Warren G. Harding 1921-1923

Born: 1865, Marion, OH
Died: 1923

Warren Harding gained popularity and political savvy as the publisher of an Ohio newspaper. In 1914, after serving as a State Senator and Lieutenant Governor, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. A deadlocked Republican nominating convention finally settled on the likeable and attractive Harding as its Presidential candidate in 1920. He promised a "return to normalcy" in the aftermath of World War I, and his champion, Harry Daugherty, proclaimed that indeed the candidate "looked like a President." He won 60 percent of the popular vote.

President Harding followed the Congressional Republicans' lead, approving bills that cut taxes, raised tariffs, ended wartime controls and restricted immigration. In the two years following his election, America seemed to be on the road to prosperity. Then, in 1923, during a campaign visit to San Francisco, Harding died suddenly of a heart attack and the nation was stunned by revelations of widespread corruption in his Administration. Several Harding appointees had been taking bribes and stealing millions in public funds. It was now all too evident that the President had been in earnest when he remarked that his enemies were no bother, but his friends kept him awake at night.

Twenty-Ninth President
Republican