Posted on 03/01/2022 8:22:37 AM PST by Kaslin
The most disparaged, defamed, and denigrated American President was, without doubt, Warren G. Harding, who served as the 29th President from 1921-1923. Leftwing historians and journalists have tarnished his reputation for a century, making it one of the great tragedies of American history.
Liberals have called him the worst president ever, dead last, unfit, corrupt, immoral, incompetent, inept, lazy, indecisive, shallow, an amiable fool, and a notorious womanizer. Sadly, such judgments of Harding are not exceptions; they are the rule.
Historian Nathan Miller, author of Star-Spangled Men: America’s Ten Worst Presidents, wrote that Harding was “a prime example of incompetence, sloth, and feeble good nature in the White House.” According to West Virginia Professor Robert E. DiClerico, “Warren Harding proved to be the most inept president in this century.” Harding was the “most disgraced president,” write William J. Ridings and Stuart B. McIver in their 1997 book Rating the Presidents. He was “in far over his head.”
But most of these assaults on Harding, which are still being perpetuated today by leftwing historians and reporters, originated as political attacks by his enemies. Rumors like the “Ohio Gang,” wild parties in the White House, and Harding’s laziness and incompetence were all hurled his way by those who hated him. Today these insults are simply regurgitated, often without any source attribution, by those who know very little about Warren Harding and his 882-day presidency.
Nor do they really care to know. Liberals want activist government and what amounts to an imperial presidency modeled on FDR. They want cradle-to-grave care. But Harding did not view the office of presidency in that fashion, nor did he believe the government should be a caretaker. “The world needs to be reminded,” he said during his 1920 campaign, “that all human ills are not curable by legislation.” Therefore, leftists hate him and consistently slander both his name and reputation.
But when the real record is thoroughly examined, utilizing primary sources, Harding’s accomplishments were very impressive, even though liberal scholars deny him even a tiny bit of credit. Professor DiClerico stated that “the judgement of history might have been more charitable” to Harding if there “had been some overriding achievement” in his administration. David C. Whitney, who compiled a volume on the American presidents, wrote that Harding’s presidency “stands as a black mark in American history.” Yet the truth is far different.
Harding came into office with a country in the throes of real problems: the end of World War I, the fight over the League of Nations, Woodrow Wilson’s stroke, the terrible and violent events of 1919, the severe economic downturn of 1920. The tribulations were serious yet he returned the country to normalcy in short order:
– His program of laissez faire conservatism revived the American economy from the “forgotten depression,” leading to the most prosperous decade in US history, an era with average annual growth rates of 7 percent. He slashed taxes, regulations, and government spending, and created the Budget Bureau, which gave the federal government a comprehensive budget for the first time. The country ran a budget surplus every year and one-third of the national debt was paid off. Statistics also reveal that every class of citizen benefited throughout the “Roaring Twenties.”
– After several years of unrest, Harding restored domestic tranquility, ushering in an era of peace and prosperity. He pardoned war resisters, pushed for anti-lynching legislation, and urged equal rights for black Americans, the first 20th century president to do so. He created the Veterans Bureau to help the hundreds of thousands of wounded American servicemen returning from the war in France.
– In foreign affairs, his record has been overlooked but was superb: He called the Washington Disarmament Conference to reduce the world’s deadliest weapons, formally ended World War One, withdrew US troops from the Caribbean and from the Rhineland in Germany, improved relations with Mexico and Latin America, called the World War Foreign Debt Commission to hammer out an agreement on war debt, and provided aid to millions of famine victims in Russia. For his achievements in foreign policy, Harding was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
All of these accomplishments, in less time than Jack Kennedy was in office, is a “failure” and a “black mark” upon our history?
Calling Harding’s “normalcy” a failure in Smithsonian magazine in May 2020, USC professor William Deverell continued the liberal storyline in the midst of COVID and the presidential election, writing, “As we think ahead, we can do better. Let’s put normalcy at least off to the side, as we try to find our way out of all this.”
But outside the ivory tower of the universities, as well as the hallowed halls of journalism, the people, just as they did in 1920, might want a large dose of the unprecedented peace and prosperity brought on by Warren Harding’s return to normalcy. It is a record worthy of respect and emulation.
That idiot Joe Biden is the stupidest occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave
Harding also freed the socialist Eugene Debs from prison. He had been imprisoned for sedition, i.e. advocating resistance to the WW I draft. Debs was in his mid-60s at the time.
Harding commuted his sentence on Christmas Day, 1921, and had him come to the White House for a chat.
Joek Byedone is by far the worst president ever......so far.
Harding is very under-rated and very much maligned. My guess is, if we live long enough, we will see the very same treatment of President Trump. The “depression” of 1920 was cured by doing nothing, simply allowing the economy to return to normalcy. If not for the theft of the 2020 election, we would have seen a repeat of the “Roaring Twenties”. But alas we may now see a repeat of the dismal thirties.
I have four very distinct memories of my schooling between, say, 1970 and 1975. This was before I went into High school.
1) I had a teacher who HATED Warren G Harding. He was the worse. A bad, bad man. (I was thinking, “Lady, he’s been dead for 50 years. Why get so worked up over him?”)
2) I had a teacher who HATED the John Birth Society. She never tried to tell us anything about the JBS. But they were bad people. Awful people. (I was thinking, “Lady, maybe they are, but how can I get upset about these people if I don’t know anything about them?”)
3) I had a teacher who made it a point to teach the class all about Islam. This was before the oil embargo. I was never taught about Christianity or Judaism. But I was taught all about the peaceful religion of Islam. (I was thinking, “Lady, I don’t care. They are on the other side of the world. I won’t meet those people. My best fiend is Jewish and I don’t know that much about it. Why not teach that?”)
4) In eighth grade they stopped teaching History (I loved History) and switched it all to Social Studies. It was all about the moral choices that society makes regarding the disadvantaged. (I was thinking, “Buddy, you are trying to manipulate the hell out of me.”)
You’re exactly right. And Jimmy Carter is riding in on their coattails.
Few presidents , if any were worse than James Buchanan. Made the civil war inevitable.
“The “depression” of 1920 was cured by doing nothing, simply allowing the economy to return to normalcy. “
Agreed
Very well put my friend, very well put.
One of the many reasons I enjoy FR so much is the sharp and concise summations.
Demand for Harding postage stamps was so great that he not only replaced Washington temporarily on the two cent stamp for common first class postage, but two additional stamps were issued in a 1.5 cents denomination (the common postage for larger newspapers and magazines) later in the decade. This became the common regular series stamp for larger newspapers and magazines until replaced by the 1938 Martha Washington in the presidential series.
I remember having separate history, geography, and civics classes, then the following year the three subjects were combined into a single course that spanned 2 semesters.
How the system thought that turning 3 courses into 2/3 of one course would improve learning is still beyond my understanding.
mark
“Liberals want activist government and what amounts to an imperial presidency modeled on FDR. They want cradle-to-grave care.”
________________________________________
Quite an understatement, to say the least.
To begin with, they’re not even Liberals. Although they have many Liberals among them. They are full blown fascists.
Next, they could not care any less about “care,” outside of their own care and the select few they deem worthy/needed. They intend on controlling all aspects of human existence and more. The “cradle to grave” part: there will be no cradle, if not needed or gifted. If there is a cradle allowed/granted outside of the select fews’ desire, the life will be completely dedicated to the service of the fascist one-world gov/corp and the death will be immediate upon lack of productiveness/usefulness.
Fortunately, Thes 2:8 “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.”
While serving in Congress, Van Buren’s nickname was “The Magician” for his uncanny ability to create legislative solutions between fanatically opposed factions. Another President who has been unfairly maligned by our Democrat historians is Ulysses S, Grant. His two terms in office were considered singularly successful at the time and after leaving the office, he and his wife went on a world tour where he was universally praised as one of the greatest leaders in history.
BTTT
By far the worst president in terms of lasting outcomes was Franklin Roosevelt. He successfully intimidated the Supreme Court, and we stopped going by the constitution as a result.
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