• Explorer Daniel Boone, 1734
• Poet Petrus Lotichius Secundus, 1528
• 29th President of the United States Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865

   

The administration of Warren G. Harding followed the Republican platform approved at the 1920 Republican National Convention, which was held in Chicago. Harding, who had been elected by a landslide, felt the "pulse" of the nation and for the 28 months in office he remained popular both nationally and internationally. Harding's administration has been critically viewed due to multiple scandals, while his successes in office were often given credit to his capable cabinet appointments that included future President Herbert Hoover. Author Wayne Lutton asked, "Was Harding really a failure?" Historian and former White House Counsel John Dean's reassessment of Harding stated his accomplishments included income tax and federal spending reductions, economic policies that reduced "stagflation", a reduction of unemployment by 10%, and a bold foreign policy that created peace with Germany, Japan, and Central America. Herbert Hoover, while serving in Harding's cabinet, was confident the President would serve two terms and return the world to normality. Later, in his own memoirs, he stated that Harding had "neither the experience nor the intellect that the position needed."

One of Harding's earlier decisions as President was the appointment of former President William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a position Taft had always coveted, more so than the Presidency. Harding calmed the 1919 – 20 Bolshevik scare and released election opponent, Socialist leader Eugene Debs, from prison. Debs had been convicted under charges brought by the Wilson administration for his opposition to the draft during World War I. Despite many political differences between the two candidates, Harding commuted Debs' sentence to time served.

Harding pushed for the establishment of the Bureau of Veterans Affairs (later organized as the Department of Veterans Affairs), the first permanent attempt at answering the needs of those who had served the nation in time of war. In April 1921, speaking before a special joint session of Congress which he had called, Harding argued for peacemaking with Germany and Austria, emergency tariffs, new immigration laws, regulation of radio and trans cable communications, retrenchment in government, tax reduction, repeal of wartime excess profits tax, reduction of railroad rates, promotion of agricultural interests, a national budget system, an enlarged merchant marine and a department of public welfare. He also called for measures to bring an end to lynching, but he did not want to make enemies in his own party and with the Democrats, and did not fight for his program. Generally, there was a lack of strong leadership in the Congress and, unlike his predecessors Roosevelt and Wilson, Harding was not inclined to fill that void.

According to biographers, Harding got along well with the press more than any other President, being a former newspaper man. Reporters admired his frankness, candor, and his confessed limitations. He took the press behind the scenes and showed them the inner circle of the presidency. Harding, in November 1921, also implemented a policy of taking written questions from reporters during a press conference. Harding's relationship with Congress, however, was strained and he did not receive the traditional honeymoon given to new Presidents. Prior to Harding's election the nation was adrift; President Woodrow Wilson had been ill by a debilitating stroke for eighteen months and before that Wilson had been in Europe for several months attempting to negotiate a peace settlement after World War I. By contrast, at the March 4, 1921 Inaugural, Harding looked strong, with grey hair and a commanding physical presence. Wilson's successor stressed the importance of the ceremonial aspects of the office of President. This emphasis fulfilled his desire to travel the breadth of the country to officiate at formal functions.

Although Harding was committed to putting the "best minds" on his cabinet, he often rewarded those persons who were active and contributed to his campaign by appointing them to high federal department positions. For instance, Wayne Wheeler, leader of the Anti - Saloon League was literally allowed by Harding to dictate who would serve on the Prohibition Commission. Graft and corruption charges permeated Harding's Department of Justice; bootleggers confiscated tens of thousands cases of whiskey through bribery and kickbacks. Harding, out of loyalty, appointed Harry M. Daugherty to U.S. Attorney General because he felt he owed Daugherty for running his 1920 campaign. After the election, many people from the Ohio area moved to Washington, D.C., made their headquarters in a green house on K Street, and would be eventually known as the "Ohio Gang". The financial and political scandals caused by these men, in addition to Harding's own personal controversies, severely damaged President Harding's personal reputation and eclipsed his presidential accomplishments.

In his most open challenge to Congress, Harding forced a deferral of a budget - busting World War I soldier's bonus in an effort to reduce costs.

A 2008 study for The Times placed Harding at number 34 and a 2009 C-SPAN survey ranked Harding at 38. In 2010, a Siena College poll of Presidential scholars placed Harding at 41. The same poll ranked President Harding 26 in the Ability to Compromise category.

Harding presided over the nation's initial consecration of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This followed similar commemorations established by Britain, France and Italy. The fallen hero was chosen from a group previously interred at Romagne Military Cemetery in France, and was re-interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

On December 23, 1921, President Harding freed Eugene V. Debs, a forceful World War I antiwar activist and socialist whom previous President Woodrow Wilson had thrown into jail for sedition. This was done as an effort to get the United States returned to "normalcy" after the Great War. Debs was released from jail for time served, but not granted an official Presidential pardon. Debs' failing health was a contributing factor for the release. Harding granted a general amnesty to 23 prisoners, alleged anarchists and socialists, active in the Red Scare.

Harding's party suffered the loss of 79 seats in the House in the 1922 mid-term elections, leaving them with a razor thin majority. The President determined to fill the void of leadership in the party and attempted to take a more aggressive role in setting the legislative agenda. The Hardings visited their home community of Marion, Ohio, once during the term, when the city celebrated its centennial during the first week of July. Harding arrived on July 3, gave a speech to the community at the Marion County Fairgrounds on July 4, and left the following morning for other speaking commitments.

On April 12, President Harding addressed a joint session of Congress which he had called to address matters that he deemed of national and urgent importance. That speech, considered to be his best, contained few political platitudes and was enthusiastically received by Congress. On the economic front, Harding urged Congress to create a Bureau of the Budget; cut expenditures; and revise federal tax laws. Harding urged increasing protectionist tariffs, to lower taxes, and agriculture legislation to help the farmer. In the speech, Harding advocated aviation technology for civil and military purposes; the development of radio technology and regulation; and the passage of a federal anti - lynching law to protect African Americans. Harding advocated, in terms of foreign affairs, a "conference and cooperation" of nations to prevent war, yet flatly stated the U.S. should not enter the League of Nations. Harding endorsed peace to be established between all former enemy nations from World War I; and the funding and liquidation of war debts.

Considered to be one of his greatest domestic and enduring achievements, President Harding signed Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. Harding requested and obtained from the Congress authorization for the country's first formal budgeting process via the establishing of the Bureau of the Budget. The law created the presidential budget director who was directly responsible to the President, rather than the Secretary of Treasury. The law also stipulated that the President must submit a budget annually to the U.S. Congress. Subsequent Presidents each year have had to submit a budget to Congress. The General Accounting Office was created to assure oversight in the federal budget expenditures. Harding appointed Charlie Dawes, known for being an effective financier, as the first director of the Bureau of the Budget. Dawes reduced government spending by $1.5 billion his first year as director, a 25% reduction, along with another 25% reduction the following year. In effect, the Government budget was cut in ½ in just two years. Harding believed the federal government should be fiscally managed similar to the private sector having campaigned "Less government in business and more business in government." "Harding was true to his word, carrying on budget cuts that had begun under a debilitated Woodrow Wilson. Federal spending declined from $6.3 billion in 1920 to $5 billion in 1921 and $3.3 billion in 1922. Tax rates, meanwhile, were slashed — for every income group. And over the course of the 1920s, the national debt was reduced by one third." On March 4, President Harding assumed office while the nation was in the midst of a postwar economic decline, known as the Depression of 1920 – 21. By summer of his first year in office, an economic recovery began. President Harding convened the Conference of Unemployment in 1921, headed by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, that proactively advocated stimulating the economy with local public work projects and encouraged businesses to apply shared work programs.

Harding's Treasury Secretary, Andrew Mellon, ordered a study that claimed to demonstrate that as income tax rates were increased, money was driven underground or abroad. Mellon concluded that lower rates would increase tax revenues. Based on this advice, Harding cut taxes, starting in 1922 after the unemployment rate had already begun to decline. The top marginal rate was reduced annually in four stages from 73% in 1921 to 25% in 1925. Taxes were cut for lower incomes starting in 1923.

Revenues to the treasury increased substantially. Unemployment also continued to fall. Libertarian historian Thomas Woods contends that the tax cuts ended the Depression of 1920 – 21 — even though economic growth had begun before the cuts — and were responsible for creating a decade long expansion. Historians Schweikart and Allen attribute these changes to the tax cuts. Schweikart and Allen also argue that Harding's tax and economic policies in part "...produced the most vibrant eight year burst of manufacturing and innovation in the nation's history." The combined declines in unemployment and inflation (later known as the Misery Index) were among the sharpest in U.S. history. Wages, profits, and productivity all made substantial gains during the 1920s.

Daniel Kuehn attributes the improvement to the earlier monetary policy of the Federal Reserve, and notes that the changes in marginal tax rates were accompanied by an expansion in the tax base that could account for the increase in revenue. However:

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Robert Gordon, a Keynesian, admits, “government policy to moderate the depression and speed recovery was minimal. The Federal Reserve authorities were largely passive. … Despite the absence of a stimulative government policy, however, recovery was not long delayed.” Kenneth Weiher, an economic historian, notes, “despite the severity of the contraction, the Fed did not move to use its powers to turn the money supply around and fight the contraction.” He then briskly concedes that “the economy rebounded quickly from the 1920 - 1921 depression and entered a period of quite vigorous growth.”

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Recovery did not last long. Another economic contraction began near the end of Harding's presidency in 1923, while tax cuts were still underway. A third contraction followed in 1927 during the next presidential term.

On August 9, 1921, President Harding signed legislation known as the "Sweet Bill", which established the Veterans Bureau as a new agency. After World War I, 300,000 wounded veterans were in need of hospitalization, medical care, and job training. In order to handle the needs of these veterans, the new Veterans Bureau incorporated the War Risk Insurance Bureau, the Brig. Gen. Charles E. Sawyer's Federal Hospitalization Bureau, along with three other bureaus that dealt with veteran affairs. Harding regrettably appointed Colonel Charles R. Forbes, albeit a decorated war veteran, as the Veteran Bureau's first director, a position which reported directly to the President. The Veterans Bureau later was incorporated into the Veterans Administration and ultimately the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In 1921 and 1922, President Harding signed a series of bills regulating agriculture. The legislation emanated from President Woodrow Wilson's 1919 Federal Trade Commission report, which investigated and discovered "manipulations, controls, trusts, combinations, or restraints out of harmony with the law or the public interest" in the meat packing industry. The first law was the Packers and Stockyards Act, prohibiting packers from engaging in unfair and deceptive practices. Two amendments were made to the Farm Loan Act of 1916 which had been signed into law by President Wilson, and which expanded the maximum size of rural farm loans. The Emergency Agriculture Credit Act authorized new loans to farmers in order to sell and market livestock. The Capper – Volstead Act signed by Harding on February 18, 1922 protected farm cooperatives from anti - trust legislation. The Future Trading Act was also enacted, regulating "puts and calls", "bids", and "offers" on futures contracting. This legislation was later ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 15, 1922.

On November 22, 1921, President Harding signed the Revenue Act of 1921 that gave large deductions in the amount of taxes that the wealthiest Americans had to pay. Protests from Republican farmers caused the deductions to be less than originally desired by Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon. The lengthy 96 page Act reduced the corporate tax from 65% to 50% and provided for the ultimate elimination of the excess profits tax during World War I.

The 1920s were a time of modernization for America, with the advent of movies, flappers, and automobiles. To improve and expand the nation's highway system, President Harding signed the Federal Highway Act of 1921. From 1921 to 1923, the federal government spent a total of $162 million on America's highway system, infusing the U.S. economy with a large amount of capital. In 1922, President Harding proclaimed that America was in the age of the "motor car". He stated that the automobile, "reflects our standard of living and gauges the speed of our present day life."

On September 21, 1922, President Harding enthusiastically signed the Fordney - McCumber Tariff Act. The protectionist legislation was sponsored by Representative Joseph W. Fordney and Senator Porter J. McCumber. It increased the tariff rates contained in the previous Underwood - Simmons Tariff Act of 1913, to the highest level in the nation's history. Harding became concerned when the agriculture business suffered economic hardship from the high tariffs. Previously, on May 21, 1921 President Harding had signed emergency legislation that put tariffs on select foreign inputs. By 1922, Harding began to realize that the long term effects of tariffs could be detrimental to national economy, despite the short term benefits. Harding's successors, President Calvin Coolidge and President Herbert Hoover, also advocated tariff legislation. The tariffs established in the 1920s have historically been viewed as a contributing factor to causing the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

On February 27, 1922, President Harding implemented the first of a series of Radio Conferences headed by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. The last Radio Act of 1912 was considered "inadequate" and "chaotic"; change was necessary to help the fledgling radio industry. At the first meeting, 30 representatives including amateurs, governmental agencies, and the radio industry made "cooperative efforts" to ensure the public interest in broadcasting, who would broadcast and for what purpose, and to curb direct advertising. Also discussed was how wattage power used by broadcasters would be distributed depending on the radio station's conditional use and location.

A second radio conference was called in 1923, and this time Secretary Hoover was successful at obtaining radio regulation power without legislation passed. Hoover himself in January 1923 told the press there was an "urgent need for radio regulation." Large radio stations such as Westinghouse advocated that only 25 larger radio stations in large metropolitan areas be allowed to broadcast while smaller stations would be given limited power. At the end of the meeting, the industrialists agreed to give Hoover the power "to regulate hours and wave lengths of operation of stations when such action is necessary to prevent interference detrimental to the public good".

On February 8, 1922, President Harding had a radio installed in the White House. On June 14, President Harding spoke on radio at a dedication site in honor of Francis Scott Key, who wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner.

President Harding Secretary was very specific in commenting on the appointment of Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes, that the secretary would be the sole spokesman for the State Department (as opposed to the Wilson administration). Hughes ably worked behind the scenes to formally make peace with former enemies Austria and Germany. This was known as the Knox - Porter Resolution; subsequent Peace treaties were signed with both countries and Ratified by the Senate and signed by Harding on July 21, 1921; that officially ended World War I for the U.S. The Senate had refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles in both 1919 and 1920; since it required the U.S. to endorse the League of Nations.

President Harding spearheaded, with the urging of the Senate, a monumental global conference, held in Washington, D.C., to limit the armaments of world powers, including the U.S., Japan, Great Britain, France, Italy, China, Belgium, Netherlands and Portugal. Harding's Secretary of State, Charles E. Hughes, assumed a primary role in the conference and made the pivotal proposal – the U.S was to reduce its number of warships by 30 if Great Britain decommissioned 19, and Japan 17 ships. Starting on November 6, 1921 and ending February 6, 1922, world leaders met to control a naval arms race and to bring stability to East Asia. The conference enabled the great powers to potentially limit their large naval deployment and avoid conflict in the Pacific. The delegation of nations also worked out security issues and promoted cooperation in the Far East.

The conference produced six treaties and 12 resolutions among the participating nations, which ranged from limiting the size or "tonnage" of naval ships to custom tariffs. The treaties, which easily passed the Senate, also included agreements regulating submarines, dominions in the Pacific, and dealings with China. The treaties only remained in effect until the mid 1930s, however, and ultimately failed. Japan eventually invaded Manchuria and the arms limitations no longer had any effect. The building of "monster warships" resumed and the U.S. and Great Britain were unable to quickly rearm themselves to defend an international order and stop Japan from remilitarizing.

President Harding, in an effort to improve U.S. relations with Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean Islands implemented a program of military disengagement. On April 20, 1921, the Thomson – Urrutia Treaty with Colombia was ratified by the Senate and signed by Harding; that awarded $25,000,000 as indemnity payment for land used to make the Panama Canal.

Harding stunned the capital when he sent to the Senate a message supporting the participation of the U.S. in the proposed Permanent Court of International Justice. This was not favorably received by Harding's colleagues; a resolution was nevertheless drafted, in deference to the President, and then promptly buried in the Foreign Affairs Committee.

On May 12, 1921, just two months into Harding's presidency, violence was initiated near Matewan, West Virginia, between private detectives, on behalf of the Stone Mountain Coal Company, and United Mine Workers union members who had been fired from their jobs and were being evicted from company owned housing. The miners cut down telephone and telegraph lines and trained their guns on the mines, strike breakers and buildings. The battle lasted three days and on the first day and night of the battle some 10,000 rounds were fired. Former Justice of the Peace, Harry C. Staton, was killed and Ephraim Morgan, Governor of West Virginia, pleaded in person with President Harding for federal military support. Harding, who was keeping track of the situation, would only send in troops if state militia could no longer handle the striking miners. On August 1, Sid Hatfield, a prominent Union organizer and Matewan chief of police, was assassinated by mining company agents. On August 28, four days of fighting broke out on a 25 mi (40 km) front at Blair Mountain between coal company militia and thousands of Union miners led by Bill Blizzard. Both the miner and the strike buster armies were equipped with physicians, nurses and chaplains. President Harding, having issued two proclamations to keep the peace, finally used military force including Martin MB-1 bombers that deployed gas and explosive bombs. Federal troops arrived on September 2, forcing the miners to flee to their homes and hostilities ended on September 4; 50 – 100 miners had been killed, as well as 30 strike busters, in the fighting. After the battle, 985 miners were tried and imprisoned for crimes against the State of West Virginia. Bill Blizzard was indicted and tried for treason, but was acquitted.

Strikes by the UMW were restarted again in 1922 when workers refused a wage reduction insisted upon by companies. Union wages apparently had risen far above others under the Wilson administration. After five months, the companies capitulated, and the wage reductions were tabled. This was a Pyrrhic victory for Lewis and the UMW, as membership in the union would drop from 400K to 150K by 1930 as the nation transitioned to less costly petroleum.

A year after President Harding contended with the 1921 mining labor war in West Virginia, a strike broke out during the summer of 1922 in the railroad industry. On July 1, 1922, 400,000 railroad workers and shopmen went on strike over hourly wages reduced by seven cents and a 12 hour day work week. Strike busters were brought in to fill the positions. President Harding proposed a settlement that gave the shop workers some concessions; however, the railroad owners objected. Harding sent out the National Guard and 2,200 deputy U.S. marshals to keep the peace. Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty convinced Judge James H. Wilkerson to issue a broad sweeping injunction to break up the strike. This was known as the "Wilkerson" or "Daughtery" injunction, which enraged the union as well as many in congress, as it prohibited First Amendment rights. Harding had Daugherty and Wilkerson withdraw the objectionable parts of the injunction. The injunction ultimately succeeded in ending the strike; however, tensions remained high between railroad workers and company men for years. Daugherty's harsh injunction against labor created great discord in Harding's cabinet. This, along with Daugherty's other activities, prompted one congressman, Oscar Keller of Minnesota, to attempt, in vain, to bring impeachment charges against the Attorney General.

In 1922, President Harding and Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover convened a White House conference with manufacturers and unions, to reduce the length of the 12 hour work day, in a move for the cause of labor. The labor movement supported an 8 hour day and a 6 day work week. President Harding wrote Judge Gary, a steel industry leader who attended the meeting, advocating labor reform. The labor conference, however, decided against labor's demands in 1923. Both Harding and Hoover were disappointed with the committee's ruling. Harding wrote a second letter to Gary and with public support the steel industry repealed the 12 hour work day to an eight hour work day.

Notably in an age of severe racial intolerance during the 1920's, President Harding did not hold any racial animosity, according to historian Carl S. Anthony. In a speech on October 26, 1921, given in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, Harding advocated civil rights for African Americans; the first President to advocate black equality while in the South. According to the Louisiana Historical Association, he named some African Americans to federal positions, such as Walter L. Cohen of New Orleans, Louisiana, whom he named comptroller of customs. Harding also advocated the establishment of an international commission to improve race relations between whites and blacks; however, strong political opposition by the Southern Democratic bloc prevented the commission. The Ku Klux Klan had its highest membership during its revival in the 1920s, when it expanded membership among urban populations of the Midwest and South who were concerned about job competition and immigration.

Harding supported Congressman Leonidas Dyer's federal anti - lynching bill, known as the Dyer Bill, which passed the House of Representatives on January 26, 1922. The bill was defeated in the Senate by a Democratic filibuster. Harding had previously spoken out publicly against lynching on October 21, 1921. Congress had not debated a civil rights bill since the 1890 Federal Elections Bill.

The Per Centum Act of 1921 signed by President Harding on May 19, 1921 severely reduced the amount of immigration into the U.S. to 3% of a country's represented population based on the 1910 census. The Act allowed unauthorized immigrants to be deported. Harding and Secretary of Labor James Davis believed that enforcement had to be humane. Harding often allowed exceptions granting reprieves to thousands of immigrants.

On November 21, 1921, President Harding signed the Sheppard - Towner Maternity Act, the first major federal government social welfare program in the U.S. The law funded almost 3,000 child and health centers throughout the U.S. Medical doctors were spurred to offer preventative health care measures in addition to treating ill children. Doctors were required to help healthy pregnant women and prevent healthy children from getting sick. Child welfare workers were sent out to make sure that parents were taking care of their children. Many minority groups, particularly African American, Native American, and foreign born women, resented the law and the welfare workers who visited their homes and intruded into their family's lives. The law was sponsored by a woman, Julia Lathrop, America's first director of the U.S. Children's Bureau. Although the law remained in effect only eight years, it set the trend for New Deal social programs during the Great Depression. Many women who had been given the right to vote in 1920, were given career opportunities as welfare and social workers.

President Harding was tolerant towards religious faiths. Harding appointed prominent Jewish leader, Rabbi Joseph S. Kornfeld and Catholic leader, Father Joseph M. Dennig to foreign diplomatic positions. Harding also appointed Albert Lasker, a Jewish businessman and Harding's 1920 Presidential campaign manager, head of the Shipping Department. In an unpublished letter, Harding advocated the establishment and funding of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Katherine Marcia Forbes, wife of Harding's Veterans Bureau appointment Charles R. Forbes, had unprecedented access to the White House. Mrs. Harding and Katherine had become close friends since meeting in Hawaii, when Senator Harding and his wife were on vacation. In 1921, Katherine Forbes wrote a series of articles for the Washington Post describing the daily life of President Harding and the First Lady. President Harding and Mrs. Harding wanted to be known as "just home folks". At dinners, Harding's dog Laddie Boy, was allowed to beg guests for food and play with children. Red velvet upholstery covered much of the furniture. President Harding's informal dress included a plain tuxedo, plaited shirt, and pearl studs. Mrs. Harding herself was able to talk with many guests at the same time. Inside the White House, the Hardings had a great grandfather clock, a gold fish bowl, a French vase with pussy willows, neutral color rugs, and a grand piano. Harding sometimes gave children private tours of the White House that included conservatories and kennels.

Harding's lifestyle at the White House was fairly unconventional compared to his predecessor President Woodrow Wilson. Upstairs at the White House, in the Yellow Oval Room, President Harding allowed bootleg whiskey to be freely given to his guests during after dinner parties, at a time when the President was supposed to be enforcing Prohibition. One witness, Alice Longworth, daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, claimed that trays "with bottles containing every imaginable brand of whiskey stood about." Some of this alcohol had been directly confiscated from the Prohibition department by Jess Smith, assistant to U.S. Attorney General Harry Daugherty. Mrs. Harding, also known as the "Duchess", mixed drinks for the guests. Harding also indulged in poker playing twice a week, smoking, and chewing tobacco. President Harding allegedly won a $4,000 pearl necktie pin at one White House poker game. Although criticized by Prohibitionist advocate Wayne B. Wheeler over Washington, D.C. rumors of these "wild parties", Harding claimed his personal drinking inside the White House was his own business.

Upon winning the election, Harding appointed many of his longtime allies and campaign contributors to prominent political positions in control of vast amounts of government money and resources. Known as the "Ohio Gang" (a term used by Charles Mee, Jr., in his book of the same name), some of the appointees used their new powers to exploit their positions for personal gain. Although Harding was responsible for making these appointments, it is unclear how much, if anything, Harding himself knew about his friends' illicit activities. No evidence to date suggests that Harding personally profited from such crimes, but he was apparently unable to prevent them. "I have no trouble with my enemies", Harding told journalist William Allen White late in his presidency, "but my damn friends, they're the ones that keep me walking the floor nights!" The only scandal which was openly discovered during Harding's lifetime was in the Veteran's Bureau. Yet the gossip became rampant after the suicides of Charles Cramer (Veterans Bureau) and Jess Smith (Justice Dept.) President Harding responded aggressively to all of this with a mixture of grief, anger and perplextion.

Before any of the scandalous activity became widely known, Harding's popularity began to ebb, but he responded with determination to run for re-election, despite strong support emerging for the very popular Henry Ford for the Democrats. While on his trip to Alaska in 1923, President Harding asked reporters and Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, how he should respond to associates who may have betrayed him. He also said at this time, according to Joe Mitchell Chapple, "someday the people will understand all that some of my erstwhile friends have done for me." However much he did know at the time of his departure for Alaska, Russell concludes it did not include Fall and Daugherty. Harding reformed the corrupt Veteran's Bureau in March, 1923.

The most notorious scandal was the Teapot Dome affair, most of which came to light long after Harding's death, which concerned an oil reserve located in Wyoming, and covered by a rock formation in the shape of a teapot. For years, the country had taken measures to ensure the availability of petroleum reserves, particularly for use by the Navy. On February 23, 1923 President Harding by Executive Order # 3797 created Naval Petroleum Reserve Number 4 in Alaska. It became clear by the 1920s that petroleum was becoming increasingly important to the national economy and security of the nation. The reserve system was to keep the oil under government jurisdiction rather than through private claims. The management of these reserves was the subject of multi - dimensional arguments, beginning with a turf battle, between the Secretary of the Navy and the Interior Dept. The strategic reserves issue was a topic of debate also between conservationists and the petroleum industry, as well as those favoring public ownership versus private control. Harding's Secretary of the Interior, Albert B. Fall, brought to that office a lot of political and legal experience – and also a lot of personal debt, incurred in his obsession to expand his personal estate, Three Rivers, in New Mexico. He also was an avid supporter of the private ownership and management of reserves.

Fall contracted with Edward Doheny of Pan American Corp. for the construction of storage tanks in exchange for drilling rights; it was later discovered that significant personal loans were made contemporaneously by Doheny to Fall. The Secretary also negotiated leases for the Teapot Dome reserves to Harry Sinclair of the Consolidated Oil Corp. in return for guaranteed oil reserves to the credit of the government. Again, it was later determined that Sinclair made concurrent cash payments personally to Fall, exceeding $400,000. These activities were taking place under the unsuspected watch of progressive and conservationist attorney, Harry Slattery, acting for Gifford Pinchot and Robert La Follete. Fall was ultimately convicted in 1931 of accepting bribes and illegal no-interest personal loans in exchange for the leasing of public oil fields to business associates. In 1931, Fall became the first cabinet member in history to be sent to prison. Strangely enough, while Fall was convicted for taking the bribe, Doheny was acquitted of paying it.

Harding's appointment of Harry M. Daugherty as Attorney General received at the time more criticism than any other; Harding's campaign manager's Ohio lobbying and back room maneuvers with politicians were not considered the best qualifications. Historian M. R. Werner referred to the Justice Department under Harding and Daugherty as "the den of a ward politician and the White House a night club." On September 16, 1922, Minnesota Congressman Oscar E. Keller brought charges of impeachment against Daugherty. On December 4, formal investigation hearings headed by congressman Andrew J. Volstead started on Daugherty. The impeachment process, however, was stopped since Keller's charges that Daugherty protected interests in trust and war fraud cases could not be substantially proven. One alleged scandal involving Daugherty concerned the Wright - Martin Aircraft Corp., which was supposedly found to have overcharged the Federal government by $2.3 M on war contracts. Capt. Hazel Scaife attempted to bring the company to trial, but was blocked by the Department of Justice. At this time, Daugherty was said to have owned stock in the company and was even adding to these holdings, though he was never charged in the matter.

Daugherty remained in his position during the early days of the Calvin Coolidge administration, then resigned on March 28, 1924, amidst allegations of accepting bribes from bootleggers. Daugherty was later put on trial for corruption charges two times and acquitted; both juries were hung and failed to reach a verdict (in one instance after 65 hrs. of deliberation.) Daugherty's famous defense attorney, Max D. Steuer, blamed all corruption allegations brought against Daughtery on Jess Smith, an aide at the Justice Department who had committed suicide.

Harding's Attorney General hired William J. Burns to run the Justice Dept.'s Bureau of Investigation, Burns was said to be unabashed in his willingness to conduct unauthorized searches and seizures of political enemies of the Justice Dept. A number of inquisitive congressmen or senators found themselves the object of wire taps, rifled files and copied correspondence. Burns' primary operative was Gaston B. Means, a reputed con man, who was known to have fixed prosecutions, sold favors and manipulated files in the Justice Dept. Means, who acted independently, took direct instructions and payments from Jess Smith, without Burn's knowledge, to spy on Congressmen. Means hired a woman, Laura Jacobson, to spy on Senator Hattie Caraway, a critic of the Harding administration. Means also was involved with "roping" bootleggers.

Narcotic trafficking was rampant at the Atlanta Penitentiary while Daugherty was Attorney General. The appointed warden, J.E. Dyche, made internal prison reforms by firing two guards while two other officers were indicted by the Justice Department. Daughtery, however, was slow at following up on these indictments. As Dyche began to investigate the drug supply ring outside the prison, he was fired by Daugherty, and replaced by A.E. Sartain, a close friend of Daugherty. Daugherty had stopped the investigation into the drug ring until the two indicted officers were brought to trial. The Superintendent of Prisons, Heber Votaw, allegedly interfered and suppressed Dyche's attempted investigation into the narcotic ring outside the prison. Votaw, was Harding's brother - in - law and had been appointed by the President in April 1921. President Harding sent Charles R. Forbes, Director of the Veterans Bureau, to privately investigate the matter; upsetting Daugherty, who proclaimed the prison situation in Atlanta was none of Forbes business.

Daugherty, according to a 1924 Senate investigation into the Justice Department, had authorized a system of graft between aides Jess Smith and Howard Mannington. Both Mannington and Smith allegedly took bribes to secure appointments, prison pardons, and freedom from prosecution. A majority of these purchasable pardons were directed towards bootleggers. Cincinnati bootlegger, George L. Remus, allegedly bribed Jess Smith $250,000 not to be prosecuted. Remus, however, was prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to Atlanta prison. Smith attempted to extract more bribe money from Remus to pay for a pardon. The prevalent question at the Justice Department was "How is he fixed?"

Daugherty's personal aid Jess W. Smith, was widely viewed as the Attorney General's (and therefore the President's) spokesman and henchman. Smith was considered Daugherty's proxy, and a central figure, in government file manipulation, paroles and pardons, influence peddling and even bag-man. During Prohibition alcohol permits were given to pharmacies to sell alcohol for medical purposes. According to Congressional testimony, Daugherty allegedly arranged for Jess Smith and Howard Mannington to sell these permits to drug company agents who in actuality represented bootleggers. The bootleggers having obtained these permits would be able to buy cases of whiskey. Profits from the sale of the alcohol permits were split between Smith and Mannington. Approximately 50,000 – 60,000 cases of whiskey were sold to bootleggers at a net worth of $750,000 – $900,000. Smith also supplied bootleg whiskey to the White House and the Ohio Gang house on K Street concealing the whiskey in a brief case for poker games.

Eventually, rumors reached President Harding on Smith's free use of government cars, going to all night parties, and abuse of Justice Department files. Harding withdrew Smith's clearance at the White House and was told by Daugherty to leave Washington. On May 30, 1923, Smith's dead body was found at Daugherty's apartment with a gunshot wound to the head. William J. Burns immediately took Smith's body away and there was no autopsy. Russell, concluding this was a suicide, indicates that a Daugherty aide entered Smith's room moments after a noise awoke him, and found Smith on the floor with his head in a trash can and a revolver in his hand. Russell also states that the gun was purchased by Smith (though he was said to have detested guns), that a bullet had entered Smith's temple, exited the forehead, and lodged in a doorjamb. Smith allegedly purchased the gun from a hardware store shortly before his death after Daugherty had verbally abused him for waking him up from a nap.

Charles R. Forbes, the energetic Director of the Veterans Bureau, disregarded the dire needs of wounded World War I veterans to procure his own wealth. In order to limit corruption in the Veterans' Bureau, President Harding insisted that all government contracts be by public notice, but Forbes provided inside information to his co-conspirators to ensure their bid. Forbes was very quick after his appointment to have Harding issue executive orders giving him control over veterans' hospital construction and supplies. Forbes was estimated to have defrauded the government $225 million through hospital construction, after increasing construction costs from $3,000 to $4,000 per bed. Forbes' main task at the Veterans bureau, having an unprecedented $500 million yearly budget, was to ensure that new hospitals would be built around the country to help 300,000 wounded World War I veterans.

In the Spring of 1922, Forbes went on tours, known as "joy-rides", of new hospital construction sites around the country and the Pacific Coast. On these tours, Forbes allegedly received traveling perks and alcohol kickbacks, took a $5,000 bribe in Chicago, and made a secret code to ensure $17 million in government construction hospital contracts with corrupt contractors. On the tours, Forbes allegedly went to parties, drank bootleg liquor, and played craps. Intent on gaining money upon returning to U.S. Capitol; Forbes immediately embarked on selling valuable hospital supplies under his control in large warehouses at the Perryville Depot. The government had stockpiled huge amounts of hospital supplies during the first World War, which Forbes unloaded for a fraction of their cost to the Boston firm of Thompson and Kelly. In exchange for the deal, J.W. Thompson of the firm added $150,000 to the contract for Forbes, who also received a percentage of the profits realized. The check on Forbes' authority at Perryville was Gen. Charles E. Sawyer, chairman of the Federal Hospitalization Board, who represented controlling interests in the valuable hospital supplies.

Dr. Sawyer and Forbes were at odds with each other over authority at the Veterans Bureau. Sawyer, a homeopathic doctor who was Harding's personal physician, told President Harding that Forbes was selling valuable hospital supplies to an insider contractor. After two issued orders for the sales to stop, President Harding finally summoned Forbes to the White House and demanded Forbes' resignation, since Forbes had been insubordinate in stopping the shipments. Harding, however, was not yet ready to announce Forbes' resignation and allowed him to flee to Europe on the "flimsy pretext" to help disabled U.S. Veterans in Europe. While in Europe, Forbes submitted his resignation to President Harding on February 15, 1923.

Harding placed a reformer, Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines, in charge of the Veterans Bureau who immediately cleared up the mess left by Forbes. When Forbes returned to U.S., he visited President Harding at the White House in the Red Room. During the meeting, President Harding angrily grabbed Forbes by the throat, shook him vigorously, and exclaimed "You double - crossing bastard!" A guest who had an appointment with President Harding interrupted this physical encounter and Forbes was allowed to leave. President Harding was bitter over Forbes' "betrayal" and the two never saw one another again. In 1926, Forbes was brought to trial and convicted of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. Forbes drew a two year prison sentence and was released in November 1927.

Charles F. Cramer, Forbes' legal council to the Veterans Bureau, rocked the nation's capital when he committed suicide in 1923. Cramer was found dead by a maid in his bathroom on the morning of March 14 with a bullet wound to the head. Previously, in the fall of 1922 Cramer had been "bitterly assailed" by the American Legion at Indianapolis over alleged corruption at the Veterans Bureau. Cramer, at the time of his death, was being investigated by a Senate committee and had been criticized and personally attacked. Cramer, himself, had denied charges of corruption and said he had given his "whole - hearted and patriotic service" to the Bureau. Cramer had paid $40,000 in Veteran funds to a private landholder to lease land to build a Veterans Hospital in Camp Kearny, California. The 325 acre land tract was only estimated to be worth $8,000. Maj. Gen. John F. O'Ryan conducted the investigation into the Veterans' Bureau. In addition to replacing Forbes with Hines, President Harding dismissed or transferred a number of subordinates at the Veteran's Bureau.

On June 13, 1921, President Harding appointed Albert D. Lasker chairman of the United States Shipping Board. Lasker, a cash donor and Harding's general campaign manager, had no previous experience with shipping companies. The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 had allowed the Shipping Board to sell ships made by the U.S. Government to private American companies. A congressional investigation revealed that while Lasker was in charge many valuable steel cargo ships worth between $200 and $250 a ton were sold as low as $30 a ton to private American shipping companies without an appraisal board. J. Harry Philbin, a manager in the sales division, testified at the congressional hearing that under Lasker's authority U.S. ships were sold "as is, where is, take your pick; no matter which vessel you took." Lasker resigned from the Shipping Board on July 1, 1923.

Thomas W. Miller, head of the Office of Alien Property, was put on trial and convicted of accepting bribes. Miller's citizenship rights were taken away and was sentenced to eighteen months in prison with a $5,000 fine. After Miller served thirteen months of his sentence in prison, he was released and put on parole. President Herbert Hoover restored Miller's citizenship on February 2, 1933.

Roy Asa Haynes, Harding's Prohibition Commissioner, ran the patronage riddled Prohibition bureau, which was allegedly corrupt from top to bottom. The bureau's "B permits" for liquor sales became tantamount to negotiable securities, as a result of being so widely bought and sold among known violators of the law. The bureau's agents allegedly made a year's salary from one month's illicit sales of permits.

In June 1923, Harding set out on a westward cross country "Voyage of Understanding", in which he planned to renew his connection with the people, away from the capital, and explain his policies. The trip was scheduled to include 18 speeches and innumerable informal talks, and accompanying him was Secretary Work, Wallace, Hoover, House Speaker Gillet and Rear Adm. Adam Hugh Rodman. During this trip, he became the first president to visit Alaska.

Harding's physical health had been declining since the fall of 1922. One doctor, Emmanuel Libman, who had met Harding at a dinner, privately suggested that the President was suffering from coronary disease. By early 1923, Harding had trouble sleeping, looked dog tired, and could barely get through 9 holes of golf. Although Harding desired to run for a second term in office, he may have been aware of his own health decline; he gave up drinking, sold his "life - work", the Marion Star, in part to regain $170,000 previous investment losses, and had the U.S. Attorney General Harry Daugherty make a new will. Harding, along with his personal physician Dr.Charles E. Sawyer, believed getting away from Washington would help relieve the stresses of being President. By July 1923, criticism of the Harding Administration had been increasing. Prior to leaving Washington the President was noted for having chest pains radiating down his left arm.

During Harding's western travels, historian Samuel H. Adams, claims that Harding's own political views began to expand and became more independent from established Republican Party agenda. In St. Louis, Harding promoted U.S. participation in the World Court having earnestly desired world peace. In Kansas, Harding gave a speech on agriculture, and much to his doctor's displeasure rode on a farming combine in searing summer heat. In Denver, Harding extolled the virtues of the 18th Amendment, saying it should never be repealed, urging that the prohibition laws be obeyed. Harding, himself, did not pack any whiskey while traveling on the Presidential train. Breaking away from Republican isolationism, Harding advocated more spending on national defense in case of another war. Harding also made a speech fully endorsing labor's right to organize and even spoke against those who sought to destroy labor movements around the country. In Tacoma Washington, the President read a letter that promoted his efforts in fighting for a 12 hour work day. Sensing his own conversion, Harding even told his friends that he felt a spiritual change was influencing his stance on issues.

President Harding, as his physically demanding schedule continued, boarded a naval transport ship and traveled to Alaska. During four days at sea, Harding was unable to rest and regain strength. Rumors of corruption in his administration were beginning to circulate in Washington. While in Alaska, Harding was profoundly shocked by a long message he received detailing illegal activities previously unknown to him. At the end of July, while traveling south from Alaska through British Columbia, he developed what his doctor, Charles E. Sawyer, believed to be a severe case of food poisoning. Nevertheless, Dr. Joel T. Boone also examined the President and noticed an enlargement of his heart.

The purposes for President Harding's visit to Alaska included the encouragement of colonization of the then lowly populated territory. Harding hoped that with the completion of the Alaska Railroad, World War I veterans would return to their home territory and any impoverished workers in the lower states could come to Alaska and make or find their own employment. President Harding brought along with him to the territory the Secretary of Interior Hubert Work, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, and Secretary of Agriculture Henry C. Wallace, ("The Three Bears" as Herbert Hoover called themselves) in order to cut the bureaucracy in their respected departmental jurisdictions of the territory. According to author, Douglas Brinkley, President Harding came to the most northern U.S. territory in order to "open up Alaska lands" for oil, mining, and timber development and industry.

The information gathered by President Harding's Alaska tour found that to improve agriculture in the territory, irrigation would be required due to low territory rainfall totals. The Alaskan salmon population was being depleted due to over - fishing. Harvesting and transporting coal by ship from Alaska through the territory's panhandle would be very expensive.

On July 26, 1923, having departed Alaska, President Harding toured Vancouver, British Columbia; the first sitting American President ever to visit Canada. President Harding became exhausted while playing golf at the Shaughnessy Heights Golf Club, and complained of nausea and upper abdominal pain. Harding's pulse and breathing rate were rapid. The President was given digitalis. President Harding met with British Columbia Premier John Oliver and Mayor of Vancouver Charles Tisdall at the Hotel Vancouver. Harding spoke in front of 50,000 people at Stanley Park with his voice projected by microphones. President Harding inspected The Vancouver Regiment honor guard accompanied by Canadian Brig. Gen. V.W. Odlum.

Coming into Seattle, Washington, President Harding's transport ship, Henderson, accidentally rammed into a U.S. naval destroyer due to fog. Harding was not harmed in the incident. While in port, Harding reviewed the U.S. naval fleet and visited the Bell Street Pier. In Seattle, Harding greeted children and led 50,000 Boy Scouts in the Pledge of Allegiance. President Harding gave his final speech to a large crowd of 25,000 people at the University of Washington stadium in Seattle. Harding spoke on the magnificence of Alaska's wilderness, conservationism, and "measureless oil resources in the most northerly sections." Sec. of Commerce Herbert Hoover wrote the Seattle speech and Harding claimed he would protect the territory from looters and profit seekers; a rebuff to former Sec. of Interior Albert Fall. Harding had rushed through his speech not waiting for applause by the audience. President Harding traveled by train from Seattle to Portland, Oregon. Harding's scheduled speech in Portland was canceled.

The President's train continued south to San Francisco. Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover, from Dunsmuir, California, sent a telegram to his friend Dr. Ray L. Wilbur, asking Wilbur to meet and to evaluate personally the President. Arriving at the Palace Hotel, Harding developed a respiratory illness believed to be pneumonia. Harding, severely exhausted, ordered that his planned speech be issued through the national press in order to communicate with the public. The President was given digitalis and caffeine that momentarily helped relieve his heart condition and sleeplessness. On Thursday, the President's health appeared to be improving and his doctors went to dinner. Harding's pulse was normal and his lung infection had subsided. Unexpectedly, during the evening, Harding shuddered and died suddenly in the middle of conversation with his wife in the hotel's presidential suite, at 7:35 pm on August 2, 1923. Dr. Sawyer, (a homeopath, and friend of the Harding family), opined that Harding had succumbed to a stroke, but doctors there disagreed.

Immediately after President Harding died word quickly spread to the San Francisco streets that the President was dead. People rushed into the Palace Hotel and rapidly crowded into the hallways. The San Francisco chief of police, Daniel J. O'Brian, finally was able to clear the hotel of the unruly mob and members of Harding's official party could come see him.

After some discussion, the doctors issued a release indicating the cause of death to be "some brain evolvement, probably an apoplexy." Mrs. Harding refused to allow an autopsy. In retrospect, scholars speculate that Harding had shown physical signs of cardiac insufficiency with congestive heart failure in the preceding weeks. Naval medical consultants who examined the president in San Francisco concluded that he had suffered a heart attack.

Harding was succeeded as President by Vice President Calvin Coolidge, who was sworn in while vacationing at Plymouth Notch, Vermont, by his father, a Vermont Notary Public.

It appears that the story about Harding's body being laid in state in San Francisco City Hall before being returned to Washington is false. The Examiner for Aug. 3, 1923 states that Harding's "remains will not be taken from the hotel except to go directly to the train." The Chronicle for Aug. 3 and 4, 1923 says the same thing that the Examiner does, that Harding's body was taken from the Palace Hotel directly to the train depot at Third and Townsend. The funeral train had a four day journey eastward across the country – the first such procession since Lincoln's funeral train. Millions lined the tracks in cities and towns across the country to pay their final respects.

Harding's casket was held in the East Room of the White House pending a state funeral which was held on August 8, 1923, at the United States Capitol. Unnamed White House employees stated that the night before the funeral they heard Mrs. Harding talking to her dead husband. According to historian, Samuel H. Adams, Harding's death was mourned by the nation and the average citizen felt a "personal loss." Harding was entombed in the receiving vault of the Marion Cemetery, Marion, Ohio, August 10, 1923. Following Mrs. Harding's death on November 21, 1924 (from renal failure), she was buried next to her husband. Their remains were re-interred December 20, 1927 at the newly completed Harding Memorial in Marion, dedicated by President Herbert Hoover June 16, 1931. The delay between final interment and the dedication was partly because of the aftermath of the Teapot Dome scandal. At death, Harding was survived by his father. Harding and John F. Kennedy are the only two presidents to have predeceased their fathers. Harding's term of office was the shortest of any 20th century U.S. President.

President Harding's sudden death created unfounded rumors and conspiracy theories that he had been poisoned or committed suicide. A convict, Gaston Means, wrote a book called The Strange Death of President Harding that stealthfully insinuated Mrs. Harding poisoned her husband. A lack of an autopsy on President Harding only added to the hysteria. The probability that Mrs. Harding could have poisoned her husband with so many physicians and staff attending President Harding was highly unlikely. Harding's attending medical doctors were highly respected and extremely unlikely for any to have conspired to poison the President. Harding's symptoms prior to his death all pointed to heart failure, according to his notable physicians in charge of his health. Suicide was not a Harding personality trait, and unlikely since Harding was planning for a second term election. Harding's biographer, Samuel H. Adams, concluded that "Warren G. Harding died a natural death which, in any case, could not have been long postponed".

Immediately after President Harding's death, Mrs. Harding returned to Washington D.C. and lived in the White House briefly with President and First Lady Coolidge. For a month former First Lady Harding busily gathered and destroyed by fire President Harding's personal correspondances, both official and unofficial White House documents. Returning to Marion Mrs. Harding hired many secretaries and again gathered and destroyed by fire President Harding's personal papers. The purpose for having destroyed Harding's papers, according to Mrs. Harding, was to protect her husband's legacy. The remaining undestroyed Harding papers were held and kept from public viewing by the Harding Memorial Association in Marion.

Columnist writer, Carl S. Anthony, in a Washington Post article, stated that Warren G. Harding had extramarital affairs with four women. Two of these women included Susie Hodder and Carrie Fulton Phillips, Mrs. Harding's personal friends. The other two women included Grace Cross, Harding's senatorial aide, and Nan Britton. Anthony stated that Harding was the father of Susie Hodder's daughter. Nan Britton asserted in her book, The President's Daughter, published in 1927, that Harding fathered her daughter Elizabeth Ann. According to Britton, Harding had gotten her pregnant in Harding's senatorial office in 1919. Britton, who had a profound obsession with Harding beginning in high school, also alleged in the book, without corroboration, that President Harding had a sexual encounter with her in a closet of the White House. Historian, Henry F. Graff, stated that Harding was sterile and that Harding's affair with Nan Britton ended after Harding assumed the presidential office.

Sources indicate that beginning in the spring of 1905, Harding had a 15 year relationship with Carrie Fulton Phillips, wife of businessman and friend James Eaton Phillips of Marion. Intimate letters between Harding and Mrs. Philips were discovered in the 1960s but publication of the letters was enjoined by court order in Ohio until 2024. 105 letters were discovered after Mrs. Phillips died in 1960. Although these letters have been sealed, historian Francis Russell, viewed the letters upon their discovery, and described them as very touching and naive in some respects, as well as erotic in others. Russell also concludes from his reading of the letters that Phillips was the love of Harding's life – "the enticements of his mind and body combined in one person".

Before his death, Harding had established a margin account with stockbroker Sam Ungerleider. Before the broker could get authority from Harding's successors to liquidate the stocks purchased on loan, the account had a loss of over $170,000. The broker was given the authority to sell but the family refused to settle the loss, and the broker declined to force collection.

The most specious of allegations include one that President Harding and Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty participated in bacchanalian orgies at the "Ohio Gang" green house off of K Street in Washington, D.C.; witnesses of this were unreliable and one was a convicted perjurer. Also, Historian Wyn Craig Wade, in his 1987 book The Fiery Cross, suggested that President Harding allegedly had ties with the KKK, perhaps having been inducted into the organization in a private White House ceremony. Evidence included the taped testimony of one of the members of the alleged induction team; however, evidence beyond that is scanty. The more reliable historians generally dismiss these stories.

As a career politician, Harding exhibited an ability to grow, and had a desire to get along with political enemies rather than alienate them. As a prior journalist, Harding was the first President to realize the importance of an ever growing powerful media, and even ordered his cabinet to organize their own respective press staff. He knew that radio would eventually dominate American commerce and promoted two Radio Conferences to give government power to regulate the industry. Harding also sensed the importance of oil in terms of national security and prosperity, signing an executive order that gave the U.S. a giant oil reserve in Alaska. President Harding staunchly protected American business interests. He also signed America's first child welfare program designed to protect children's health and ensure that they would grow up without neglect from their parents. Harding was also the first president that pursued world security through arms reduction and regulation during the Washington peace conference.

Harding's generosity and loyalty to friends proved to be a liability as President. Multiple scandals evolved during his administration that damaged his reputation throughout the nation. His successes as President were over shadowed by the "Ohio Gang" criminal exploits, the detrimental image of his social drinking and his alleged extramarital affairs. His sudden death in 1923 only intensified the unanswered questions concerning his knowledge of, and potential involvement in, the scandals, and if he would have reformed his administration. In fact, his reputation was so controversial, it was not until 1931 that President Harding's marble memorial colonnade in Marion was ably dedicated by Herbert Hoover. According to Hoover the legacy of Harding was one of tragic betrayal.

Harding's legacy began to improve during the 1970s; however, the truth behind the many presidential scandals and his personal controversies may never be known. In order to protect her husband's damaged legacy, Mrs. Harding only left 1/7 of Harding's personal papers for posterity, having destroyed the rest. The remaining papers, except for Harding's speeches, are currently unpublished. Harding has been one of the most historically challenging American Presidents in terms of finding private letters and paper documents. Historian Hazel Rowley writes that because the Harding administration and the Republicans were seen associated with prosperity, prominent Democrats were reticent of running for president in 1924. According to historian Thomas Woods, "Few American presidents are less in fashion among historians than Harding, who is routinely portrayed as a bumbling fool who stumbled into the presidency."

Warren G. Harding is among the relatively few American Presidents who have been honored on a U.S. postage stamp more than the usual two times. Harding has appeared on US postage for a total of five issues, more than that of most Presidents. Harding's election provided a short burst of popularity for the name Warren.