Warren Harding
Warren G. Harding (b. on November 2, 1865 in Corsica, Ohio) was the 29th President of the United States. He served from 1921 to 1923. Harding was a member of the Republican Party. He died partway through his term of a heart attack in San Francisco, California, and was succeeded by then-Vice President Calvin Coolidge (R).[1]
A number of the members of Harding's administration faced indictments or convictions of corruption, with the most notable being in the Teapot Dome Scandal. The scandal involved the secretary of the interior leasing oil-rich lands in Wyoming to companies in exchange for personal loans.[2]
Prior to serving as president, Harding owned a newspaper and served in a number of other political offices: Ohio state legislator (1899-1903), lieutenant governor (1903-1905), and U.S. senator (1915-1921).[2]
Biography
Timeline of life events
Below is an abbreviated outline of Harding's professional and political career:[2]
- 1865: Born in Corsica, Ohio (now Blooming Grove)
- 1882: Graduation from Ohio Central College
- 1882: Purchases Marion Daily Star
- 1899-1903: Member, Ohio State Legislature
- 1903-1905: Lieutenant Governor of Ohio
- 1915-1921: U.S. Senator, Ohio
- 1921-1923: President of the United States
- 1923: Died of a heart attack in San Francisco, California
Before the presidency
Harding was born on November 2, 1865, in Corsica, Ohio, to two doctors, father George and mother Phoebe. He attended a one-room schoolhouse and performed in the village band. Harding began attending college at age 14, and graduated from Ohio Central College in 1882. The same year he graduated, he began teaching in a country school, selling insurance, and purchased the Marion Daily Star. Harding married Florence Kling de Wolfe in 1891.[2]
Harding's political career began in 1898 when he ran for, and won, a seat in the state legislature. Four years later, he won the post of lieutenant governor. He served in that position for two years before returning to the newspaper industry for five years. He unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1910, but ran for and won election to the U.S. Senate in 1914.[2] Harding delivered the nomination address at the 1912 Republican National Convention for William Taft.[1]
Presidency
Harding was elected to the presidency on November 2, 1920, winning 61 percent of the popular vote and 37 of 48 states in the electoral college. He defeated a fellow Ohioan, Democrat James Cox. He was the first sitting U.S. senator to be elected president.[2]
Following his election, Harding signed a number of bills passed by Congress seeking to roll back laws passed over the previous few decades, targeting issues like wartime controls, reducing taxes, establishing a federal budgetary system, raising tariffs, and limiting immigration.[1] The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 allowed the president to submit one single budget to Congress rather than separate budgets by cabinet office and established the General Accounting Office as a means of auditing government spending.[2]
During his presidency, the selection of a number of allies to cabinet positions (known as the "Ohio Gang") caused the administration trouble. The most notable corruption event of the term involved Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leasing land in Wyoming to oil companies in exchange for personal loans. One of the properties was a piece of land with a rock formation shaped like a teapot, leading people to call this event the Teapot Dome Scandal.[3] Fall was ultimately convicted of corruption charges in 1931 and sentenced to prison.[2]
Harding's presidency is generally viewed unfavorably by scholars and the media. In a 2018 New York Times poll, 170 members of the American Political Science Association’s Presidents and Executive Politics section rated Harding as the 39th-worst president of all time. His previous position in the 2014 poll was 42nd of 42.[4]
Elections
1920 presidential election
In 1920, Harding defeated Democrat James Cox in the general election for the United States presidency.[2]
State of the Union addresses
Every year in office, the president of the United States addresses Congress on the present state of affairs as well as the administration's goals for the coming year.[5] Following are pages with information on Harding's State of the Union addresses.
See also
External links
- Presidential Library and Museum website
- Official White House biography
- C-Span video on the Harding presidency
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 White House, "Warren G. Harding," accessed June 6, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Biography, "Warren G. Harding," accessed June 6, 2018
- ↑ Wyoming State Historical Society, "The Teapot Dome Scandal," accessed June 6, 2018
- ↑ [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/19/opinion/how-does-trump-stack-up-against-the-best-and-worst-presidents.html New York Times, "How Does Trump Stack Up Against the Best — and Worst — Presidents?" February 19, 2018]
- ↑ Congressional Research Service, "The President’s State of the Union Address: Tradition, Function, and Policy Implications," January 24, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Woodrow Wilson (D) |
President of the United States 1921-1923 |
Succeeded by Calvin Coolidge (R) |
| |||||||
