Warren G. Harding

29th President

Challenges at Home

• Social: Racial Prejudice was a problem in the 1920's.  Harding criticized the unfair treatment of African Americans-(one of the few things he did right during his administration).  He was also a supporter of strict immigration laws to quell the growing immigrant population. The Ku Klux Klan was active once again during Harding's administration. Prohibition was also a challenge for Harding, as it was easy to access illegal alcohol and bootleggers such as Al Capone were just gaining power during Harding's term.  However, Harding's administration was ineffective in quelling the prevalence of drinking.  Harding himself was not a good example for law-abiding citizens during Prohibition because he drank quite heavily.

• Political: Following the Red Scare, Americans were fearful of communists, anarchists, and socialists.  The Sacco-Venzetti trial began during Harding's term, for example.  Harding responded to these fears by maintaining a conservative Republican policy, which was always supported by the Republican dominated Senate and Congress. Harding supported such acts as the Johnson Immigrant Quota Act of 1921 and he also supported the efforts of Secretary Mellon to get tax cuts for the rich and the growing corporations in America.
• Economic: In 1920 the American economy experienced a yearlong decline where wages dropped astronomically and an estimated 20,000 businesses failed. Harding entered the Presidency following this decline.     He managed to raise the average wages to $22 dollars, which was a record at the time.  During the Harding years the "American Plan" was introduced. It was an anti-union movement in which workers were supplied with something known as "Welfare Capitalism" in return for not joining labor unions. Harding was a supporter of big businesses over unions, given that he had many friends in big businesses and labor unions tended to reduce the income of these companies by fighting for higher wages.

Challenges Abroad

• Social: Harding did not have much of an interest in dealing with the rest of the world and this coupled with the fact that he died after just two years in the White House did not give much to do in this category.  The world as a whole was recovering from the Great War (World War I) and large global changes, often mirroring those taking place in America at the time occurred, as the world was starting to interact more, thanks to new technology.

   

• Political: Harding's short time in office prevented him from making peace agreements in the Pacific. Harding also managed to avoid such issues as the Washington Disarmament Conference in which the Navies of the U.S., Great Britain and Germany among others, were reduced. The problem was resolved at the conference but it was the Senate who made the final decision not the administration.   Though Harding made few advances abroad, his changes in Post-World War I America affected this, because he spent his first, and only, two years in office working primarily on challenges at home.

   

• Economic: America had many outstanding foreign loans waiting to be repaid.  Harding significantly reduced these debts, especially to nations such as Germany. After the new debts had been paid, America receieved less than a fraction of what these foreign countries owed them.  This did help the recovering global economy.
   

Presidential Hats

Grading System

A - Above Average

B - Average

C - Unacceptable

N - Unable to Judge

• Commander in Chief: Harding did not have an opportunity to be Commander in Chief, due to the fact no wars took place during his presidency. Therefore, it is difficult to judge how well he would have performed the tasks involved with being Commander in Chief.  N

   

• Chief Executive:  As Chief Executive, Harding often failed to ensure laws were upheld.  He and his "Ohio Gang" (a group of supporters from his home state) drank heavily despite Prohibition laws.  Though Presidents traditionally agree, or at least discuss issues with Congress, Harding relied far too heavily on Congress and Senate, as opposed to showing the American people a strong example of a President.  C

   

• Chief Diplomat: Harding routinely avoided foreign politics as much as possible, often turning to the Republican dominated Congress or Senate for official decisions.  As his term lasted only two years, he had little time to make an impression on the outiside world, given that during this time he mainly toured the United States. C

   

• Ceremonial Head of State: Harding took the role of Ceremonial Head of State very seriously.  He even saw his job as mainly ceremonial.  He took many tours of the United States, visiting Alaska and California, notably.  Because he took these ceremonial jobs seriously and because he was noted for his social skills, Harding did connect with many Americans in his short term, due to the fact he was personable. A

   

• Manager of the Economy: He signed the revised version of the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 which allowed the President to have one budget instead of one budget from each cabinet in Congress. The economy in the United States took off once he became president. By 1923 the unemployment rate had dropped to 2 percent and the average paycheck was 22 dollars a week.  Though many of the ideas were not Harding's own work, they were well implemented and greatly aided Americans as a whole during the 20's. A

   

• Party Leader: Harding never deviated from the ideals of his party.  He constantly supported Republicans in Congress by signing their bills and he voted in favor of Republican ideals, such as lower taxes and strict immigration laws.  Harding was a staunch Republican, easily influenced by his party members and generally well liked, due to his good nature. A

   

• National Leader: Harding was a weak leader, he preferred to give his responsibilities to Congress whenever possible and to his cabinet members such as secretary of state, Charles Evans Hughes who handled foreign affairs.  His ability to avoid tasks likely made him easily influenced by many corrupt men of the time, due to the fact when he did have to make decisions, he rarely made them with out aid from others.  Often the men he relied upon for assistance did not have the American People's best interest in mind. C
• Average: C+/B- Less than Acceptable 

A Great President? 

During the Harding administration the country itself was generally successful in terms of the economy, but this did not necessarily mean that Harding was a good president. He was in fact a substandard president. Some historians even rank him as the worst American president. Harding had no clear direction and lacked initiative, preferring instead, to pass the work off to his party members and 'cronies', or corrupt friends (some of which were later charged with fraud and corruption of the government and some even went to jail).  Aside from lack of talent, Harding lacked interest in not only his government, but in following some of the laws active during his time.  He was a noted drinker, despite the fact he was a President during Prohibition, for example. Another example of Harding's view of his role as President can be found in the quote, "I am not fit for this office and should have never been here." Harding was not ready for the job of president and he often confided this to his friends. He saw the role of president as mostly ceremonial. He had a few good men in his cabinet and that's who he relied on to run the affairs of the White House. For example, he gave his Secretary of State a free reign over the subject of foreign affairs. Although a few of his men caused huge scandals such as the Teapot Dome scandal and the Veterans Bureau scandal for which they later went to jail. These scandals were not revealed until after his death and up until they were revealed, he was well liked by the people due to his social talents and easy going attitude. But once the public found out what had gone on in the White House during his administration, his ratings quickly dropped. The Great Depression of the 1930's was mostly blamed on the political mistakes of the 1920's and this gave people even more reason dislike Harding.  Harding sense for the presidency is seen here in this quote from a letter to a friend "The only thing I really worry about is that I might be nominated and elected. That's an awful thing to contemplate". This quote from Harding is a good example of what he himself thought he could do for the presidency, which was very little.

Works Cited

American President: "Compromise Choices, The" Thirteen WNET New York. PBS. 4 May 2007. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/amerpres/main_episode08.html.

American President: President Warren G. Harding. University of Virginia. 4 May 2007. http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/americanpresident/harding.

Kunhardt, Jr., Philip B., Philip B. Kunhardt III, and Peter W. Kunhardt. The American President. New York: Penguin Putnam, 1999.

McPherson, James M. To the Best of my Ability: The American Presidents. New York: DK Publishing, 2002.

Emily Thibodeau, Claire Willette

A1 American Studies DeZwaan: May 2007