Warren Harding
Why is Warren Harding considered such a bad president? James Buchanan and Franklin Pierce were probably responsible for the Civil War, and Andrew Johnson & Ulysses Grant did something... I don't know, something to do with Reconstruction. I'll take the historians' word that he was a bad president. But what did Warren Harding do that was so disastrous?
The only thing anybody knows about Harding is Teapot Dome. But Harding wasn't aware of the Teapot Dome scandal while it was happening. He appointed Albert Fall, of course, but appointing a crooked man is hardly enough to make you worse than a warmonger like William McKinley or an actual crooked man like Martin Van Buren.
Anyway, Teapot Dome was only oil money. Public lands in Wyoming are not important in the present day, and they were certainly not important in the 1920's. The US Navy didn't end up seeing much action in those days, and there were plenty of other sources of oil if it came to that (domestic oil, even). So, no harm done. Contrast with Watergate, the attempted fixing of an election. And Nixon usually scores rather highly among presidents. Not to say that he doesn't deserve to, but if we're going to care about scandals, let's care about them.
What else did Harding do? Well, he was kind of dumb, he drank whiskey, and he had affairs. I guess those are bad things for a president to do, but most presidents in the 20th century have done at least one. He didn't do much, but then, not much needed to be done. I'm sure the 1920's could have been even nicer than they were, but "how much has he done" is no way to rate a president. You could argue that Harding's economic policies set the pattern that would lead to Great Depression six years later, but it's more traditional to blame Coolidge, who served longer and had more impact. And Coolidge always scores higher than Harding.
Finally, Harding's low score is mystifying in light of the fact that he died in office. America loves its dead presidents. Kennedy was a pretty bad president, but since he died in office, he's America's favorite. I happen to think that McKinley, Lincoln and Taylor all score higher than they deserve -- although that may just be opinion -- but Harding doesn't seem to have gotten any post-mortem boost whatsoever.
The only thing anybody knows about Harding is Teapot Dome. But Harding wasn't aware of the Teapot Dome scandal while it was happening. He appointed Albert Fall, of course, but appointing a crooked man is hardly enough to make you worse than a warmonger like William McKinley or an actual crooked man like Martin Van Buren.
Anyway, Teapot Dome was only oil money. Public lands in Wyoming are not important in the present day, and they were certainly not important in the 1920's. The US Navy didn't end up seeing much action in those days, and there were plenty of other sources of oil if it came to that (domestic oil, even). So, no harm done. Contrast with Watergate, the attempted fixing of an election. And Nixon usually scores rather highly among presidents. Not to say that he doesn't deserve to, but if we're going to care about scandals, let's care about them.
What else did Harding do? Well, he was kind of dumb, he drank whiskey, and he had affairs. I guess those are bad things for a president to do, but most presidents in the 20th century have done at least one. He didn't do much, but then, not much needed to be done. I'm sure the 1920's could have been even nicer than they were, but "how much has he done" is no way to rate a president. You could argue that Harding's economic policies set the pattern that would lead to Great Depression six years later, but it's more traditional to blame Coolidge, who served longer and had more impact. And Coolidge always scores higher than Harding.
Finally, Harding's low score is mystifying in light of the fact that he died in office. America loves its dead presidents. Kennedy was a pretty bad president, but since he died in office, he's America's favorite. I happen to think that McKinley, Lincoln and Taylor all score higher than they deserve -- although that may just be opinion -- but Harding doesn't seem to have gotten any post-mortem boost whatsoever.
posted by apk01004 at 6:03 PM
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