Warren G. Harding

The American Presidents #29

by John W. Dean, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (Editor)

President Nixon's former counsel illuminates another presidency marked by scandal

Warren G. Harding may be best known as America's worst president. Scandals plagued him: the Teapot Dome affair, corruption in the Veterans Bureau and the Justice Department, and the posthumous revelation of an extramarital affair.

Raised in Marion, Ohio, Harding took hold of the small town's newspaper and turned it into a success. Showing a talent for local politics, he rose quickly to the U.S. Senate. His presidential campaign slogan, "America's present need is not heroics but healing, not nostrums but normalcy," gave voice to a public exhausted by the intense politics following World War I. Once elected, he pushed for legislation limiting the number of immigrants; set high tariffs to relieve the farm crisis after the war; persuaded Congress to adopt unified federal budget creation; and reduced income taxes and the national debt, before dying unexpectedly in 1923.

In this wise and compelling biography, John W. Dean—no stranger to controversy himself—recovers the truths and explodes the myths surrounding our twenty-ninth president's tarnished legacy.

Genres: Presidents, Biography, History, Nonfiction, Us Presidents, American History, Politics

202 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

John W. Dean served as White House Counsel for United States President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. In this position, he became deeply involved in events leading up to the Watergate burglaries and the subsequent Watergate scandal cover-up. He was referred to as the "master manipulator of the cover-up" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He pleaded guilty to a single felony count, in exchange for becoming a key witness for the prosecution. This ultimately resulted in a reduced prison sentence, which he served at Fort Holabird outside Baltimore, Maryland.

Dean is currently an author, columnist, and commentator on contemporary politics, strongly critical of conservatism and the Republican Party, and is a registered Independent who supported the efforts to impeach President George W. Bush.

Reviews

[robin friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warren Harding In The American Presidents Series

The American Presidents Series has produced short, accessible biographies of each of the American presidents with the exception of the immediately past president and the current incumbent. The biographies are valuable in offering an overview of the presidency and of the nature of leadership as well as an ongoing brief history of the United States. Each volume of the series is written by a different scholar with a particular perspective to offer on the presidential subject. The series thus does not present simple summaries but rather informed, individual accounts which make a contribution to understanding of the presidency. In general, the books in the series try to capture something of the strengths of their subjects rather than only their failures or shortcomings. Overall, I think this a valuable approach in understanding American history and the American presidents.

John Dean's 2004 study in the American Presidents Series of the 29th president, Warren G. Harding, offers a revisionist account of Harding and works hard to emphasize Harding's more admirable qualities. Dean, counsel to President Nixon and a pivotal figure in Watergate, was an excellent choice to write this volume with his experience with political scandal. Dean also grew up in Harding's home town of Marion, Ohio. The goal of Dean's book is to offer a partial rehabilitation of Harding given the commonly accepted view that he ranks at or near the bottom of the American presidents. Harding, a Republican, served as president from March 4, 1921 until his death on August 2, 1923. He was succeeded by Calvin Coolidge.

Dean offers a short portrayal of Harding's early life and career as the owner of a small-town newspaper, state politician and one-term United States Senator. He emphasizes that Harding was more intelligent and thoughtful than sometimes assumed. He also had skills in getting along with different types of people, in compromising, and in working quietly behind the scenes. Dean offers an account of the Republican presidential convention of 1920 which shows that Harding worked skillfully to secure the nomination rather than being the beneficiary of a cabal in a "smoke filled room" as is frequently supposed.

The heart of this book is its exploration of Harding's brief presidency, cut short by his death in office. Dean praises most of Harding's selections for his cabinet and finds as well that Harding became a more astute leader as his term progressed. Harding worked diligently at the office rather than lackadaisically as the stereotype would go. In a lengthy chapter, Dean discusses the accomplishments of Harding's presidency in the foreign policy, economics. judicial appointments, agriculture, labor, governmental organization, with the establishment of the OMB. and more. Harding made some efforts in the field of civil rights, including a trip to Birmingham, Alabama where he told a large, segregated audience "When I suggest the possibility of economic equality between the races, I mean it precisely the same way and to the same extent that I would mean it if I spoke of equality of economic opportunity as between members of the same race. In each case I would mean equality proportional to the honest capacities and deserts of the individual." Harding also courageously pardoned the socialist labor leader and presidential candidate, Eugene Debs, who had been imprisoned during Woodrow Wilson's presidency. After Debs' release, Harding met with him at the White House. Dean makes a good case that Harding's presidency had more accomplishments than generally realized.

Dean also brushes over somewhat quickly the scandals that came to light in the Harding Administration after the president's death. His accounts of the Teapot Dome Scandal and scandals at the Department of Justice and Veterans Affairs tend to minimize Harding's responsibility, both personally and for keeping track of events during his watch. Dean also expresses skepticism about the reports of marital infidelity during Harding's time in the White House and the claim that he fathered an illegitimate child. Dean suggested a DNA analysis to determine whether Harding had in fact fathered a child out of wedlock. In 2015, well after the publication of Dean's book, this was done and it confirmed the affair and the child. This was a matter that brought disgrace upon Harding after his death. In more recent times, Americans have perhaps become hardened to such activities.

Most current ratings of the presidents still rank Harding at or near the bottom. His presidency has not been rehabilitated in the sense that the presidency of Grant has come to be rehabilitated by a some historians. Dean's book didn't persuade me that Harding's presidency deserved to be held in high regard. Still this biography is valuable in bringing Harding's accomplishments to the attention of its readers and in its warning against drawing too-hasty, misinformed conclusions about historical figures.

Robin Friedman

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It turns out that John Dean is actually a good writer. I enjoyed the biography of Warren G. Harding but probably for the wrong reason as it is supposed to be a biography. Dean is up front in stating that this book is an attempt to set the record straight on a much maligned Harding and rehabilitate his image.

Just like Harding, John Dean of Watergate fame was born and raised in Marion Ohio albeit 20 years after the President had passed away. He recalls regularly riding his bike past the Harding house while delivering papers. Not surprisingly this book is a bit too slanted towards Harding but after plodding through many boring biographies of lesser known presidents I was ready for some good writing.

I think when this book's views on Harding are balanced with the vitriol that was pedaled after his death in 1923 by writers such as H.L. Mencken, you probably get a much more accurate view of the real person. In that sense, Dean's biography serves a purpose.

To his credit Dean, quoting sources, points out the Harding was in fact not lazy but very industrious often putting in 80 hour weeks. Dean points out that the Teapot Dome scandal did not involve Harding but rather a cabinet official (actually two). Dean points out that Harding was a strategist and did not bumble his way into the Presidency and had contemplated running 4 years earlier for the presidency but thought he would not win against Wilson. Harding was not very good at delegating and administering but pretty quick with decisions. So he was likely unfairly appraised by others who wrote about him after his death and after the Teapot Dome scandal broke.

But Dean also dismissed claims that Harding fathered a child with Nan Britton because Dean said Harding was infertile. Nan Britton claimed that she started an affair with a middle aged Harding while she was a teenager, this from her tell all book from 1927. The New York Times, in 2015, reported that recent DNA tests confirmed that Harding did in fact father Nan Britton's child. Mind you this was not the only affair Harding was involved with. So in this regard it seems Dean was not objective.

So I would give the writing a solid four stars but the objectivity was more like three stars.

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the interesting things about this book is the pairing of author and subject. A short biography of most notorious president of the ‘20s. written by the whistle blower who once helped cover-up the scandals of the most notorious president of the ‘70s. Got to be some symbolic score-settling here, some vicarious atonement ... am I right?

John Dean says no, and I think I believe him:

HUIstory’s treatment of Harding has long intrigued me and not because of Watergate (with which I am so familiar). While richard Nixon’s “Watergate” certainly replaced Harding’s “Teapot Dome” as the most serious high-level government scandal of the twentieth century, it was while living in harding’s hometown of Marion, Ohio, that Harding first came to my attention. It was where I first heard it said that there was more to his presidency than the scandalous stories still making the rounds when I was a kid … few presidents have experienced the unrequited attacks and reprisals visited on on of the most kindly men to ever occupy the Oval Office.

This book is certainly a defense of Harding, but a measured and balanced one. Dean shows us a president who, in his brief tenure (882 days) was an excellent head of state, superb at maintaining working relationships with both legislators and the press, but a man who lacked the gift for administration, and who allowed a few of his unscrupulous friends -who he had appointed to office—to take advantage of of their positions for personal gain. He himself, though was free from the taint of financial scandal. (Sexual scandal is another matter, but even this aspect of his character, Dean argues, has been exaggerated on the basis of slim evidence.)

The book is well-written and left me with the impression that Harding was a good man and a gifted campaigner who cared too much about being liked, and that this fault led to minimize the corruptioon that led him to be maligned after his death.

Dean’s book led me to think more charitably of Harding than I did before. A mediocre president certainly, but not one of our worst.

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Harding's administration was full of everything from corruption to scandal. Just my opinion but the current White House administration makes this one look like a day at the beach. If you like biographies or history this is a book you may want to check out.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Forty-One of my Presidential Challenge.

I waffled back and forth on what to rate this one. Clearly, John Dean was on a mission here to clear Harding's name. This is an understandable impulse. Harding is regularly trashed in history as one of the worst (if not the worst) President of all time. The way Dean sees it, Harding is a victim of scandals from his administration and his personal documents being unavailable for many years following his death. Dean makes a case that Harding was much beloved in his time and actually deserves a lot more credit.

The problem is that it felt like Dean overcorrected a bit here. He tries to make Harding a Washington when at best Harding was a Van Buren or a Fillmore. He may not be the worst President in history, but when the smoke clears he still was supremely unimpressive. I didn't appreciate Dean using this book like a bully pulpit in making a case for Harding. Oddly enough, this was the same reaction I had to the recent book on President Coolidge by Amity Shlaes. They don't trust the facts to stand on their own merit and tend to force the issue.

That being said, this book will give you all the info you could ever want on Harding (minus the sexy love letters that came out after this book was published and I'll be honest...I KIND of want to read them.)

[Frank Theising · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my trek through presidential biographies, there were not many options available for Warren Harding at the library. This short 170 page volume from The American Presidents series was selected by default, being the only option available. The author John Dean was former White House Counsel to President Nixon (and was convicted of a felony in the Watergate cover up). So it seem somewhat apropos that he authored this volume about another scandal plagued presidency. Dean makes no effort to hide his intention to rehabilitate the image of Warren Harding, who is generally considered to be “America’s Worst President”. Of his attempt, let me paraphrase Shakespeare: the gentleman doth protest too much, methinks.

Dean makes some compelling arguments that existing scholarship on Harding is inadequate and woefully biased (either positively or negatively). Unfortunately, Dean seems more interested in refuting every negative accusation than in offering an objective account of the man’s life. Some of his arguments have merit but are presented in such a way that they come off as petty quibbling. I’ll admit he somewhat succeeds in rehabilitating Harding’s character (even though he basically glosses over his affair), but I think he falls short in his attempt to rehabilitate his administration. A lot of shady things happened on Harding’s watch (although by modern standards they seem pretty tame). He may not have been directly involved but he was responsible and the buck and the fault has to stop with him.

After the Hoover, Coolidge, and Harding bios, I did come away with the belief that Harding was a much more gifted politician than he is given credit for. For all his faults, he read the national mood better than anyone, orchestrated a brilliant strategy for winning the GOP nomination, and used his interpersonal skills to great effect in securing passage of legislation and treaties he wanted. Unfortunately, his lack of executive experience was on full display as members of his cabinet ran wild.

Given the lack of quality options available, I don’t expect to find a better book on Harding so I feel compelled to grade this one on a curve. Three stars.

What follows are my notes on the book:

Warren G. Harding is best known as America’s worst president. A compelling case can be made, however, that to reach such a judgment one must ignore much of the relevant information about Harding and his presidency. The conclusion that Harding was our worst president endures because the actual record of his presidency has been overlooked (1). Compared to other presidents, there is remarkably little scholarship on Harding. Accounts written immediately after his death went overboard in their praise and weren’t good history. The author argues that later accounts were unfairly biased against him because a) he was no longer alive to defend himself b) other Republicans sought to avoid association with scandal and didn’t rise to his defense, and c) his presidential papers were assumed to have been destroyed by his wife (they weren’t) so his enemies felt free to exaggerate his failings without fear of detection (3). His presidency was the 4th shortest on record at 882 days (a full term is 1,461 days).

His was born Nov 2, 1865 as the Civil War was ending. His middle name (Gamaliel) would prove prophetic. In the Bible, Gamaliel was noted for counseling moderation and calmness. He was the eldest of 8 kids in a close knit family. He was a born talker and was reading by age 4. He worked on his parent’s farm. When he was 11, his father acquired an interest in a local newspaper. Warren’s apprenticeship at the paper profoundly influenced his life (6). He was naturally smart and attended Ohio Central College at age 14. Over the summers, he did construction work for the Ohio Central Railroad to pay for school (7). His last year of college, his family moved to the “big city” of Marion (pop 4,000).

After college, he tried his hand at teaching grade school and reading law. At 19, he partnered with friends to purchase the Marion Star newspaper at a sheriff’s auction. One of other assets acquired was an unlimited railroad pass. The new editor and publisher used the pass to travel to the 1884 GOP convention in Chicago. This adventure was a transforming event in young Harding’s life (10). He returned to Marion and put the weight of his paper behind the GOP candidate James Blaine. Harding turned the Star a viable business, hiring reporters, installing telegraph lines, and acquiring new printing presses. To pick up government print jobs created a second, partisan publication the Weekly Star (13). Harding would go on as editor of these papers for the next three decades. Usually even handed, he did attack one man relentlessly: Marion’s richest citizen, the rent-gouging, money-lending Amos Kling. As fate would have it, Kling would become his father-in-law.

Florence “Flossie” Kling grew up in a man’s world at her father’s side. Amos raised her in his own image and a war of wills inevitably followed. Perhaps in an act of defiance, Flossie had an affair and a child out of wedlock. The daughter of Marion’s richest man found herself destitute with a child. She met Harding while giving piano lessons to his sister. They began dating shortly thereafter. When Amos found out his daughter was dating his nemesis he had a conniption (18). Amos also believed (mistakenly) that Harding possessed African-American heritage and he set out to end their relationship. His rumor mongering and threats backfired and the couple were married in 1891. Ironically, their strongest bond was their mutual dislike of Florence’s father and their determination to prove him wrong. However, Flossie was a demanding woman (her nickname was “the Duchess”) and Harding found himself traveling more frequently for his paper.

In 1894, the Star’s business manager quit and Flossie took over business operations (but not editorial matters). She was very capable and her improved service led to more subscribers. Harding bid for county auditor fell short in 1895 (Marion county was controlled by Democrats). Harding proved a gifted politician and he was asked to campaign for William McKinley’s 1896 presidential campaign. In 1899, the 33 year old editor won a seat in the Ohio Senate, where he quickly became one of the most popular men in the General Assembly (23). He never made a bid for leadership, but being the ultimate team player others began offering him the brass ring he had never reached for on his own. Reelected, he quickly rose to floor leader of the senate and was elected Lt Governor in 1904 (25). In 1905 he withdrew from political life because of Florence’s poor health.

Running his paper again full time back in Marion, his friends Jim and Carrie Phillips lost a two year old son. Jim was admitted to a sanitarium and the grief stricken Carrie began an affair with Harding while Flossie was bedridden (26). The affair would continue for the next 15 years and would remain a secret until after Harding’s death (their love letters were discovered in 1973). Amos and Florence reconciled over her illness. With Flossie back on her feet, Harding was restless and he made a failed bid for Ohio Governor in 1910. Teddy Roosevelt returned from Africa and the GOP split into two camps. He was not opposed to progressive ideas but he was a loyal Party man and strongly objected to TR’s baseless attacks on Taft (he compared TR to Aaron Burr). Harding placed Taft’s name in nomination at the convention. He was bitterly disappointed when Taft lost to Wilson. He feared Wilson’s progressive policies would lower tariffs and spark a recession (32).

After Taft’s loss, he uncharacteristically called in a political favor from Ohio’s patronage handler, asking for a diplomatic post. No post was available but in 1914 Senator Burton did not run for reelection because the 17th Amendment (direct election of senators) went into effect in 1913 and he didn’t want to campaign. His wife’s health recovered and in a good place financially, he ran for Senate. Typical of his style, he chose to build a big tent rather than divide and conquer and won the GOP primary. His margin of victory (100K votes) in the general election was so large it immediately sparked talk of higher office. Because of TR and Wilson’s aggressive presidencies, the Senate’s power had waned as Harding entered it. Under Democrat control, he was assigned to committees of little significance and he dutifully kept a low profile as a new member. Outgoing, he made friends quickly and he often had guests at his home for first rate meals and poker games. Despite his low seniority, he was asked to give the keynote speech at the 1916 GOP convention (39).

He attempted to reconcile GOP factions and focused his attacks on Wilson. While the GOP supported neutrality, they believed the Democrats had not prepared adequately for defense. After Wilson’s reelection, Harding spent the next 4 years in the Senate positioning himself to be a presidential contender. In 1919 after the GOP retook the Senate, he was assigned to the Foreign Relations Committee, giving him an important role in the resolution of WWI issues (like the League of Nations). He threw his weight behind a reservation to the treaty (that Congress must still declare war before the US would defend another country). Wilson’s stubborn refusal to accept any reservations led to its defeat. Overall, Harding did not distinguish himself in the Senate; he often missed votes on controversial issues so as not to make enemies or waste political capital (44). He traveled frequently, giving speeches.

In 1919, TR died and Wilson suffered a crippling stroke, increasing the odds of a GOP victory in 1920. This generated a number of wannabe contenders for the nomination. The frontrunners included General Leonard Wood, IL Governor Lowden, and CA Senator Hiram Johnson. Harding suspected that the frontrunners would self-destruct or deadlock. He employed his standard strategy: offend no one, make friends everywhere, and act the peacemaker. In a 1920 speech in Boston, he called for a return to “normalcy” that resonated with the electorate. Expecting the front runners to burn out or alienate their opponent’s supporters, he carefully cultivated delegates, lining himself up as everybody’s second choice (57). General Wood had the most delegates but he had alienated regular Republicans. Lowden was accused of accepting bribes. Neither Wood nor Lowden’s delegates would support the other. In the early voting, Harding was a distant 4th.

As the convention deadlocked, several delegates and senators adjourned to a hotel room where a freewheeling bull session followed. They recognized that the front runners could not muster enough delegates to win the nomination. Utah Senator Smoot told reporters they had decided to nominate Harding (which had not been agreed upon…others were simply using Harding as a foil to draw away votes from front runners so they could push their own candidates). Before they knew it however, the groundswell for Harding was beyond their control and he was nominated on the 10th ballot (66). It is a historical distortion that Harding was selected by his Senate colleagues in smoke-filled room. Coolidge was spontaneously approved for VP. The Democrats selected Ohio Governor James Cox (FDR was the VP nom).

As a newspaper man himself, Harding cultivated a strong rapport with the media which served his “Front Porch Campaign” well. Democrats distributed handbills resuscitating the racist slurs that Harding was of African American descent (75). Harding deftly straddled the most divisive issue of the campaign (the League of Nations) and won the largest landslide victory in Republican history. Every faction (Rep and Dem) spun the victory as a win for their position (77).

The nation’s economy in the aftermath of the war was not good (large debt, drop in trade, tight credit, deflation, etc). Harding intended to trim the budget, revise the tax system, implement emergency tariffs, and create a federal budget system. He placed new budget legislation that would give the White House control over funding requests of departments and agencies as his top priority. He began filling his cabinet with respected names (Henry Wallace to Agriculture, Pittsburgh Millionaire Andrew Mellon to Treasury, Herbert Hoover to Commerce, Charles Evans Hughes to State) though it included duds (Albert Fall to Interior). Before his inauguration, Harding worked with his former Senate colleagues to fast track their confirmation (they were all approved with 10 minutes) (93). Viewed objectively, it appeared a strong cabinet full of “generalist executives” favored by modern governments. History has focused on Fall, using this bad apple to suggest a wider rot in the administration.

Wilson had been seriously ill for 17 months when Harding took power. Harding inherited a rebellious Congress, foreign policy in chaos, and an economy in shambles (95). On Harding’s coattails, the GOP had won wide margins in both houses of Congress. He asked Republicans in Congress for their priorities. There was no consensus but two issues emerged: tax reform and emergency tariffs. Harding called a special session to address them. The media liked him for his willingness to talk openly with the press with refreshing candor. Though his priority was the economy, the first law he signed was over immigration. Nativism was rampant after the war, universally supported by conservatives, liberals, big business, and labor. Congress passed and Harding signed a bill restricting immigration in 1921 (101-2). His 2nd law was for emergency tariffs. Harding’s position on tariffs grew more nuanced in office. As the US had become a leading creditor and exporter, he recognized the simplistic solutions of his editorial days were dangerous, though he never lost his protectionist bent (103).

His longest lasting legacy was the imposition of business practices on government (105). He established the General Accounting Office and made the budget director responsible to the president and not the treasury secretary (105). He vetoed and/or blocked several attempts by Congress to pass a popular but budget busting veteran’s bonus bill. He signed several progressive agricultural bills to alleviate the plight of farmers (112). He hosted (at Hoover’s urging) an unemployment conference and used his skills as a peacemaker to end the steel industry’s 12-hour workday. In 1922, he faced two of the nation’s largest strikes (coal and railroads). Unable to mediate them, he called for Congress to establish a government commission to resolve the strikes. Management and labor were both critical of this approach. As the strikes consumed his administration, he secured a sweeping Federal injunction that ended the railroad strike. Labor went apoplectic, but the American people appreciated his handling of the strike (121).

In his short term he appointed 4 justices to the Supreme Court (including Taft as Chief Justice). Harding delivered a special message to Congress, calling for an end to lynching that drew praise from the NAACP (123). Southern Democrats filibustered anti-lynching legislation. Many black Americans had turned to the GOP because of Wilson’s racist policies. He appointed blacks to several high-level posts in Labor, Interior, and the Post Office (the author notes this was largely tokenism). Harding hoped to reshape his party and draw the South, including blacks, into the GOP. In an in-your-face move, he gave a speech in Birmingham, AL on civil rights (125). In an effort to return to “normalcy” and return to lasting peace, he commuted the sentence of “seditious” WWI protestors including socialist Eugene Debs (127).

He also called for a historic disarmament conference. Critical of Wilson’s direct involvement in League of Nations talks, he remained behind the scenes but wanted bold American leadership to drastically reduce armaments (131). Sec of State Hughes stunned the world by proposing a ten year hiatus on the construction of capital ships. The US, UK, and Japan agreed to a tonnage ratio of 5-5-3. To meet the goal, the US had to scrap roughly twice as many ships as the UK or Japan. The conference produced monumental results in arms reduction, resolution of territorial disputes, and arms limitations (like poison gas) (133). Harding’s role is often overlooked, but his hidden hand (both his leadership and influence with the Senate) was instrumental to this success. Unlike Wilson, Harding accepted a few token Senate reservations to get the treaties passed.

Harding delivered his 2nd and last state of the union in 1922. He called for state and Federal partnerships and internal improvements for water power and electrical plants. He also called for an end to child labor. He was a natural head of state but a sub-par administrator. Without executive instincts he tried to do everything, including answering his vast correspondence, himself. His health was failing when he heard the first whiff of potential scandal. The head of the Veterans Bureau was selling surplus supplies in private deals. When confronted by Harding, he lied about his activities and was fired which got the attention of Congress who opened an investigation (140). Harding acted appropriately in terminating him once he was discovered. Afterward, Harding lamented, “I have no trouble with my enemies, I can take care of my enemies all right. But my damn friends, they’re the ones that keep me waling the floor nights.”

The president’s 15-hour days were killing him. A planned trip to Alaska would serve as a vacation. Perhaps sensing the worst, he sold the Star before the trip. On the cross country train he played bridge or poker with Hoover in whom he confided. After Alaska, his health took a turn for the worse and he died in San Francisco on August 2, 1923. Within months of his passing, the Teapot Dome Scandal erupted and Harding’s fall began. Wyoming oil fields (named Teapot Dome for the teapot shaped rock formation there), part of the government’s reserves, were leased to commercial interests without competitive bids. When the previously strapped Fall was flush with cash, Congress investigated accusations of him accepting bribes. This investigation generated a steady stream of headlines alleging rampant criminal activity across the administration (though none implicated Harding directly). Fall was convicted in 1931, the first cabinet officer to go to prison (160). This generated a market for critical (and unfounded) accounts of the Harding administration.

Mrs. Harding claimed she’d burned his presidential papers so sensational accusations were leveled without fear of being refuted. The papers were discovered in the Hoover Administration but not given to the Ohio Historical Society until 1963. Many of the outrageous accusations were proved false when they were examined but the damage to his reputation was cemented in the public mind by then. Other blatantly false narratives followed, the most salacious being The President’s Daughter, written by Nan Britton who claimed to have given birth to his daughter after an affair. Harding did have an affair, but it was with Carrie Phillips, not Nan Britton. In light of access to the documentation, the author argues it is high time for a painstakingly honest and scholarly appraisal of the life of Harding (168).

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my next assignment I decided to read consecutively the Times series biographies of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover, treating them as one continuous Republican administration.

Up first is Warren Harding, longtime favorite of my father, who is a fan presidential history, because of all of the juicy tales of corruption and intrigue around his death. That is until he read this book.

Many of the authors in this series are fans or apologists for their subjects, as is the case with John Dean. And I smile that they found a former member of the Nixon White House to write about the infamously corrupt Harding administration. Throughout the book the author is making two basic arguments:

Warren Harding's legacy has been unfairly, and incorrectly, tied to corruption.
He was not one of the worst presidents in history, but in fact a very good one.

The case Dean makes against Harding being corrupt is actually very solid. As scandals were breaking at the time he died a lot of colleagues and politicians had incentive to find a scapegoat and focus attention on him to protect themselves. I had always learned that he was "one of the good old boys", but he actually was not a lifelong Washington politician, having only spent a few years in the Senate before his election. So there was not a lot of deep relationships with people that would look to protect his legacy. Also telling, is the media's lack of interest in truly investigating the stories of what happened.

It may have been independently published accounts that made the first or juiciest accusations of corruption, affairs, and even his being murdered by his wife. While the major press and scholars may not have originated or spread these stories, they certainly did not look to correct the public record by the simple fact that his personal files sat untouched in a basement for forty years.

As for the case that his subject is an under-appreciated President, (the same argument most authors make in this series), Dean's argument is weaker. At best, if you remove any stain from corrupt colleagues and assume Harding was innocent of any knowledge or involvement, you can say that his presidency was simply incomplete. He did not live long enough to see a lot of his policies enacted. His style of leadership in the Senate and campaign trail to "offend no one, make friends everywhere, bring together factions as the peacemaker" (p 52) didn't really translate to a strong leader in office.

At the end of the day, Harding was the transition from the Wilson years of Democratic control to the era of Republican leadership that contributed to the freewheeling 1920s, and eventually its later colossal collapse. Along with Coolidge and Hoover I plan on reading other books on the decade of jazz, Prohibition, and economic growth built on margin. I am curious to see how much these presidencies and their policies affected the changes in culture and an out of control economic engine.

Dean's book gets 3/5 stars for being a decent read and attempt at setting the record straight.

http://ushistoryreadingproject.blogsp...

[David Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

A revisionist biography of a much-maligned president, written by a White House insider from another failed presidency. Dean is what one might call a Harding buff; he grew up in Harding's hometown of Marion and owns a number of biographies and dissertations on Warren G., which he uses to dispel several durable myths about the 29th president. Among them: Harding was a drunk (stomach troubles limited him to one drink a day); Harding fathered an illegitimate child with Nan Britton (totally made up by Britton); Harding was part black (another falsehood, invented by his hateful father-in-law); Harding was a reactionary president (he was actually mildly progressive and pacifistic); and Harding's wife burned all his papers after his death (they were actually saved by his secretary and put in storage; they're now at the Ohio Historical Society). It is true that several members of Harding's administration were crooks, but their crimes seem relatively minor compared to the wholesale looting of the public treasury by Grant's cronies, or Nixon's penchant for wiretapping, tax audits, bribery, and subornation of perjury. To say nothing of the shenanigans of the second Bush administration.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://bestpresidentialbios.com/2015/...

“Warren G. Harding” by John W. Dean was published in 2004 and is a member of The American Presidents series. Dean is an author, columnist and political commentator. Among his nearly dozen books are “Worse than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush” and “The Nixon Defense: What He Knew and When He Knew It.”

Dean served as White House Counsel for Richard Nixon between July 1970 and April 1973. In connection with his role in the Watergate scandal, Dean pleaded guilty to a felony count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. He cooperated with prosecutors in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Regular readers of The American Presidents series will find the style and structure of Dean’s biography very familiar: it is clear, concise (with 170 pages) and provides a competent, if not exhilarating, review of Harding’s life.

There is never any doubt that the author, who grew up in Harding’s hometown of Marion, Ohio, is a fan of this scandal-plagued former president. But rather than providing a carefully balanced assessment of Harding’s life and presidency (something seemingly unique in the world of Harding-related scholarship) Dean views his primary mission as the enthusiastic rehabilitation of Harding’s legacy.

Fortunately, the author’s pro-Harding sentiments are easy to identify. And although Dean shows his support too forcefully at times, his case relating to Harding’s legacy is not without merit. In fact, he may well be mostly right about Harding’s reputation as “worst ever” being undeserved. But it is never clear just how high Dean believes Harding can soar…and the evidence of Harding being more than mediocre is elusive.

As is customary for books in this series, Dean’s biography moves rapidly through Harding’s life. The future president is nearly fifty years old after the first thirty pages have passed. During that time he owned and managed a newspaper for nearly three decades, married, cut his political teeth as an Ohio state legislator and as lieutenant governor, ran unsuccessfully for governor and navigated a multi-year affair.

Most of these events are touched upon…but with extraordinary speed. The most obvious casualty of this efficiency is the description of those closest to Harding – his wife, his parents and his closest friends. They remain largely peripheral and ill-defined. But Dean also spends as little time as possible discussing Harding’s fifteen-year affair with Carrie Phillips…who was married to one of Harding’s best friends.

Harding’s presidency is covered more studiously and with greater depth, but still lacks some of the insight, color and context one would find in a great presidential biography. And the elephant in the room – the political scandals which continue to haunt Harding’s legacy – are largely reserved for the book’s final chapter. Teapot Dome, in particular, is covered too quickly and without adequate flavor…but the punch-line is no surprise: Harding cannot be held responsible for the bad actions of his senior political appointees.

The book’s last chapter is also where the reader finally learns of Nan Britton, the woman with whom Harding fathered a child just before his election as President. He was then in his mid-fifties; she was twenty-three. Dean spends three pages attacking the veracity of Britton’s claims but Harding’s paternity was recently proven through DNA testing.

Overall, John W. Dean’s “Warren G. Harding” is a solid if not remarkable review of the life of the 29th president. Although it exhibits a facts only writing style that proves plain and uninspiring, this book is never dull or laborious. And while the author tries too hard to repair Harding’s legacy, his biography does provide a provocative and often well-reasoned defense of Harding as somewhat better than our worst-ever president.

Overall rating: 3½ stars

[Stefania Dzhanamova · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Dean’s biography of the “worst of all American presidents” was a very enjoyable, easy read. Dean sets out to rehabilitate Warren Harding’s reputation, presenting the President as someone who recovered order in the nation after inheriting the White House in chaos after Wilson’s stroke.

I have no ground for comparison, so I won’t pronounce Dean’s work as particularly biased, but he, indeed, depicts Warren Harding more as a positive character.

Harding’s administration was rich in events. The President strived to bolster the post-war economy, cutting the expenditures by $1 billion and thus placing the executive legislature on a solid footing with a new Bureau of the Budget. He signed a few disarmament treaties, reducing American, British and Japanese naval fleets, and limited the use of poison gas. In 1923, the economy had recovered, and Hardin was a beloved president; 9 million Americans crowded the railroad tracks to witness his funeral train passing by.

John Dean aims to reinstate Warren Harding’s tarnished by Teapot Dome reputation by denying the President had had a part in it. He also argues that Harding was not the father of Nan Briton’s child.

I won’t call Dean’s book a biography, but it was a informative, well-written account of Harding’s life and presidency. For someone – like me – who doesn’t know much about this president, John Dean presents a strong narrative although not quite objective one. Worth a read.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this book John Dean has come not to bury Warren G. Harding but to praise him as an underrated president unfairly judged by posterity. To that end, he marshals the available evidence to depict Harding as a canny businessman and conscientious president who does not deserve to be judged by the criminality of his subordinates. Dean makes some good points, but his argument is weaker for his unwillingness to treat the corruption that plagued Harding's administration as reflective of failings on Harding's part. In the end, it's a well-argued case but not quite the balanced assessment that Harding needs to shake off completely the ignominy from which he suffers.

[Fredric Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Facts, but uninspiring.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s been a couple of weeks since I finished this book and can’t really say that I remember anything notable about it. It read smoothly enough and it wasn’t terribly dull, but seemed to be just another ho-hum presidential book. Warren Harding is not an impressive character and his presidency was even less so. The author tries to make an argument for his presidency being more amazing than Harding is normally given credit for, but I wasn’t terribly convinced. I guess there were a lot of lies spread about Warren Harding (why, I don’t know!) and it is a relief to hear that he wasn’t as bad as you might first think. I wasn’t impressed, though, by his morals – he was not faithful to his wife. But then, she wasn’t the greatest wife either. Anyways, I’m glad this one is over. Calvin Coolidge here I come.

[Judy Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love a good mystery (the Brits have it down to an art!). There is an often-used ploy in which some antagonist (most of the time the murderer) begins to weave a picture of the victim as some sort of Machiavellian mastermind who really only got what he deserves, because, as the adroit copper finally upon solving the mystery points out, dead men can't defend themselves against such lies! John W. Dean (yes, the same same John W Dean of Watergate fame) in his book, Warren G Harding, plays the role of the DCI, defending Harding's reputation, stating that all of the scandals (the most famous being the Teapot Dome Scandal) were beginning to unravel at the time of Harding's unexpected death and that his enemies used the opportunity to infer that Harding was in the thick of it. Harding is no longer able to defend himself. That coupled with the idea that his wife Florence, dubiously dubbed the Duchess by reporters at the time, ordered that all of Harding's papers be burned to protect his legacy, allowed all of the mud to stick, and from that time, until Dean appears on the scene trying to refurbish Harding's image, Harding is characterized as the worst of Presidents.
Dean says he wrote the biography prompted by the inconsistencies between this mud-stained image and the upright earnest reputation that Harding earned while living as a newspaper man in Marion, OH, just a few streets from where Dean himself lived; that as a youngster Dean used to listen to stories told by a newspaper editor (not a particular fan of Harding), who felt that Harding got an unfair shake.
Reading this book, I had the feeling the Dean was overzealous to clear Harding's name. He states that Harding had the best cabinet every assembled and that he was the most internationally traveled president up to that time (I guess Teddy Roosevelt's extensive trips in Africa and South America, and even John Q Adams becoming an attache to the US Ambassador to Russian don't count!). Dean's book is really more of a hagiology (I was always told that to expand my vocabulary, I had to use a word three times. Well, this is the first!!)
Reading through the biography, while not agreeing necessarily with Dean's view of a stellar president cut down before all of his plans could be played out, I really can't see him as the worst, not when you have Pierce, Buchanan, or Taylor with which to compare. And surely the beloved US Grant's presidency was riddled with far more scandalous scoundrels than Harding's.
The discovery of Harding's correspondence and papers in the 1960's (the Duchess obviously did not have her way) has resulted in several biographies that had attempted to balance the score. And maybe the best that can be said of Harding is that his Presidency was perhaps more lower end of the pack, but that his personal life was a bit of a shambles, with a known affair and the suggestion of the fathering of an illegitimate child (though, as Dean points out, Harding had bemoaned the fact that he was sterile to family and close associates.) Dean actually suggests that DNA studies of offspring of this illegitimate child could solve the dispute.
Dean's book is one of the American President series, a concise view for readers who want a quick look at a president. It appears to me to be as unbalanced as Mencken's blisteringly negative bio written shortly after Harding's death. It seems that no truly balanced view of Harding exists yet. I chose to read Dean's book because I figured who better to write about a presidency riddled with scandal than a man who was at the heart of probably one of the greatest scandals so far uncovered: Watergate!!

[Apryl Sparks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was ridiculously biased, but it is by far my favorite president bio so far. What a wild ride. First, I had to pause to go read the affair letters, and boy did I enjoy that. So raunchy. So shocking. Shame on your, sir.

Then a very helpful post-it let me know Nan Britton was not a liar as the author so heartily (or should I say Hardily...cuz Harding) insisted. Her book (a la the Reynolds Pamphlet) was right, and she did have a kid with Harding when he was president. SCANDAL. Such well hidden scandal that was only just verified 6 years ago. Thank you, post-it leaver! What a bro.

The rest of the book was also pretty interesting and well written, but like I said, it was very biased. The author was determined to lift Harding from his worst president slot, and he succeeded somewhat. It does seem like Harding was pretty adequate and just trusted the wrong people much like Grant. But it would have been nice if the book was more balanced. I get it--it sounds like there are more than enough negative books on him.

He's interesting enough that I think I'll put him on my list of presidents who deserve a second biography.

SO SCANDALOUS.

[Houston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harding's major-league underrated. He's most often associated with what some say is the worst scandal of the 20th century next to Watergate, The Teapot Dome scandal (BIG bribes over disputed oil reserves), but this poor historical rendering overlooks his humility & down-to-earth-ness. He did have an affair which I hate, but I still greatly respect this man.

2 fun facts:
1) he was the 1st President to set foot on Alaskan soil
2) his favorite hymn was "Nearer My God to Thee" which is also William McKinley's!!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw that John Dean had been tapped for Warren Harding's chapter of the American Presidents Series, I was certain that it was because his association with the Watergate scandal would give him insight into the scandal-plagued Harding administration. It turns out that John Dean grew up in Harding's home town of Marion, Ohio and as a consequence has had a lifelong interest in the subject.

Dean presents a very strong case that President Harding was not among the most incompetent Presidents; however, he can't quite save Harding from being among the most boring of all Presidents. In fact, Harding appears to have been ambitious (very actively seeking the Presidency), hardworking and honest. His accomplishments included: turning around a flailing post-war economy, taking an active role in settling severe labor disputes in the coal and railroad industries, hosting an international arms-reduction summit in Washington, and speaking out for civil rights in Alabama. The scandals - including the infamous Teapot Dome affair - were exposed after he died, and appear to have involved a few bad actors whom Harding would likely have dealt with harshly if he had found them out.

In general, volumes of The American Presidents Series that cover the more obscure Presidents are the most interesting. I think their authors, including Dean, know that these volumes will be among the most read biographies of their subject and put in some extra effort. In this case, the effort shows and the volume is highly recommended.

[Christopher Litsinger · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an "I'd like to set the record straight" biography, and mostly annoyingly so. Only at the conclusion, as Dean is explaining why history's view of Harding has been so bad (members of his cabinet uncovered for corruption after his death, and a belief that all his papers had been destroyed, leaving people free to write speculative and false accounts of his life and presidency), and why this book differed (because his papers had not actually been destroyed, and the society holding them finally released them) did this become tolerable. That's such a frustrating thing, to have struggled through a book, only to find out why it was the way it was at the very end -- I wonder if I would have liked it far better if that had been laid out as convincingly at the beginning.
I suppose, as has often been the case with "The American Presidents" series, Dean was just not given enough space to make the subject appropriately interesting.

[Jerry-Book · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dean, who survived Nixon's scandalous presidency, attempts to rehab another President who was afflicted by scandal. Harding and Buchanan usually are considered are worse two presidents. Dean does not uncover anything new about Harding. He does note Harding attempted to reverse Wilson's bad record on Black federal appointments. He exaggerates in claiming Harding appointed history's best cabinet. Perhaps, because Harding's complete papers have not been released, Dean has to rely upon secondary sources and other biographers. Harding's most lasting achievement appears to have been the Bureau of the Budget. Dean fails to analyze why Harding appointed the Ohio Gang to such positions of influence. Also, Dean fails in showing why Harding didn't do something more quickly about the scandals. I don't think this biography will move Harding off of the bottom rung.

[Debbie Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again the American Presidents series delivers an excellent, short biography of a president that manages to be both entertaining and thought-provoking. Dean shows there was much more to Harding than the Teapot Dome Scandal. This biography raises many interesting points about how the media and indeed history present the legacy of a president. Harding's choice of Cabinet turned out to be disastrous. It's impossible to know how much Harding knew and when, but I did come away feeling that Harding was not as bad as he has been portrayed in history. I most appreciated Dean's ability to create some suspense in a historical context that everyone really knows about. I also like how he handled the Teapot Dome Scandal in the end of the book so it did not overshadow the biography. Overall, well researched and well written.

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time does heal everything. Take heart past and future presidents - if Warren Harding can be rehabilitated, then so can you! John Dean does a pretty good job of making Mr. Harding seem more upstanding and less of a louse. His scandalous term in office were mostly tempests in a teapot (dome) that weren't his fault. He's been given a bum rap on most fronts. Dean's Harding really reads like the first truly modern Republican president- anti-spending, low tax, fiscally conservative businessman. He spoke up for civil rights - and perhaps would have actually done something if he'd lived. If you want a juicy, scandal-ridden hatchet job expose of the scurrilous Harding administration (sex in broom closets! smoke filled rooms! booze and floozies! Lady Macbeth of a wife!) then go elsewhere.

[Randy Elster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprising bio of a low-ranked former president. Nixon White House counsel John Dean sets the record straight on Harding, who you might best know from learning about the Teapot Dome scandal in your high school history class. Dean uses Harding's personal papers, thought destroyed by his wife, to show that Harding was a man who deserved a better legacy.

[Alicia Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this was an excellently written book that addresses a serious problem about Harding's supposed history...a problem that I think will repeat itself until we can re-harness the media.

[James P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong effort to defend Harding's presidency.

[Campbell Stites · Rating 2 out of 5]

My quickest read up to date and a very short book coming from the American presidency series. Dean, who was involved in watergate, takes on another scandal ridden administration and fights to save Harding’s legacy. This book was very readable but not in a good way. It was written for a 5th grader in my eyes, which is why I finished it in two days. I did understand it well so I guess it worked, but it lacked the captivating writing which I have experienced so frequently in this journey, 6/10. This book was short and quick. It does a poor job with harding’s early life and doesn’t go in depth about his family or outside politics life, but does a decent job covering his presidency, but skims quickly over the scandals and the foreign policy details, 3.5/10. This book was very engaging because it never dug into the weeds of any topic, which again is not a very good type of engagement, but for a president like this, I didn’t mind it, 6/10. Overall, this book is very generous to Harding and Dean doesn’t try to hide it. Although I do shut this biography with a good understanding of Harding, I feel as if I got one side of a controversial view of man. This was an okay book and I enjoyed the speed of it, nothing to get mad about. Overall Rating: 5/10. Harding is hated by a lot of people and is often named one of the worst presidents. This book, and my own political awareness don’t support that claim. He was nothing special, but accomplished a lot by setting the economy of the country back on track, finishing the strife in Europe, advancing black integration, and many more policies that were solid for just 2 years in office, but accomplishments can’t be that high in just over 730 days in office, 5.5/10. Harding was a not really anything great. He was an adulterer, made poor cabinet selections, but also some great ones (Mellon, Hughes, Hoover), and he cared too much about being liked. He is definitely to blame for the scandal-ridden administration, but maybe not as much as history attributes to him. I thought it was funny how the author argues for 3 pages straight that a woman that claimed she had a child from Harding during his presidency was lying, only for the story to be confirmed after the book was written, gotta love it. He is just a very low-tier president and that’s ok, 2.5. Quick read and but enjoyed it, a unique book & man which is always refreshing, but not even comparable to what has passed and what is to come.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warren G. Harding is the twenty-eighth book in The American Presidents series – a biographical series chronicling the Presidents of the United States. John W. Dean wrote this particular installment and edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

Warren Gamaliel Harding was the twenty-ninth 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 U.S. Presidents to that point. After his death a number of scandals, such as Teapot Dome, came to light, as did his extramarital affair with Nan Britton – each eroded his popular regard. He is often rated as one of the worst presidents in historical rankings.

Dean does his best to make Warren G. Harding's lethargic life and scandal-laced presidency sound interesting. Throughout his entire pre-presidential career – including stints in both the Ohio state senate and the U.S. Senate – Harding was, for the most part, nothing more than an amiable nonentity. No bill of any consequence bore his name nor did he champion any measure worth recalling.

Elected the nation's twenty-ninth chief executive in 1920 by an overwhelming vote in a postwar reaction against Wilson's foreign policies, Harding was the first president born after the Civil War. He was destined to die in office in 1923, but even before his death, he allowed the infamous Teapot Dome fiasco to occur. In an attempt to give Harding his due, Dean points out that he did at least bring to an end to President Wilson's longstanding practice of excluding blacks from federal appointments. As well, in a speech of rare passion and boldness delivered in Birmingham, Atlanta, he called for political, economic and educational equity between the races. His most permanent domestic accomplishment, however, was as dull as it was necessary: the creation of the Bureau of the Budget.

All in all, Warren G. Harding is a good, albeit brief biography of the twenty-ninth President and it is a good continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series of presidential biographies, which I plan to read in the very near future.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

So . . . the former counsel of a disgraced Republican President tries to rehabilitate the reputation of another Republican President. Sorry, JD, you're about as successful at historical revisionism as you were at removing the "cancer on the Presidency." Every achievement the good Mr. Dean attributes to the good Mr. Harding is non-verifiable. Harding made a few nice speeches which Dean claims had profound effects, and worked "behind the scenes" to get legislation passed and treaties signed. As for the scandals for which Harding was and is synonymous, Dean excuses the affable Ohioan for hiring a cabal of corrupt cronies which would remain unmatched until, well, the Nixon administration by saying that poor old Warren G. was unaware of the schemes and swindles because he was too busy being President. I get it, J-Dub, you wish that bad management was the worst accusation anyone could hurl against your former boss, but ineptitude can be just as dangerous as dishonesty. But if this bio is suspect as history, it's at least a fun read, since the quotes and anecdotes Dean includes for color only justify all the inkwells HL Mencken emptied in his quest to pen the perfect Harding insult: three hours of golf a day; Florence Harding consulting a psychic named Madame Marcia; the smarmy glad-handing; and, best of all, the 29th President's lifelong struggle to reduce the English language to meaninglessness, most famously by inventing the word "normalcy" but coining other vacuities like "Americanism" and spewing rhetorical boners like "The American Republic began the blazed trail of representative popular government." Um . .. what?

[Jonathan Mckay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Press president, buried by press

This biography makes you root for Harding as a person more than most presidents. The author’s core project—rehabilitating a reputation long distorted by headlines rather than historians—largely works. It helps that the scandals that came to define him erupted after his death and never actually involved him. Yet for a century the narrative stuck, a reminder that journalism can outshine history, whether for good or ill.

The book’s strongest material covers his early presidency: navigating the post–WWI labor unrest, negotiating disarmament, and pushing through the final diplomatic clean-up of Wilson’s war. Harding comes across as a competent pragmatist. His background as a newspaper man and skill with the press also adds an unexpected layer of irony: a president undone by the very profession he came from.

Unfortunately, the post-Wilson transition deserves more attention; it was one of the most structurally important handoffs of the American century. His early death and the subsequent burning of key papers did more to shape his legacy than his policies ever did. This book doesn’t fully close the gaps, but it pushes Harding closer to where he probably belongs.

[Eric W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This relatively brief biography attempts to rehabilitate Harding‘s reputation, and is largely successful. Previous bios have been laser focused on scandal details while ignoring Harding’s accomplishments. Deans’s book is a corrective, offering insights into his often forgotten accomplishments and debunking some of the outrageous claims against him that proliferated after his death (when he wasn’t able to set the record straight). The book isn’t riveting — the subject is President Harding, after all — but 170 pages seemed reasonable. You won’t find a better recently-written Harding biography, but that’s because no one else is interested enough to write one.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional book about a man who has often been deemed one of the worst U.S. presidents. While some of the people in his administration were later, after Harding's 1923 death from overwork, found to have committed graft, a feeding frenzy of sensational publishing left an unbalanced account of Harding's presidency that ignores much of what he actually accomplished.

A good read for history nerds.