Warren G. Harding served as president just under two and a half years
before dying in office. His administration is most remembered for its
scandals.
Newspaper man
Harding was born on November 2, 1865, and was one of eight children
of an Ohio doctor and his wife. At sixteen, Harding attended Ohio Central College. He graduated in 1882 and
taught school for one term before recognizing
that teaching did not suit him well.
With a loan from his father, Harding purchased the Marion Daily Star in Marion, Ohio,
in 1884. It was a failing newspaper, but with the
help of two friends, Harding entered into the
newspaper publishing business. His partners left
the venture within a few months, but Harding
stayed on to build the newspaper into a success
by 1890. He married Florence Kling DeWolfe
in 1891 and joined several civic and service organizations. Harding became well known in
Marion.
Enters politics
Harding’s political influence increased throughout the 1890s. He won a seat in the Ohio senate
in 1899 and served two terms. In 1903, he was
elected lieutenant governor of Ohio. Harding
was popular among Ohio Republicans and his easygoing style appealed
to leaders.
Beginning in 1905, Harding left politics for five years to focus on
running his newspaper. It had become an important paper throughout
the state of Ohio, primarily because of Harding’s favorable reputation. In
1912, his name became known throughout the country when he nominated William Howard Taft (1857–1930; served 1909–13) for president at the Republican National Convention. Harding was elected to the
U.S. Senate in 1914 and moved to Washington, D.C.
Senator Harding did not impress anyone with his performance. But
when he voted in favor of the United States joining the League of
Nations (an international organization favored by Democratic president
Woodrow Wilson [1856–1924; served 1913–21] that promoted international peace and security) in 1916, he was looked upon favorably.
Harding announced his presidential candidacy in 1919 and received
the nomination in 1920. He beat his Democratic opponent, Ohio governor James M. Cox (1870–1957), by receiving more popular (individual) votes than any candidate of any preceding presidential election. Conservative and scandalous
Harding supported a conservative financial program that included cutbacks in government spending, higher tariff (tax on imported goods)
rates, and corporate (business) tax reduction. By signing the Budget and
Accounting Act of 1921, he created a Bureau of the Budget accountable
to the president, which made it easier to keep track of spending. Harding
vetoed the 1922 Soldier’s Bonus Bill, which would have paid a cash
bonus to veterans of World War I (1914–18).
By 1923, the United States’s economy had turned around from one
of hardship to one of prosperity. Newspapers praised Harding for the improvement. Within government, however, the picture was not so rosy.
Rumor reached Harding that some of his friends were using their positions of power for their own personal glory and improvement.
One scandal in particular overshadowed the Harding administration. Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall (1861–1944) improperly released government oil reserves in Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and Elk
Hills, California, to private interests. And although Harding was not directly involved, he shouldered the blame because he knowingly appointed his friends to positions for which they were not skilled.
The Teapot Dome Scandal had not yet broken publicly, but privately Harding was nervous. He and his wife took a long-planned crosscountry trip to the Alaska territory in June 1923. On the way home,
while at a layover in San Francisco, Harding suffered a heart attack. He
died on August 2 in his hotel room. Soon thereafter, the scandal broke,
and Harding’s reputation suffered greatly.