By LARRY BALLWAHN | Wilton
The presidents that we have looked at so far are highly regarded in terms of what they contributed to the Office of President and to the country. That is not true of all former presidents. A couple of the “worst presidents” were in the era when the country was trying to deal, or not deal with slavery. That is an issue that must be considered in historical perspective. I choose not to go there.
That gets us to President Warren G. Harding (29th president; 1921–1923), widely proclaimed as one of the worst, or THE worst. According to John W. Dean, there is more to the picture, and he cites supporting evidence.
Apparently, he was exceedingly popular during his presidency, accomplishing a good deal. Elected as Republican, he inherited a dysfunctional Republican Congress and a country’s worth of problems after World War I. Among other things, President Harding worked hard to move the country out of a recession and put the government on sound financial footing by establishing a Bureau of the Budget. In addition, he rejected the popular idea of bonuses for the veterans because it would have drained the treasury.
His problems came with the people he trusted or their friends. After President Harding’s premature death due to poor health, the dark underside of his administrative staff began to come out. About the same time, the rumors of his infidelities surfaced, some even true. Charles Forbes of the Veterans Affairs Bureau arranged the sale of storage buildings and medical supplies in a manner that increased his personal worth. And there was the infamous Teapot Dome Scandal. The strategic oil reserve, a military resource, was being leased to commercial interests. This was at the behest of Navy Secretary Edwin Denby and Interior Secretary Albert Fall.
On the personal level, relationships with a mistress and the reported fathering of a daughter were given credence. So the historical standing of his presidency usually has been based not on his achievements with a dysfunctional Republican Congress, but on the scandals that surrounded his time in office.
Fortunately, with today’s moral standards and media scrutiny, we are unlikely to elect a person of questionable morals who would put his friends in positions in which they could take advantage of the government.