Warren G. Harding: The American Presidents Series: The 29th President, 1921-1923

John W. Dean has two connections to Warren G. Harding. First, Dean was council to President Nixon during the time of Watergate and he gave damaging testimony at the Senate Watergate hearings. Harding's administration was struck by a series of scandles, the most famous being Teapot Dome. Secondly, John Dean is from the same small town in Ohio that was home to Harding, Marion, Ohio. Although I believe that Dean may have gotten a little hysterical in alleging (in another book) that President Bush's administration is "worse than Watergate," this book was well written, well researched, and makes a strong point that Harding has been unfairly judged by history. Surveys of historians have often judged Harding as the worst president. In his "History of the American People," historian Paul Johnson has written that Harding's administration accomplished a lot and that he has been misjudged by history. Dean also indicates that Harding was a significantly better president than he has been given credit for. Dean attributes much of this to enemies of Harding publishing books, shortly after his death while nobody came to his defense. Most of Harding's papers hadn't been discovered at that time, the erroneous belief being that they had been destroyed. Therefore, harsh and inaccurate criticism went unrefuted. Harding was a genial newspaper publisher who was elected to the Senate and, in 1920, was elected President. There was a recession at the end of the Wilson administration and during Harding's presidency, the economy turned and a period of prosperity ensued. Harding died during the first term and the scandles broke around this time. Harding was not involved in the scandles but, the fact that members of his administration were involved reflected badly on him in the eyes of many. However, many unfair myths were spread about Harding. Even though he had been ill on a trip to the West Coast and Alaska (and at times, the progonosis seemed poor), after his death, there were rumors that he had been poisoned. Other unsubstantiated rumors were that Harding fathered a child out of wedlock. Dean is very skeptical of this allegation. All sorts of rumors that impugned Harding circulated and, most of these rumors were false. Dean argues forcefully that Harding was a significantly better president than for which he had been given credit. Early on, papers which would have helped shed light on his presidency were not available. Furthermore, his enemies were making allegations unrefuted. Contributions, such as this by Dean, give Harding's memory some justice. If you want to really know who the worst president ever was, I recommend the biography (which is part of this American Presidents series) of James Buchanan.

What I really like about this book is that it pointed out Harding's genuine accomplishments without feeling the need to be some nutty right-wing defensive rant about this man who was also a serial adulterer, lazy-minded, and drank heavily during Prohibition. He was a human being with all the good and bad traits. Too often Harding is either demonized as all bad with no accomplishments or a saint as is propogated by Treacle Roman (?), the old lady historian of Ohio and even worse, the terribly researched and embarrassingly flawed Strange Deaths of President Harding by Robert Ferrell. In absolute contrast, Dean gives us the fully balanced Harding who succeeded publicly despite his failures privately. Most especially, Harding should be considered a civil rights Republican President - the most important since Lincoln.

John Dean, no stranger to White House scandals, author's this book of our 29th President for whom the White House's own internet site degrades. What is most impressive about this book is that Dean uses verifiable facts about what was accomplished during Harding's tenure (fourth shortest of all presidents), and what more he intended to do. This in sharp contrast to another short biography in this American President's series, William Mckinley, by Kevin Phillips who used more conjecture of "what might have happened if Mckinley had lived" to give greater importance to Mckinley. The story of Harding is particularly of interest since it is a story of basically a self made man (his family neither impoverished, nor rich). He was a decent and hard working man who seemed to see his role as president as one to allow America to prosper, ease international worries, and bring normalcy after the controversial policies of the Wilson administration. Harding spoke in the deep south about racial equality, he allowed Blacks into the federal government (reversing the Wilsonian racism that his apologists so often downplay), organized a major peace conference among world powers, sought U.S. participation in a world court, established what is now the government accounting office and established economic policies that directly led to the "roaring twenties." Additionally, he defied public opinion by releasing Eugene Debs, and others (so long as they were not involved with violence) jailed by Wilson under the now discredited anti-sedition act, and he looked for a resolution to the labor-business problems. He also won the presidency by a then record majority.Harding provided a cabinet that included a future president and one of the more esteemed chief justices in the Supreme Court history. Furthermore, his worse appointment, Albert Falls for the Interior, was widely supported for the post by the public, press, and Congress and he was easily confirmed. Dean takes to task the more sensational accounts of Harding (e.g., having sex in a W.H. closet, fathering a (...) child [he was sterile], that he was a drunkard, a gambler, a pawn of congress, that he was killed by his wife, etc.). What basically happened was that Harding died before the nature of the Tea Pot Dome scandals became known to anyone but the criminals (Falls had already resigned), so he could not work to correct negative impressions of his administration, and other authors were not aware that the Harding papers survived to refute many of the negative claims. Also, I believe that Harding was a target for pompous, class-minded writers and socialites who disliked his not coming from a more proper stock and education. I didn't mean to be so extensive, but I believe that this is a valuable book and perhaps more needed to correct history than most of the other books in this series.

John Dean has achieved the considerable feat of rescuing the reputation of a man who is generally considered one of the worst presidents in U.S. history. He does this by drawing the reader's attention to what made Harding one of the most popular American presidents during his lifetime: a speedy and significant economic recovery, a major international arms reduction agreement, and, perhaps most importantly, a reduction in divisiveness from his predecessor's final two years in office.Not long after Warren Harding's death in August, 1923, public and critical opinion toward his presidency began a precipitous decline. Several scandals - some of which had already emerged during his presidency and some of which would only come out after his death - began to symbolize his regime. Harding's presidential papers, which could have helped remove some of the black marks towards his administration, were withheld from public view, allowing fictionalized and grossly unhistorical accounts of his presidency to stand as the only available record.Harding's fundamental decency, his good political instincts, and his high regard for public service were lost in the one-sided reckoning of his presidency. Even in the selection of his cabinet and other personnel, Harding was far better than is now widely assumed. While several scandals arose among his cabinet and staff (none of which implicated the president himself), Harding made several outstanding and notable selections to his cabinet and to the Supreme Court: Andrew Mellon as Treasury Secretary, Herbert Hoover as head of the Department of Commerce, William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are some examples. Harding was not a five-star president, and this biography does not make the case he was. This is a five-star book about the man and his presidency that makes the case they deserve far better recognition than they have received. John Dean shows there was far more to Harding and his presidency than smoke-filled poker rooms, womanizing, and political scandals and corruption that have come to symbolize his administration.

John Dean has done the impossible: he has made Harding not only sympathetic, but competent! Dean has done his homework and as such presents facts, not speculation and rumor. He correctly points out that no biography of Harding has taken his Presidential papers into account and have instead relied almost exclusively on gossip rags written when the scandals of the era were still fresh. Dean's writing is so fluid and effortless that outisde of the fresh perspective, the book is highly readable and engaging. I only wish that it could have been longer. Although I loved the entire book, it was worthwhile for two big reasons. One, the myth of the "smoke-filled room" has finally been put to rest. Harding was, in fact, actively seeking the nomination and played a key role in positioning himself at the convention. Second, Harding's administration had several key achievements, all of which have been ignored because of scandals that did not involve Harding personally. While the disarmament conference and establishment of a Bureau of the Budget were key, I have new affection for Harding because of two highly unpopular decisions that were, in retrospect, the right things to do. He vetoed the Veteran's Bonus Bill that would have broken the budget, and he pardoned Eugene V. Debs. Those two acts alone make him a "profile in courage." And there's also the Birmingham speech on race that shocked whites throughout the South, and his hard-working nature that in all likelihood helped bring about his premature death. Harding is no Lincoln (of course), but he is a figure that deserves our respect and sympathy because he has been so horribly misjudged for so long. Thanks, Mr. Dean for one of the best books of the series. Keep writing!