The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of American Presidents: Part 13

All too often, American presidents are generalized. This one was good, this one was bad, or all of them were bad before or after this point. In reality, each President has positive or negative aspects that may be frequently overlooked. Sometimes what seemed good at the time is not so good in retrospect, or what was controversial would be accepted today. In this series, we'll look at the highlights of each President from the founding of America to today.

In Part 12, we looked at the presidencies of William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson. We now continue with two more presidents, Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge.

29. Warren G. Harding (in office March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923)

Early in his career, Harding bought a failing local newspaper, The Marion Star. His father had acquired a newspaper years earlier, and Harding began working at it at age 11. The newspaper was made successful by a combination of Harding's journalistic experience and his wife's keen business sense.

While Harding's hometown of Marion, Ohio, and Ohio in general, voted Republican, the county around Marion skewed Democratic. To engage the most readers, Harding made a point of providing balanced Republican and Democratic viewpoints, a practice that influenced his later political style.

He had stress-related illnesses starting at an early age, as early as 21, spending extended times in the sanatorium (hospital) five times before even beginning his political career.

Joined the Freemasons shortly after starting his political career.

Served in the Ohio State Senate.

Served as Lieutenant Governor of Ohio.

Ran for governor of Ohio and was defeated, but was then elected Senator of Ohio, the first Ohio Senator to be directly elected.

Campaigned on a platform of returning the country to normalcy after World War One, winning in a landslide against Democrat James M. Cox.

Despite faring poorly in the primaries and a lack of support by most of the press, who criticized him as "a second-rate candidate" without ideas, he won the presidential election by a landslide, with 60.2% of the vote, the most since the beginning of the two-party system.

First sitting Senator to be elected President.

Achievements as President

Was one of the most popular presidents while in office.

Selected a number of prominent people to be in his cabinet, including future president Herbert Hoover as Commerce Secretary, successful businessman Andrew Mellon as Treasury Secretary, and former New York governor Charles Evans Hughes as Secretary of State.

Hosted the Washington Naval Conference, which resulted in multiple international treaties limiting global naval power and halting an international naval arms race, ensuring peace for a decade.

Formally ratified peace with the nations who were opponents in World War I, outside of the Treaty of Versailles.

Released U.S. political prisoners who had been jailed for their opposition to the Great War (World War I).

Kept his campaign promise to improve Latin American relations by withdrawing American troops stationed in Cuba.

By gaining increased control of tariffs and lowering income taxes on all income brackets, Harding brought down the national unemployment rate from a historic high of 12% to about 3% and made the greatest reduction in the misery index (a combination of unemployment and inflation) in U.S. history. American GDP grew by an average of 5% each year throughout the 1920s as a result of Harding's fiscal policies, making the decade a period of huge growth for individual citizens and the country as a whole.

As Americans embraced the use of the automobile, and had enough income to travel and take vacations, Harding signed the Federal Highway Act of 1921 into law, creating a system of interstate highways to improve travel.

While most of America had standardized the 8-hour workday previously, steel mill workers were still working a grueling 12-hour workday, until Harding intervened and convinced steel companies to adopt the 8-hour workday as well.

Encouraged state and local anti-lynching laws in the South, and asked his cabinet members to find roles for African-Americans in their departments.

Failures

While Harding made several celebrated cabinet nominations, he selected close friend, attorney and political insider Harry M. Daugherty as Attorney General and Senator Albert B. Fall of New Mexico as Secretary of the Interior. These two would later be involved in the Teapot Dome Scandal, which would drastically change the public perception of Harding's administration. As part of that scandal and investigation, Fall would become the first former cabinet member to be sent to prison for crimes committed while in office.

U.S. troops remained in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, despite Harding's promise to remove them.

Died of a heart attack while in San Francisco. Prior to the heart attack, Harding knew he had a heart condition, but continued to drink, eat, and smoke too much, and was warned he looked tired. An avid golfer, his health was so poor that before the heart attack, he was unable to finish a round of golf.

Due to the scandals that emerged after his death, and a reputation for being indecisive and lacking depth, Harding's legacy changed from being one of the most popular presidents in history to frequently one of the worst. A poll in 1948 ranked Harding as the worst president to date, though some critics say that perception was based more on memory of the scandals than on the facts of comparative achievements.

Controversies

The Harding family was alleged to have African-American blood, possibly a great-great grandmother of Harding's. This rumor was repeatedly denied, and may have dated back to a thief caught in the act who tried to slander the family. The rumor persisted to Harding's time and was even propagated by Harding's father-in-law when Harding was courting his wife. DNA testing later showed with 95% accuracy that Harding had no African ancestry.

As a senator, opposed the U.S. joining the League of Nations because membership meant that if a member nation was attacked, the U.S. would have to respond without a formal declaration of war by Congress, which was unconstitutional.

At the time of the 1920 Republican convention, Harding was trailing most other would-be candidates in the polls, and he had fared poorly in primaries, getting as little as 10% support. By those standards, he was far from the pick of most Americans. When electors failed to have a decisive candidate after several rounds of voting, deals were made off the voting floor to push Harding forward as a candidate, eventually securing his nomination as the Republican candidate.

Upon election, declared he wouldn't announce any cabinet appointments until after he returned from a vacation.

Harding had an affair with Carrie Fulton Phillips, the wife of the owner of a department store in Harding's home town of Marion, Ohio. The affair ended when she blackmailed him prior to his presidential campaign. Philips is the first person known to have blackmailed a president.

He had another affair with a much younger woman, Nan Britton, while in office. The affair began while he was a senator and continued into his presidency. He fathered a child with Britton, which was confirmed decades later through DNA testing. Britton is the first person to write a "kiss and tell" book about an affair. According to her book, they once had sex in a closet near the Oval Office.

Despite speaking out in support of African-Americans, Harding still favored literacy tests for voting, which were often used to suppress African-American votes.

Aside from Teapot Dome Scandal, there were other scandals involving cabinet members that Harding was aware of. Because some of these cabinet members were friends, Harding tended to provide opportunities for these members to resign and flee the country before the scandals were uncovered. While one of his cabinet members was jailed, and others were convicted of relatively minor charges, none of the others had any lasting repercussions, except for one who committed suicide.

30. Calvin Coolidge (in office August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929)

Full name was John Calvin Coolidge, Jr.

Was a successful commercial lawyer.

First elected to the Massachusetts State House.

Strongly supported women's suffrage and fiscal conservatism, while opposing prohibition.

Served as governor of Massachusetts.

As governor, responded quickly and decisively to a police strike, giving him a national reputation as a man of action.

Served as vice-president under Warren G. Harding.

Harding and Coolidge (as VP) won election by a landslide, including the state of Tennessee, marking the first time a Republican presidential candidate won a Southern state since the Reconstruction period after the Civil War.

Was the first Vice President invited to sit in on cabinet meetings.

Became president when Harding died in office.

Known to be a small government conservative.

Achievements as President

Restored confidence in the presidency after the many scandals of predecessor Warren G. Harding.

Had the first presidential inauguration to be broadcast on radio.

Made himself widely available to the press, holding a record of 520 press conferences, a record that still stands.

His December 6, 1023 speech to Congress was the first presidential address to be broadcast on radio.

Filmed on the front lawn of the White House, Coolidge is the first president to appear in a film with sound.

Signed the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans.

Was known to be a strong supporter of the middle class, with a keen knowledge of the concerns of the average American.

Strongly believed in racial equality, despite the decade being a period of racial tension.

Had a laissez-fair attitude toward business and governing in general, believed to have contributed to the growth and success of the country in the 1920s. Predecessor Harding put beneficial economic policies in place and Coolidge let them work.

Signed the Revenue Act of 1924 into law, cutting income taxes but raising estate taxes and creating a gift tax.

When he ran for reelection, he refused to smear his opponents or even mention their names. His simply campaigned on political ideologies and theories. He was grieving for his son, but also just conducted his politics in that manner. He defeated the Democratic candidate in both the electoral and popular vote.

While he refused to publicly denounce the Ku Klux Klan, it was known that Coolidge disliked the group and never appointed any members to office, not did he support any members. While he was in office, lynchings of African-Americans decreased, and he repeatedly called for lynching to be declared a federal crime.

Finalized the withdrawal of troops from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, an act started by Harding.

Visited Cuba as part of an international peace delegation, making him the last sitting president to visit Cuba until Barack Obama.

Authorized the series of locks and canals known as the St. Lawrence Seaway, allowing large ships to cross from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes.

Failures

Coolidge's teenaged sons played tennis at the White House one day, and Calvin Jr. didn't wear socks. He developed a blister, which became infected, then septic, killing him a week later at age 16. Coolidge never forgave himself for this, and developed major depressive disorder as a result.

Vetoed the World War Adjusted Compensation Act, providing added benefits to veterans of World War I, but Congress overrode his veto and the Act became law.

Consistently ranked as one of the worst presidents, despite being popular while in office. Called a "do-nothing president", critics say Coolidge was only popular because he was in office when things were running well domestically and around the world.

Controversies

Upon Harding's death, Coolidge, who was visiting his family in Vermont, was sworn in by his father, a justice of the peace. When he returned to Washington, D.C. the next day, Coolidge was sworn in again, to forestall any discussion that his previous oath was invalid because his father wasn't a federal official.

Coolidge took little interest in the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which was the greatest natural disaster to occur in the Gulf area until Hurricane Katrina. He refused to visit the area, thinking it would be a useless and distasteful measure, and he didn't believe federal funds should be used to mitigate a local disaster.

Some historians say Coolidge's economic policies led to the Great Depression.

Despite the economic boom during his tenure, Coolidge did little to help poor farmers and other workers in struggling industries. When bills to help farmers were passed by Congress, Coolidge vetoed them multiple times, at one point stating, ""Farmers never have made much money. I do not believe we can do much about it."[

Coolidge was known to be quiet, gaining the nickname of "Quiet Cal." This led to some considering him dull. When he died, writer Dorothy Parker, upon hearing Coolidge had died, remarked, "How can you tell?"

Known for being frugal throughout his life, Coolidge refused to buy the home his family lived in, preferring to rent.

Signed an Immigration Act, limiting the number of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, while adding commentary that he objected to the specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants.

Signed the Radio Act of 1927, which established the Federal Radio Commission, and required equal air time for broadcasters, while also requiring licensing, and declaring that broadcasters had to work in the public interest. While overall good, these restrictions limit free speech.

When he chose not to run for a third term, Coolidge endorsed Republican candidate Herbert Hoover, but reluctantly, noting, "For six years that man has given me unsolicited advice, all of it bad!" Despite this, Hoover won in a landslide.

Next: Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt