Warren G. Harding: America's 29th President

by Deborah Kent

A biography of the twenty-ninth president of the United States, with information about his childhood, family, political career, presidency, and legacy.

Genres: Biography

110 pages, Library Binding

First published November 1, 2004

About the author

Deborah Kent was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Little Falls. She graduated from Oberlin College and received a master's degree from Smith College School for Social Work. For four years, she was a social worker at University Settlement House on New York's Lower East Side. In 1975, Ms. Kent moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she wrote her first young-adult novel, Belonging. In San Miguel, Ms. Kent helped to found the Centro de Crecimiento, a school for children with disabilities. Ms. Kent is the author of numerous young-adult novels and nonfiction titles for children. She lives in Chicago with her husband, children's author R. Conrad Stein, and their daughter, Janna.

Reviews

[Gia Ruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is fine. The president is garbage.

[David Dunlap · Rating 4 out of 5]

[***1/2] This is a straightforward biography of Warren G. Harding, written with younger readers in mind (but profitable for anyone interested in our 29th President). The author is fairly even-handed in her treatment and assessments, pointing out his strengths as well as his weaknesses. He was indecisive and too trusting of his friends (a number of scandals erupted following his death); he recognized that, in some ways, he was clearly out of his depth. But he proposed a bold agenda for the nation, including a courageous call for an end to the practice of lynching. The author lays the blame for the fact that so many of Harding's proposals came to naught at the feet of a stubborn (albeit Republican) Congress. -- There are good illustrations and photographs from Harding's life and career. Oddly, though (to this reader, at least), not a single one of the grand marble mausoleum in Marion, OH, where he (and wife Florence) were laid to rest. (Shame on President Coolidge for declining to attend the 1927 dedication of the Memorial, due to all the scandals! -- It was to wait for President Hoover to preside over the festivities...in 1931.)

[Lorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this due to visiting his museum and memorial site this summer. Sometimes you just want to get a little more information and don't need a 500 page biography.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Harding was running for president there were a couple things in his past that he needed to overcome:
1. Carrie Phillips - had once tried to blackmail him - she had been his mistress and was the owner of steamy love letters penned by him to her. She and her husband were sent on an extensive European tour.
2. Nan Britton - also a mistress who had a daughter, Elizabeth Ann, by him. He was giving Nan regular generous payments for Elizabeth’s support. Nan remained discreetly silent. (She also remained in his life during his presidency.)
3. Charge of African-American descent - a genealogy showing all forebears were of European descent was published. (According to a New York Times article from 2015: “…the result of new DNA testing that according to scientists showed for the first time that Harding almost certainly had no recent ancestors with African blood, despite assertions that were spread far and wide a century ago in efforts to sabotage everything from his marriage to his political career. …Harding, raised in a vastly different era, when Jim Crow governed much of the country and the Ku Klux Klan was making a comeback, it was a weapon wielded against him. Operating under the so-called one-drop rule that any “black blood” at all made someone black, racists used genealogy to try to discredit opponents.”

Warren Harding was married to Florence Kling in 1891 - ‘[she] seemed an odd choice. She was a homely, ungraceful woman five years his senior. She had a shrill, commanding voice and a sharp tongue. Furthermore, she had been married before. She had divorced her husband after he abandoned her and their infant son. In the 1890’s, most people looked down on divorced women. …She adored him, and she yearned to help him rise in the world. Her ambitions for him matched (some would say, even surpassed) his ambitions for himself. …After Harding’s funeral, she hurried back to the White House. As she cleaned out Harding’s desk, she burned dozens of his letters in his office fireplace. His remaining papers were shipped to Marion in ten enormous cartons, each one 10 feet long. There [she] spent six weeks sorting through the contents. She burned any document thought to damage Harding’s reputation. When finished, the ten boxes were reduced to only two.”

During his short presidency, 1921-1923, Harding signed the Budget and Accounting act, dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and began the Voyage of Understanding to western states and Alaska. Shortly before his death he had found out about some of his administration using their positions for personal gain. “My…friends… they’re the ones that keep me walking the floors nights!” He did not live to find out how the public would react to the scandals of his administration. Harding passed away by heart attack due to an enlarged heart.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Encyclopedia of Presidents series is perfect for middle and high school age students learning U.S. History or needing a resource for a biography report. Each book has extensive background material presented in chronological chapter order of the president’s early childhood, adulthood, time in office, life after presidency until their death. Descriptive timelines, political comics, and nice photographs breakup the text adding both interest and comprehensibility.