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'''Warren G. (Gamaliel) Harding''' (November 2, 1865 - August 2, 1923) was an [[Ohio]] [[Senator]] and the 29th [[President of the United States of America]], serving from 1921 to 1923. After the [[First World War]], his presidency was marked as a "return to normalcy".  Mr. Harding and his running mate [[Calvin Coolidge]] were elected by a large majority over James Cox and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], in large part because of the American people's rejection of the internationalist policies of former President [[Woodrow Wilson]], particularly the [[League of Nations]].  <ref>http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=atb037b09&templatename=/article/article.html</ref>

'''Warren G. (Gamaliel) Harding''' (November 2, 1865 - August 2, 1923) was the 29th [[President of the United States of America]], elected in a [[Republican Party|Republican]] landslide in 1920 and serving from 1921 until his sudden death in 1923. After the [[First World War]]. His conservative presidency was marked as a "return to normalcy", with an end to striokes and race riots, broad-scale prosperity, and peace abroad.  He looked like a president, and was highly popular; after his deaths any number of scandals were blamed on him, by Democrats and by his Republican successor [[Calvin Coolidge]], so that his historical reputation is near the bottom.

Harding's undeviating Republicanism and vibrant speaking voice, plus his willingness to let the machine bosses set policies, led him far in Ohio politics. He served in the state Senate and as Lieutenant Governor, and unsuccessfully ran for Governor. He delivered the nominating address for President [[William Howard Taft|Taft]] at the 1912 Republican Convention. In 1914 he was elected to the Senate. An Ohio admirer, Harry Daugherty, began to promote Harding for the 1920 Republican nomination because, he later explained, "He looked like a President." <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh29.html</ref>

Harding's undeviating Republicanism and vibrant speaking voice, plus his willingness to let the machine bosses set policies, led him far in Ohio politics. He served in the state Senate and as Lieutenant Governor, and unsuccessfully ran for Governor. He delivered the nominating address for President [[William Howard Taft|Taft]] at the 1912 Republican Convention. In 1914 he was elected to the Senate. An Ohio admirer, Harry Daugherty, began to promote Harding for the 1920 Republican nomination because, he later explained, "He looked like a President." <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh29.html</ref>

 

== Key Accomplishments ==

=== Key Accomplishments ===

*Eliminated wartime controls  

*Eliminated wartime controls  

=== Justice ===

=== Justice ===

Harding pardoned the [[socialist]] [[Eugene Debs]] who was imprisoned during World War I for opposing the war. Despite their political differences, Harding was cordial to him and met with him in the [[White House]], "I have heard so damned much about you, Mr Debs, that I am very glad to meet you personally."<ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/vodebs.htm</ref>

Harding pardoned the [[socialist]] [[Eugene Debs]] who was imprisoned in 1918 for inciting resistance to the draft during World War I. Despite their political differences, Harding was cordial to him and met with him in the [[White House]], "I have heard so damned much about you, Mr Debs, that I am very glad to meet you personally."<ref>http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/vodebs.htm</ref>

 

In particular, Sutherland and Butler were the core of the conservative [[Four Horsemen]] who invalidated key aspects of the [[New Deal]] and drove President Roosevelt to propose his [[court-packing scheme]], which caused him to lose his credibility with [[Congress]] and the public.

Harding defined the [[Supreme Court]] for two decades, appointing four solidly conservative justices.  Harding's appointments included former President [[William Howard Taft]] to be Chief Justice (1921), [[George Sutherland]] (1922), [[Pierce Butler]] (1923) and [[Edward Terry Sanford]] (1923).  Two of these justices (Taft and Sanford) served until 1930.  The other two (Sutherland and Butler) served until the late 1930s  and stood up to the liberal policies of President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]].

In selecting Pierce for the bench, Harding broke with tradition by picking a conservative Democrat even though Harding was a Republican.

In selecting Pierce for the bench, Harding broke with tradition by picking a conservative Democrat even though Harding was a Republican.

== Death ==

== Death ==

The death of President Warren Harding would eventually give rise to a savage case of liberal character assassination. Through allegations made by a political novelist, an alleged adulterous lover of Warren Harding’s, and a criminal who would die in [[Leavenworth]]  prison for accepting money in exchange for returning the kidnapped [[Lindbergh baby]], liberal historian Frederick Lewis Allen would plant firmly in the public mind the notions that Harding was murdered by his wife, out of jealousy and fear of  political scandal.<ref>Ferrell, Robert H. (1996), The Strange Deaths of President Harding, University of Missouri Press  p.31</ref>

The death of President Harding soon gave rise to a savage case of character assassination by insuations of murder, all thoroughly unfounded. <ref>Ferrell, Robert H. (1996), The Strange Deaths of President Harding, University of Missouri Press  p.31</ref>

Shaken by the talk of corruption among the friends he had appointed to office, Warren and Florence Harding began a tour on June 20, 1923 of the West and Alaska. He hoped to get out and meet people, to shake hands and explain his policies. Although suffering from high blood pressure and an enlarged heart, he seemed to enjoy himself and the food -- especially the seafood in Alaska. On his return journey, he became ill with what was then attributed to food poisoning. The Presidential train rushed to [[San Francisco]], where his condition worsened. He developed [[pneumonia]], and complicated by his heart ailment, died suddenly on August 23, he suffered a [[heart attack]] in the evening, while his wife was reading to him. He died quietly and instantaneously.

Shaken by the talk of corruption among the friends he had appointed to office, he began a tour on June 20, 1923 of the West and Alaska. He hoped to get out and meet people, to shake hands and explain his policies. Although suffering from high blood pressure and an enlarged heart, he seemed to enjoy himself and the food -- especially the seafood in Alaska. On his return journey, he became ill with what was then attributed to food poisoning. The Presidential train rushed to [[San Francisco]], where his condition worsened. He developed [[pneumonia]], and complicated by his heart ailment, died suddenly on August 23, he suffered a [[heart attack]] in the evening, while his wife was reading to him. He died quietly and instantaneously.

After Harding’s death, the reputation of his administration was tarnished by revelations of scandal, primarily the Teapot Dome scandal (mentioned above) and a scandal in the [[Veteran’s Administration]] which was particularly distasteful in that post World War I period. The scandals were pushed forward by congressional hearings, but were greeted by the public with what liberal historian Frederick Lewis Allen concedes was brief resentment at both scandals and scandalmongers, followed by apathy.<ref>http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/ALLEN/ch6.html</ref>

After Harding’s death, the reputation of his administration was tarnished by revelations of scandal, primarily the Teapot Dome scandal (mentioned above) and a scandal in the [[Veteran’s Administration]] which was particularly distasteful in that post World War I period. The scandals were pushed forward by congressional hearings, but were greeted by the public with what historian Frederick Lewis Allen concedes was brief resentment at both scandals and scandalmongers, followed by apathy.<ref>see [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/ALLEN/ch6.html Allen, ''Only Yesterday'']</ref>

In 1926, author [[Samuel Hopkins Adams]]  published the novel “Revelry”, with characters which appeared to be thinly disguised members of the Harding administration. The president in the novel, “Willis Markham” poisons himself by accident, but does not take an available antidote, because he realizes that his death “will wipe out the whole score” of soon to be revealed scandals involving oil and the Veteran’s Administration. The novel was later dramatized .<ref>Ferrell, Robert H. (1996), The Strange Deaths of President Harding, University of Missouri Press  p.33</ref>.  Adams was a successful writer, and would go on to write the story which would become Frank Capra’s film “It Happened One Night”, and to share screenwriting credits with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on an unrelated film, “The President’s Mystery” in 1936. His fictional account of Harding’s death brought the issue of poison firmly into the public mind.

In 1926, author [[Samuel Hopkins Adams]]  published the novel “Revelry”, with characters which appeared to be thinly disguised members of the Harding administration. The president in the novel, “Willis Markham” poisons himself by accident, but does not take an available antidote, because he realizes that his death “will wipe out the whole score” of soon to be revealed scandals involving oil and the Veteran’s Administration. The novel was later dramatized .<ref>Ferrell, ''The Strange Deaths of President Harding,'' p.33</ref>.  Adams was a successful writer, and would go on to write the story which would become Frank Capra’s film “It Happened One Night”, and to share screenwriting credits with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on an unrelated film, “The President’s Mystery” in 1936. His fictional account of Harding’s death brought the issue of poison firmly into the public mind.

The publication of Nan Britton’s book "The President's Daughter" in 1928 portrayed the late President as a womanizer, which historians now unanimously agree was true, even if some disputes remain regarding the degree to which Harding was involved with Ms. Britton herself, and as to the paternity of her child.

The publication of Nan Britton’s book "The President's Daughter" in 1928 portrayed the late President as a womanizer, which historians now unanimously agree was true, even if some disputes remain regarding the degree to which Harding was involved with Ms. Britton herself, and as to the paternity of her child.

In 1930, [[Gaston B. Means]], a lifelong criminal who had nonetheless managed to get himself hired as an FBI agent for a brief time during the Harding administration, published “The Strange Death of President Harding, by Gaston B. Means as told to May Dixon Thacker", in which he alleged that Mrs. Harding murdered her husband out of jealousy of Ms. Britton, and out of fear of the soon to be revealed Teapot Dome and Veteran’s Administration scandals. Means was later described by J. Edgar Hoover, who knew Means personally, as “the greatest faker of all time” and “the most amazing figure in contemporary criminal history”. Means, who had been previously acquitted of murder and had been involved in a number of other questionable situations such as possible insurance fraud, was convicted of bootlegging and mail fraud in 1925. While in prison he met May Dixon Thacker, who was interested in the rehabilitation of prisoners, and convinced her that he had been unjustly convicted. He convinced her to help him write a tell-all book about how he was railroaded, but as May Dixon Thacker herself wrote in a subsequent magazine article, he failed to provide her with any of the documentation of his account that he had promised. In the end, she made most of it up.<ref> Ferrell, Robert H. (1996), The Strange Deaths of President Harding, University of Missouri Press  pp. 42-43</ref> Means would go on to further criminal enterprise, and would finally be convicted of swindling Florence Harding’s close friend [[Evalyn Walsh McLean]] of  over $100,000.00 which he was to use to ransom the kidnapped Lindbergh baby. Means was then sent to Leavenworth, where he died.

In 1930, [[Gaston B. Means]], a lifelong criminal who had nonetheless managed to get himself hired as an FBI agent for a brief time during the Harding administration, published ''The Strange Death of President Harding, by Gaston B. Means as told to May Dixon Thacker'', in which he alleged that Mrs. Harding murdered her husband out of jealousy of Ms. Britton, and out of fear of the soon to be revealed Teapot Dome and Veteran’s Administration scandals. Means was later described by J. Edgar Hoover, who knew Means personally, as “the greatest faker of all time” and “the most amazing figure in contemporary criminal history”. Means, who had been previously acquitted of murder and had been involved in a number of other questionable situations such as possible insurance fraud, was convicted of bootlegging and mail fraud in 1925. While in prison he met May Dixon Thacker, who was interested in the rehabilitation of prisoners, and convinced her that he had been unjustly convicted. He convinced her to help him write a tell-all book about how he was railroaded, but as May Dixon Thacker herself wrote in a subsequent magazine article, he failed to provide her with any of the documentation of his account that he had promised. In the end, she made most of it up.<ref> Ferrell, Robert H. (1996), The Strange Deaths of President Harding, University of Missouri Press  pp. 42-43</ref> Means would go on to further criminal enterprise, and would finally be convicted of swindling Florence Harding’s close friend [[Evalyn Walsh McLean]] of  over $100,000.00 which he was to use to ransom the kidnapped Lindbergh baby. Means was then sent to Leavenworth, where he died.

No forensic evidence has ever been found to suggest that Warren G. Harding had been poisoned by any person, let alone his wife. The suggestion that she had a motivation to kill the president because of Florence Harding’s jealousy over an affair with Nan Britton makes little sense in light of the nearly unanimous consensus of modern historians that Harding had been a womanizer for many years prior to his election to the Presidency, and his wife had had knowledge of at least some of those affairs. The suggestion that she would murder the President to somehow deflect scandals that would be met by public apathy is similarly unlikely. Yet despite the source of these charges, their utter lack of factual support, and the unlikeliness of the alleged motives of the First Lady, Frederick Lewis Allen would repeat these charges in his very successful book “Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s” in 1931. Coming as it did in the deepest part of the [[Great Depression]], Allen’s book, which depicted all of the Republican presidents of the 1920s as bumbling incompetents, was eagerly accepted by a public looking for someone to blame. Allen’s history remains in print, and continues to provide misinformation quoted in poorly researched histories, articles and encyclopedias down to the present day.

No forensic evidence has ever been found to suggest that Warren G. Harding had been poisoned by any person, let alone his wife. The suggestion that she had a motivation to kill the president because of Florence Harding’s jealousy over an affair with Nan Britton makes little sense in light of the nearly unanimous consensus of modern historians that Harding had been a womanizer for many years prior to his election to the Presidency, and his wife had had knowledge of at least some of those affairs. The suggestion that she would murder the President to somehow deflect scandals that would be met by public apathy is similarly unlikely. Yet despite the source of these charges, their utter lack of factual support, and the unlikeliness of the alleged motives of the First Lady, Frederick Lewis Allen would repeat these charges in his very successful book “Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s” in 1931. Coming as it did in the deepest part of the [[Great Depression]], Allen’s book, which depicted all of the Republican presidents of the 1920s as bumbling incompetents, was eagerly accepted by a public looking for someone to blame. Allen’s history remains in print, and continues to provide misinformation quoted in poorly researched histories, articles and encyclopedias down to the present day.