 1922 into 1923, including a letter from Harding stating that the transfer and leases had been with his knowledge and approval. Hearings into Teapot Dome began in October 1923, two months after Harding's death.
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.
Forbes' main task was to ensure that new hospitals were built around the country to help the 300,000 wounded World War I veterans. Near the beginning of 1922, Forbes had met Elias Mortimer, agent for the Thompson-Black Construction Company of St.
At least $25,000 of the resulting financial excess was divided between Forbes and Cramer. Intent on making more money, Forbes in November 1922 began selling valuable hospital supplies under his control in large warehouses at the Perryville Depot in Maryland.
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923.
Although a few of these turned out badly, he was in general successful as an investor, leaving an estate of $850,000 in 1923 (equivalent to $ million in ).
Dean ties these visits to early occurrences of the heart ailment that would kill Harding in 1923.
This agreement, approved by Congress in 1923, set a pattern for negotiations with other nations.
recognized the Obregón government on August 31, 1923, just under a month after Harding's death, substantially on the terms proffered by Mexico. ===Domestic policy=== ====Postwar recession and recovery==== When Harding took office on March 4, 1921, the nation was in the midst of a postwar economic decline.
Taxes were cut for lower incomes starting in 1923.
From 1921 to 1923, the federal government spent $162 million (equivalent to $ billion in ) on America's highway system, infusing the U.S.
Steel chairman Elbert Gary, which in early 1923 recommended against ending the practice.
Once Congress left town in early March 1923, Harding's popularity in the country began to recover.
Most Republicans realized that there was no practical alternative to supporting Harding in 1924. In the first half of 1923, Harding did two acts 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 made a new will.
Stress caused by the presidency and by Florence Harding's ill health (she had a chronic kidney condition) debilitated him, and he never really recovered from an episode of influenza in January 1923.
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." In early June 1923, Harding set out on a journey, which he dubbed the "Voyage of Understanding." The president planned to cross the country, go north to Alaska Territory, journey south along the West Coast, then travel by a U.S.
The party was to return to Seward by the Richardson Trail, but due to Harding's fatigue, it went by train. On July 26, 1923, Harding toured Vancouver, British Columbia as the first sitting American president to visit Canada.
The president rushed through his speech, not waiting for applause by the audience. ==Death and funeral== Harding went to bed early on the evening of July 27, 1923, a few hours after giving a speech at the University of Washington.
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".
Smith committed suicide on May 30, 1923.
Walsh to lead the investigation, and Walsh read through the truckload of material provided by the Interior Department through 1922 into 1923, including a letter from Harding stating that the transfer and leases had been with his knowledge and approval. Hearings into Teapot Dome began in October 1923, two months after Harding's death.
When the 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.
At first Harding did not believe it, but Sawyer secured proof in January 1923.
Harding did not want an open scandal and allowed Forbes to flee to Europe, from where he resigned on February 15, 1923.
The construction executive was the star witness at the hearings in late 1923, after Harding's death.
The late president's reputation had deteriorated since his death in 1923, and many believed Britton.
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. Later decades saw revisionist books published on Harding.
Harding Laddie Boy, Harding's dog 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 Memorials to Warren G.
Talks with Germany on reduction of reparations payments would result in the Dawes Plan of 1924. A pressing issue not resolved by Wilson was the question of policy towards Bolshevik Russia.
A bonus, not payable in cash, was voted to soldiers despite Coolidge's veto in 1924. In his first annual message to Congress, Harding sought the power to adjust tariff rates.
Coolidge later signed the Immigration Act of 1924, permanently restricting immigration to the U.S. ====Debs and political prisoners==== Harding's Socialist opponent in the 1920 election, Eugene Debs, was serving a ten-year sentence in the Atlanta Penitentiary for speaking against the war.
Most Republicans realized that there was no practical alternative to supporting Harding in 1924. In the first half of 1923, Harding did two acts 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 made a new will.
The trip would allow him to speak widely across the country, to politic and bloviate in advance of the 1924 campaign, and allow him some rest away from Washington's oppressive summer heat. Harding's political advisers had given him a physically demanding schedule, even though the president had ordered it cut back.
When the 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. Democratic Montana Senator Burton K.
Wheeler was on the investigating committee and assumed the role of prosecutor when hearings began on March 12, 1924.
Coolidge requested Daugherty's resignation when the Attorney General indicated that he would not allow Wheeler's committee access to Justice Department records, and Daugherty complied on March 28, 1924. The illicit activity that caused Daugherty the most problems was a Smith deal with Colonel Thomas W.
Forbes returned from Europe to testify, but convinced few, and in 1924, he and John W.
The top marginal rate was reduced annually in four stages from 73% in 1921 to 25% in 1925.
Harding again promoted legislation but nothing was done until 1926, when the Air Commerce Act created the Bureau of Aeronautics within Hoover's Commerce Department. ====Business and labor==== Harding's attitude toward business was that government should aid it as much as possible.
The first trial, in September 1926, resulted in a [jury]; at the second, early in 1927, Miller was convicted and served prison time, but the jury again hung as to Daugherty.
Forbes began to serve his sentence in 1926; Thompson, who had a bad heart, died that year before commencing his.
Both Harding and Hoover realized something more than an agreement was needed, but Congress was slow to act, not imposing radio regulation until 1927. Harding also wished to promote aviation, and Hoover again took the lead, convening a national conference on commercial aviation.
The first trial, in September 1926, resulted in a [jury]; at the second, early in 1927, Miller was convicted and served prison time, but the jury again hung as to Daugherty.
In 1927, Britton, also a Marionite, published The President's Daughter, alleging that her child Elizabeth Ann Blaesing had been fathered by Harding.
Fall was convicted in 1929 of accepting bribes, and in 1931 became the first U.S.
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. === Justice Department === Harding's appointment of Harry M.
By that time, with the Great Depression in full swing, Hoover was nearly as discredited as Harding. 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.
Warren and Florence Harding rest in the Harding Tomb, which was dedicated in 1931 by President Hoover. ==Scandals== Harding appointed a number of friends and acquaintances to federal positions.
Fall was convicted in 1929 of accepting bribes, and in 1931 became the first U.S.
Hoover, Coolidge's successor, was similarly reluctant, but with Coolidge in attendance presided over the dedication in 1931.
In a 1948 poll conducted by Harvard University, historian Arthur M.
Letters from Harding to Phillips were discovered by Harding biographer Francis Russell in the possession of Marion attorney Donald Williamson while Russell was researching his book in 1963.
Yet the myth has persisted." 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.
The case was ultimately settled in 1971, with the letters donated to the Library of Congress.
Harding", from C-SPAN's Life Portraits, September 20, 1999 Warren G.
Robert Ferrell's The Strange Deaths of President Harding (1996), according to Coffey, "spends almost the entire work challenging every story about Harding and concludes that almost everything that is read and taught about his subject is wrong." In 2004, John Dean, noted for his involvement in another presidential scandal, Watergate, wrote the Harding volume in "The American Presidents" series of short biographies, edited by Arthur M.
They were sealed until 2014, but before their opening, historians used copies at Case Western Reserve University and in Russell's papers at the University of Wyoming.
Coffey in his 2014 review of Harding biographies criticizes him for "obsess[ing] over Harding's sex life". The allegations of Harding's other known mistress, Nan Britton, long remained uncertain.
In 2015, genetic testing of Harding's descendants determined, with more than a 95% chance of accuracy, that he lacked sub-Saharan African forebears within four generations. In 1870, the Harding family, who were abolitionists, moved to Caledonia, where Tryon acquired The Argus, a local weekly newspaper.
In 2015, DNA tests performed by Ancestry.com were used by members of the Harding and Blaesing families, which confirmed that Harding was Elizabeth's father.
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