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Line 37: − === Tulsa Race Riot === − − Harding sought to calm race relations during the [[Tulsa Race Riot]] and events that followed. His wise words helped to calm the nation especially in the Tulsa area at this time of disturbance. His press secretary also sent a telegram to the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] offering the president's support. <ref>http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3812/is_199911/ai_n8854233</ref> Line 49:
Line 46: − + + + + + + + + − The Bureau of the Budget was created during Harding's tenure. Harding attempted to restrain the federal budget and reduce expenses on wartime armaments. This stimulated the private economy and lead to a period of prosperity experienced in the United States during the 1920s known as the ''Roaring 20s''. Shortly after taking office, Harding also successfully passed promotion of US Agriculture, repeal of the wartime "excess profits" tax and reduction of rail rates.<ref>http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0193620-00</ref> Due in part to Mr. Harding's conservative economic policies, the US experienced a period of profound economic growth in the early 1920s that continued through most of the decade.+ + + − === Military === + − − === Diplomatic === − Harding rejected the Lague of Nations and avoided entangling alliances, but he pursued a vigorous foreign policy. Harding's administration was successful in negotiating the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited battleships. Line 63:
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Mr. Harding signed into law the [[Emergency Quota Act]]<ref>http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1920s/QuotaAct1918.html</ref> which sought to control immigration following [[World War I]] and preserve the distinctive American culture by ensuring the majority of immigrants came from the historically compatible cultures of Northern Europe. This law aimed to bring wages of hard working Americans under control by limiting immigration to 3% of the 1910 census. It was followed on by a similar act in 1924, after Mr. Harding's death.<ref>http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/Race/quota_acts.htm</ref>
Mr. Harding signed into law the [[Emergency Quota Act]]<ref>http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1920s/QuotaAct1918.html</ref> which sought to control immigration following [[World War I]] and preserve the distinctive American culture by ensuring the majority of immigrants came from the historically compatible cultures of Northern Europe. This law aimed to bring wages of hard working Americans under control by limiting immigration to 3% of the 1910 census. It was followed on by a similar act in 1924, after Mr. Harding's death.<ref>http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/Race/quota_acts.htm</ref>
=== Justice ===
=== Justice ===
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.
=== Fiscal ===
Harding sought to calm race relations during the 1921 [[Tulsa Race Riot]]. <ref>see [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3812/is_199911/ai_n8854233 online]</ref>
=== Economics ===
Harding cut federal spending, lowered taxes, and began paying off the wartime national debt. He restored prosperity by 1921, opening a decade of rapid growth known as the ''Roaring 20s''.
Harding created the Bureau of the Budget to allow the White House to monitor all federal spending. Shortly after taking office, Harding also successfully passed promotion of US Agriculture, repeal of the wartime "excess profits" tax and reduction of rail rates.
Rader (1971) challenges the view that the tax policies of Harding's Treasury Secretary [[Andrew Mellon]], reversed the progressive policies of the Wilson years and allowed the wealthy to become wealthier. A congressional coalition of Democrats and insurgent Republicans shared responsibilities with Mellon for the tax legislation of that period, which was written by civil servants in the Treasury. The new rates were very low for most people, and yet were high enough to retire the war debt and generate a budget surplus. The net effect of this legislation, Rader argues, was to "impose more progressivity on the federal income tax structure than has existed in any other peace-time period of American history."
Winters (1990) examines Harding's farm policies and those of Henry Cantwell Wallace, the Secretary of Agriculture (1921-24). Wallace's handling of the postwar collapse of land values and the weakening of the farm economy was inconsistent and largely ineffective because of conflicting views of the value of agriculture in society. On one hand, he saw farming as a business that needed to improve its efficiency; on the other hand, he saw farmers as "yeoman," a special group, embodying republican virtues of independence, which deserved to be subsidized. Programs based on one view often negated those based on the other. Hoover meanwhile argued that the long-term solution lay in modernizing agricultural machinery, seeds, animal breeding and, especially, business practices.
===Foreign and military affairs===
Grant (1995) shows that during World War I the U.S. loaned ove $4 billion to Britain. This British war debt was not part of the agenda of the Paris Peace Conference or the 1921 settlement of the Reparation Commission. In response to an appeal by President Harding in his 1921 state of the union address, Congress passed the World War Foreign Debt Commission Act in 1922. The commission was mandated to determine each European nation's debt and negotiate payment over a period up to 25 years. In 1923 the British government agreed to pay $4.6 billion, with an initial payment of $4.1 million, the remainder to be paid over 62 years at 3% interest for the first ten years, 3.5% thereafter. Britain was able to pay because it received large war repoarations annually from Germany. Germany in turn borrowed the money from the U.S. During the [[Great Depression]] President [[Herbert Hoover]] suspended all payyments, and they were never resumed.
Irwin (2003) shows that the Harding Navy department oversaw or initiated the development of fleets of aircraft carriers, the strengthening of submarine forces and naval aviation, and the Marine Corps' adoption of amphibious assault strategies, all of which contributed significantly to US naval success in World War II.
Harding presided over modernization of the U.S. forces including the addition of the experimental [[aircraft carrier]] Langley and the T-2 [[submarine]], as well as the creation of a merchant marine.
=== Labor and economic issues ===
=== Labor and economic issues ===
==Scandals==
==Scandals==
=== Teapot Dome Scandal===
=== Teapot Dome Scandal===
Harding appointed Senator Albert B. Fall of New Mexico as his Secretary of the Interior, in charge of valuable oil lands that were for the long-term use of the Navy. Democrats in Congress, lead by Senator [[Thomas J. Walsh]] and Republican Senator [[Robert M. LaFollette]] (a former progressive), began an investigation with the support of the [[conservationist]] interests that backed them. They found that Fall had used his privatization efforts to benefit himself by over $400,000. Mr. Fall entangled other businessmen and politicians into his wrongdoing which lead to other indictments of both Democrats and Republicans and continued into the Coolidge administration. Harding did not know about these dealings until shortly before his death.
Harding appointed a close friend anddrinking partner Senator Albert B. Fall of New Mexico as his Secretary of the Interior. Fall had charge of valuable oil lands known as "Teapot Dome" that were for the long-term use of the Navy. Fall secretly leased oil rights to an old friend, who paid bribes to Fall of over $400,000. The scandal was discovered after Harding's death by Harding's enemies in Congress in late 1923. Fall had entangled other businessmen and politicians into his wrongdoing which lead to other indictments of both Democrats and Republicans and continued into the Coolidge administration. Harding did not know about these dealings until shortly before his death.
===Interpretation===
===Interpretation===
Fine (1990) explains why Harding's reputation took a nose dive, as the new president Calvin Coolidge blamed the troubles of the day on his dead predecessor. "Reputational entrepreneurs" attempt to control the memory of historical figures through motivation, narrative facility, and institutional placement, says Fine. Men remembered as great heroes or great vilains or evil are explained by the Durkheimian theory of consensus and cohesion, but this does not explain the memory of the "incompetent" like Harding. Reputational politics is an arena in which forces compete to control memory. Reputations are grounded in a social construction of character, subsequently generalized to policy and the character of the society. In the case of Harding, the president rated lowest by historians and the public, political opponents set the agenda, while potential supporters did not defend him, given their political interests, structural positions, and a lack of credible narrative.
Fine (1990) explains why Harding's reputation took a nose dive, as the new president Calvin Coolidge blamed the troubles of the day on his dead predecessor. "Reputational entrepreneurs" attempt to control the memory of historical figures through motivation, narrative facility, and institutional placement, says Fine. Men remembered as great heroes or great vilains or evil are explained by the Durkheimian theory of consensus and cohesion, but this does not explain the memory of the "incompetent" like Harding. Reputational politics is an arena in which forces compete to control memory. Reputations are grounded in a social construction of character, subsequently generalized to policy and the character of the society. In the case of Harding, the president rated lowest by historians and the public, political opponents set the agenda, while potential supporters did not defend him, given their political interests, structural positions, and a lack of credible narrative.