Senate in Harding was elected to the presidency on November 2, , 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. 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.
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. Harding's presidency is generally viewed unfavorably by scholars and the media. His previous position in the poll was 42nd of 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.
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Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. Share this page Follow Ballotpedia. What's on your ballot? Jump to: navigation , search. This page was current at the end of the official's last term in office covered by Ballotpedia. Fall leased oil-rich lands in Wyoming to companies in return for personal loans. Fall was eventually found guilty of corruption and was sentenced to prison in Even Harding's close friend and political manager Harry Daugherty, the attorney general at the time, faced several impeachment votes by Congress and two indictments for defrauding the government.
Daugherty was finally forced to resign during the Coolidge Administration. Privately, Harding engaged in the good life emblematic of the s. He and Florence had no children of their own, though Florence had an older son prior to her marriage with Harding.
Their social life was made up primarily of elegant garden parties and state dinners. They privately entertained friends at the White House with ample supplies of liquor in violation of Prohibition. Twice a week, Harding played poker with close friends and made the time to enjoy golf, yachting and fishing.
By , rumors of corruption in Harding's administration had begun to surface, and many of his friends were implicated, which greatly disappointed the president. He once commented, "They're the ones that keep me walking the floors at night. On his return from Alaska, Harding fell ill. His train rushed him to San Francisco, California, where his condition worsened. On August 2, , Harding suffered a massive heart attack and died immediately. In some circles, rumors spread that his wife had poisoned him to prevent him from facing charges of corruption.
Her refusal to allow an autopsy only fed the rumors. Though rumors circulated while he was in office, it wasn't until after Harding's death that news of his extramarital affairs became public. One of his lovers, Nan Britton, published a book in , claiming that Harding had fathered her daughter while he was a senator. The allegation was a media sensation, and the Britton family was vilified and humiliated in public. Unfortunately for Britton, she had a difficult time proving the affair since she had destroyed Harding's love letters at his request.
In August , new genetic testing revealed that Britton was in fact telling the truth: her daughter, Elizabeth Ann Blaesing, was the biological child of Harding, ending an almost century-old family feud between the Brittons and the Hardings. This is the definitive answer. In , explicit love letters between Harding and a woman named Carrie Phillips were discovered and revealed that Phillips, a family friend, had engaged in a year long affair with Harding.
Most historians consider Harding to be one of America's worst presidents. He is believed to have seen the role of president as mainly ceremonial, leaving government work to subordinates. Revisionists have re-examined his role as an important transition between the Progressive Era and the years of prosperity in the s. Harding is also credited for his broad-minded views on race and civil rights. Historians agree that his negative legacy is not so much attributed to his corrupt friends, but his own lack of vision and poor sense of where he wanted to take the country.
We strive for accuracy and fairness. The next month, another strike will break out after the Railroad Labor Board reduces wages. In September, the attorney general will win an injunction against the striking railroad workers as the two sides continue to battle. Harding vetoes the Soldiers' Bonus Bill, arguing that balancing the budget takes precedence over the nation's debt to veterans of the Great War. The bill will later pass over the veto of then-president Calvin Coolidge.
The Cable Act, which allows an American woman to maintain her citizenship following marriage to an alien, is signed by Harding. Filling a vacancy caused by death, Rebecca L. Felton becomes the first female senator following her appointment by the Governor of Georgia. The appointment is more symbolic than real as the term ends the following day.
The final American troops leave Germany as Harding issues an executive order halting U. Charles Forbes, head of the Veterans' Bureau, resigns in anticipation of the Senate investigation of his department. He will later be indicted and convicted on charges of fraud, conspiracy, and bribery. The case will speed inquiries into Teapot Dome and set off a media frenzy against what is increasingly viewed as a corrupt presidency.
Over the next few months, two different officials will commit suicide, further discrediting the administration. The federal government's battle with organized labor continues as the Supreme Court rules in Adkins v.
Children's Hospital that the minimum wage law for women and children adopted in Washington, D. In what many regard as the beginning of the end for prohibition, New York State disregards Harding's warnings and repeals its enforcement act. In late July, Harding, traveling from Alaska to San Francisco, suffers an attack of ptomaine poisoning and develops pneumonia. Although he initially appears to recover, Harding's health had been in decline for at least six months and the grueling schedule of his speaking tour appears to be too much for him.
He dies with his wife by his side in a San Francisco hotel room on the evening of August 2. The scandals surrounding his presidency initially lead to rumors that foul play was involved in his death.
While these claims will be disproved and Harding himself is never found to be directly involved in his administration's corruption, the scandals will nonetheless tarnish his presidential legacy. His death was most likely due to a heart attack.
Though tired--Harding had never really regained full strength after a bout with the flu in January--he made fourteen major addresses and countless informal stops and talks over two weeks.
While scholars disagree over the extent to which the content of these speeches should be credited to Harding or to his advisers especially Herbert Hoover , he seemed poised to take on a more assertive role as President in the late summer of It was not to be, however, as the grueling trip proved too much for the fifty-eight-year-old Harding whose health had been deteriorating for six months.
He died in San Francisco in the early evening of August 2, as his wife, Florence, was reading to him. A popular President, his passing was a blow to the American public, and many people turned out to mourn Harding. Vice President Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as President. Harding's death erased any possibility that the President could defend himself and his administration against the scandals and charges of corruption that came to light after he died.
His presidency is most often remembered for its corruption, lack of vision, and lackluster leadership. In a simple a.
Grant Rutherford B. Hayes James A. Garfield Chester A. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Bush Bill Clinton George W. Help inform the discussion Support the Miller Center. University of Virginia Miller Center. Harding - Key Events. Breadcrumb U. Presidents Warren G. Harding Warren G.
March 4, Harding inaugurated. April 20, Thompson-Urrutia Treaty.
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