History UsefulNotes / WarrenGHarding

* The encyclopedia parody ''Literature/TheOnionBookOfKnownKnowledge'' claims that among other things, Harding gave the Grand Canyon to his uncle, sold West Virginia to a German coal company and signed the Harding's Buddy Is Getting 25 Percent of Our Tax Money Now Act.

much of government, and at the same time do for\\
it too little."'']]

Many have argued people only voted for him because he "looked presidential". He emerged from a classic backroom deal at the 1920 Republican National Convention (selected mainly because he had stayed out of UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft and UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt's feud that split the party in 1912 and had thus not pissed off anybody) and then ran the first modern campaign. Roosevelt had actually been the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 1920, owed to him mending burned bridges with the party that he had previously scorned in 1912, and it's likely that his still-strong reputation would've carried him to victory without issue, but he died in 1919 before he could be officially picked. Consequently, Harding was brought up to the mantle in his place.

Notable events in his presidency? Harding campaigned on a platform of "a return to [[PerfectlyCromulentWord normalcy]]" after Wilson's hand in wrapping up [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Great War]] lost him popularity at home, thus leading the US back into an isolationist phase from which it wouldn't emerge until the later days of UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt's administration (which [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII another world war]] necessitated). He set up what became the Department of Veterans' Affairs, created the Washington Naval Treaty limiting naval fleet sizes, and appointed William Howard Taft as Chief Justice. Harding was especially infamous for how many of his appointees engaged in large-scale corruption, a stark contrast to Roosevelt's reformist policies both before and during his own presidency.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/warren_g_harding.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300: ''"Our most dangerous tendency is to expect too much of government, and at the same time do for it too little."'']]

Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, elected (on his 55th birthday!) with the widest popular vote percentage margin in the country's history (it helped that women could now vote). He served from [[TheRoaringTwenties 1921 to 1923]], in between UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson and UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge, and was the tenth Republican Party president. These days, he's considered one of the worst failures to hold the office.

Harding also had a tendency to [[{{Malaproper}} mis-speak]]. His speech was nicknamed "Gamalielese" for the examples of WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma of the likes of this:

However, the Harding administration also did many things that could be considered positive. For example, the Washington Naval Conference, which was hosted by the United States under Harding, was intended to stop another World War, especially as tensions between the US and the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom were quite high in the early 1920s -- it only failed later when [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Japan]] adopted imperial ambitions that couldn't be fettered by the treaty. (However, to his credit, Harding, knowing his inexperience with foreign affairs, basically left the American position to his competent and honest Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, and promised to stay out of his way.) He was surprisingly progressive when it came to race relations, wholeheartedly supporting an anti-lynching bill, which died in the Senate. He also denounced the Tulsa Race Massacre. He also did not start, or otherwise engage in, any major armed conflicts and helped secure UsefulNotes/{{Panama}}'s independence via diplomacy. The crash of 1920 was solved within the first year of Harding's administration, which then led to the "roaring '20s". Additionally, he was one of the few presidents in the past century on whose watch the federal government balanced its budget and lowered tax rates--something a lot of American voters demand routinely but most realistic economists regard as being UnwinnableByDesign. Also, he freed several political prisoners, including the outspoken socialist and anti-war activist UsefulNotes/EugeneDebs.

[[OvershadowedByControversy The scandals are what Harding's presidency is most remembered for today.]] Harding appointed many political friends to positions of power during his presidency. Known as the Ohio Gang, they pretty much carved up the nation's resources from underneath him, setting up many scandals down the road, the most infamous of which was the Teapot Dome Scandal. Until [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon Watergate]], Teapot Dome was the most notorious political scandal in US history.

However, the Harding administration also did many things that could be considered positive. For example, the Washington Naval Conference, which was hosted by the United States under Harding, was intended to stop another World War, especially as tensions between the US and the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom were quite high in the early 1920s -- it only failed later when [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Japan]] adopted imperial ambitions that couldn't be fettered by the treaty. (However, to his credit, Harding, knowing his inexperience with foreign affairs, basically left the American position to his competent and honest Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, and promised to stay out of his way.) He was surprisingly progressive when it came to race relations, wholeheartedly supporting an anti-lynching bill, which died in the Senate. He also did not start, or otherwise engage in, any major armed conflicts and helped secure UsefulNotes/{{Panama}}'s independence via diplomacy. The crash of 1920 was solved within the first year of Harding's administration, which then led to the "roaring '20s". Additionally, he was one of the few presidents in the past century on whose watch the federal government balanced its budget and lowered tax rates--something a lot of American voters demand routinely but which most realistic economists regard as being UnwinnableByDesign. Also, he freed several political prisoners, including the outspoken socialist and anti-war activist UsefulNotes/EugeneDebs.

** On another episode of ''The Colbert Report'', Colbert, talking about Wiki/{{Wikipedia}}, said that the middle initial "G." stood, in fact, for "Gangsta". [[WikiVandal And for a while afterwards, Wikipedia said so.]]

[[NeverLiveItDown The scandals are what Harding's presidency is most remembered for today.]] Harding appointed many political friends to positions of power during his presidency. Known as the Ohio Gang, they pretty much carved up the nation's resources from underneath him, setting up many scandals down the road, the most infamous of which was the Teapot Dome Scandal. Until [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon Watergate]], Teapot Dome was the most notorious political scandal in US history.

Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, elected (on his 55th birthday!) with the widest popular vote margin in U.S. history (it helped that women could now vote). He served from [[TheRoaringTwenties 1921 to 1923]], in between UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson and UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge, and was the tenth Republican Party president. These days, he's considered one of the worst failures to hold the office.

Many have argued people only voted for him because he "looked presidential". He emerged from a classic backroom deal at the 1920 Republican National Convention (selected mainly because he had stayed out of the [[UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft Taft]]/[[UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt Roosevelt]] feud that split the party in 1912 and had thus not pissed off anybody) and then ran the first modern campaign. Roosevelt had actually been the Republican party's top pick for nomination in the 1920 election, owed to him mending burned bridges with the party that he had previously scorned in the 1912 election, and it's likely that his still-strong reputation would've carried him to victory without issue, but he died in 1919 before he could be officially picked. Consequently, Harding was brought up to the mantle in his place.

Notable events in his presidency? Harding campaigned on a platform of "a return to [[PerfectlyCromulentWord normalcy]]" after Wilson's hand in wrapping up [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Great War]] lost him popularity at home, thus leading the US back into an isolationist phase from which it wouldn't emerge until the later days of UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt's administration (which [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII another world war]] necessitated). He set up what became the Department of Veterans' Affairs, created the Washington Naval Treaty limiting naval fleet sizes, and appointed UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft as Chief Justice. Harding was especially infamous for how many of his appointees engaged in large-scale corruption, a stark contrast to Roosevelt's reformist policies both before and during his own presidency.

However, the Harding administration also did many things that could be considered positive. For example, the Washington Naval Conference, which was hosted by the United States under Harding, was intended to stop another World War, especially as tensions between the US and UsefulNotes/{{Britain}} were quite high in the early 1920s -- it only failed later when [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Japan]] adopted imperial ambitions that couldn't be fettered by the treaty. (However, to his credit, Harding, knowing his inexperience with foreign affairs, basically left the American position to his competent and honest Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, and promised to stay out of his way.) He was surprisingly progressive when it came to race relations, wholeheartedly supporting an anti-lynching bill, which died in the Senate. He also did not start, or otherwise engage in, any major armed conflicts and helped secure UsefulNotes/{{Panama}}'s independence via diplomacy. The crash of 1920 was solved within the first year of Harding's administration, which then led to the "roaring '20s". Additionally, he was one of the few presidents in the past century to balance the federal budget, while managing to lower taxes--something a lot of American voters demand routinely but which most realistic economists regard as being UnwinnableByDesign. Also, he freed several political prisoners, including the outspoken socialist and anti-war activist UsefulNotes/EugeneDebs.

In July 1923, while traveling through Canada after visiting Alaska, Harding developed food poisoning, then pneumonia, which then brought upon the heart attack that killed him in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, California on August 2.

He was the first sitting U.S. senator to be elected president (he served a full six-year term as the junior senator from Ohio before he was promoted), which only UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and UsefulNotes/BarackObama have accomplished since him. He is the eighth and final president to be associated by birth and/or residence with Ohio.[[note]]UsefulNotes/WilliamHenryHarrison was a resident of Ohio when he was elected; UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant and UsefulNotes/BenjaminHarrison were born in the Buckeye State but lived in other states when they became president. Harding followed UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes, UsefulNotes/JamesAGarfield, UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley, and Taft for having both apply to him.[[/note]] He's also the guy who coined the term "Founding Father." He used it during an address he gave in the Republican National Convention of 1916, and popularized its usage during his inaugural address. The [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln Lincoln Memorial]] was commissioned during Harding's presidency, with Honest Abe's son Robert in attendance.

[[NeverLiveItDown The scandals are what Harding's presidency is most remembered for today.]] Harding appointed many political friends to positions of power during his presidency. Known as the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Gang Ohio Gang]], they pretty much carved up the nation's resources from underneath him, setting up many scandals down the road, the most infamous of which was the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teapot_Dome_scandal Teapot Dome Scandal]]. Until [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon Watergate]], Teapot Dome was the most notorious political scandal in US history.

* The encyclopedia parody ''Literature/TheOnionBookOfKnownKnowledge'' claims that among other things, Hardinig gave the Grand Canyon to his uncle, sold West Virginia to a German coal company and signed the Harding’s Buddy Is Getting 25 Percent of Our Tax Money Now Act.

If you didn't understand what the hell any of that said, don't worry. Neither do we.

[[redirect:UsefulNotes/WarrenHarding]]