Warren G. Harding; The American Presidents Series: The 29th President 1921-1923

Warren G. Harding; The American Presidents Series: The 29th President 1921-1923 – John W. Dean

Warren Harding is generally ranked as one of the very worst presidents in the history of the United States. It seems a bit ironic that John Dean was chosen as the author of the American Presidents Series bio of the man. John Dean, as many know, was part of Richard Nixon’s inner circle during the Watergate fiasco and basically blew the lid off the whole scandal.  So a man intimate to a disgraced president writes a bio of another president many consider equally disgraced, if not more.  Now, here’s the curve ball:  This is not a smear book.  This is not a book about a scandalous president written by someone intimate with another scandalous president to point out similarities etc.  No, Dean actually writes a very flattering account of the man, and in many cases this book serves as a rebuttal to all of Warren Harding’s critics, past and present, and is actually an attempt to exonerate the man.

Because this is part of the ‘American Presidents’ series, there’s a limit to how many pages can be included here. I don’t know specifics, but since every president was represented in one of these volumes, the publisher probably decided that these biographies should be somewhat compact.  This is actually helpful in many cases.  Let’s be honest, there really isn’t that much to say about men like William Henry Harrison or Franklin Pierce. However, where Harding is concerned, I came away with the feeling that there was so much more story to be told about the man and his tenure as president. It felt, however, as though Dean was forced to cut corners and eliminate quite a bit of the story. I felt like Dean could have trebled his output and still told a very engaging account.

For instance, we read almost nothing about Harding’s life from age 30 until about age 50.  It seems we abruptly jump from when he was a strapping handsome lady’s man wooing young girls in college to when he was a middle-aged senator. Where’s all the in-between?  Conversely, Dean then devotes an entire chapter (albeit a short one) on Harding picking a cabinet once he’s elected president.

Although the author is quite the apologist, he doesn’t disguise the fact that Harding never really accomplished a lot as president. Harding seemed to have been elected because he looked and acted the part. Because the time frame (1920-1923) was relatively uneventful, Harding’s inexperience never had the chance to do any serious damage. This doesn’t mean that Harding didn’t work hard to achieve all he could. Unlike what many people may have said, Dean again comes to his defense when one makes accusations about Harding’s ubiquitous golf playing and poker games in the White House. 

Dean then meticulously defends the majority of Harding’s alleged misgivings. The most famous, the Tea Pot Dome Scandal (which wasn’t revealed until after Harding died in office; I was unaware of that fact), basically implicates many of Harding’s inner circle (including cabinet members) but never directly ties Harding to any wrong doing.  There was also a highly publicized story of Harding fathering a child out of wedlock during his political career, but again, Dean details and then dismisses the entire event as tabloid yellow journalism.

So for someone like me who didn’t know much about Harding, I must say that John Dean presents a very strong case. Like a juror in the courtroom, though, I will concede that all sides of the story deserve to be told.  Apparently there are many people who are better informed than I am that have already reached a verdict, and found this book to be heavily one-sided on the wrong side. I’ll reserve that judgment for another time. Based on what I’ve read here, I stand by my judgement that Dean tells a great story about a very controversial man.  One wishes, though, that if Dean were so convinced that history has erred, he should lead an effort

and continue to expand his case.  He convinced me that the man deserved better than what he got.