basically OK- sometimes too detailed, sometimes not detailed enough

books:

	• Warren G. Harding (The American Presidents Series) John W. Dean Times Books, 2004 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
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Warren G. Harding--Not so bad after all?

Interesting factors. John Dean (of Watergate note) authors this biography of Warren G. Harding in The American Presidents series. And he grew up in Marion, Ohio, where Harding lived for many years. And, against all odds, Dean makes Harding seem much less the failure that he has been branded over time. Does the author succeed fully? Each reader will have to judge for himself or herself, but I did come away from this book with a different impression of Harding than the one I brought with me as I sat down to begin reading this volume. One thing to Dean's advantage--access to Harding's papers which were not available to many earlier biographers.

Dean makes his view plain at the outset (Page 1): "Warren G. Harding is best known as America's worst president. A compelling case can be made, however, that to reach such a judgment one must ignore much of the relevant information about Harding and his presidency." As with all books in this series, we begin with a brief introduction to the character's life, in this case starting with his birth in Ohio in 1865. He tried studying law and selling insurance, but only came into his own when he managed to purchase the Marion Star, a daily newspaper. He appears to have been good at managing the paper and serving as a reporter in addition.

He began to be active in Republican politics in Ohio and, down the road, with the help of some political pros, he was elected as a state senator. Shortly thereafter, he became one of Ohio's two Senators in Washington, D. C. He came to national attention with a speech at the 1916 Republican convention. Some even thought of him as a dark horse candidate to get the nomination, but he chose to bide his time. His career in the Senate was not characterized with any major legislation bearing his name (and he often "missed" roll call votes on divisive issues, thus not offending either wing of the Republican Party). He decided to run a low key campaign to be the Presidential nominee of his party, surmising that no single leading candidate could gain enough votes to clinch the nomination. His suspicion turned out to be correct. He received the nomination and won the election.

His presidency, as described by Dean, is an interesting mix of positive steps, such as his effort to undo some of Woodrow Wilson's racist policies, his foreign policy, and even his choices for the Cabinet (most were very fine, although Albert Fall, of course, represented a major exception!), but not a presidency where major accomplishments emerged that caught historians' eyes later on.

One will have to evaluate the extent to which Dean makes Harding appear to be something more than the worst president in American history. I think he has made a case that the reader must confront, however, and that itself is something of an accomplishment.

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basically OK- sometimes too detailed, sometimes not detailed enough

This little book seeks to defend President Harding, and does a fair-to-middling job of it.

By focusing on Harding's pre-presidential life, Dean paints a reasonably interesting portrait of Harding's personality: genial, a bit pompous, smarter than generally believed. However, Dean's use of detail is uneven. Sometimes he provides an almost tedious level of detail; other times, his discussion is so sketchy that it reads like a few sentences are missing.

In particular, Dean's portrait of Harding's presidency is a little scattershot. By devoting a page here and there to lots of issues, Dean misses the opportunity to focus more on Harding's major achievements (healing the economy, balancing the budget, liberating political prisoners, partially desegregating the federal workforce). To be sure, he mentions all these things- but a more detailed discussion of each issue and a more liberal use of statistics would have sharpened his defense of the Harding Administration. Instead Dean wastes space focusing on the minutiae of railroad strikes and other ephemeral issues.

On the other hand, there are some things I really liked about this book. His discussion of the 1920 Republican convention is mostly excellent. I had always thought that Harding sat passively by while a few bosses nominated him in a smoke-filled room. In fact, Harding's strategy was quite ingenious: he knew that most delegates were committed to three major candidates whose supporters hated each other. So his campaign contacted delegates asking them to consider Harding if their first choice faltered in the early ballots. After the convention appeared deadlocked, these delegates turned to Harding (a choice facilitated by the delegates' lack of desire to pay for an extra day in hotels; the final ballot ended early in the evening). However, Dean's discussion of Harding's vice presidential choice could have used more detail. He writes that Harding preferred Sen. Irvine Lenroot to Calvin Coolidge, and writes: "Before Lenroot could inform Chairman Lodge that he did not want to be nominated, his name had been offered." Does that mean Lenroot declined the nomination? That delegates rejected him? Surely, Dean could have explained a bit more.

Dean's discussion of the general election campaign also contains some surprises. Just as today's smearers accuse Barack Obama of being a secret Muslim, some Democrats accused Harding of having African-American blood. One key difference between now and then: the Internet allows smears to be spread more easily. By contrast in 1920 the mainstream media's refusal to print such rumors may have kept them out of public view.

Dean also has a good discussion of Harding's civil rights record: I was surprised to learn that in addition to hiring African-Americans for federal jobs, he went to Birmingham, Alabama to speak on civil rights, calling for "economic equality between the races" and "equal educational opportunities."

Of course, all of this begs the question: why does Harding have such a bad reputation? Partially because some of his appointees were corrupt (though others were excellent, including future Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes at State). Also, his widow's decision to destroy many of his papers allowed scurrilous rumors to pass without rebuttal.

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A must read!!!

I could't wait to read this book. After seeing all the reviews with most being positive and some being highly negative I was intrigued about this book causing so much debate in its reviews here on Amazon. I must say the book did not disappoint me at all! It is a excellent must read book! It made Harding a human being, not some ogre, dummy or crook who never did a good thing as some would have you believe. It showed him in his best moments, in his bad moments, showed his shining achievements and his terrible failures. Harding comes through as a big hearted well-meaning man who learned much from being President and was growing into the job as he went along. The book also shows his shortcomings and his own coming to realize his own limitations and how he tried to compensate for these. While the book leaned more to the positive, it also did not diminish or apologise for his mistakes, shortcomings or bad decisions. However, it was nice to see his achievements, advancements, victories and strengths applauded and explored. What a refreshing breath of fresh air to read about Warren G. Harding in this light and this alone makes this book a must read! If you want to see Warren G. Harding in a more balanced way do read this book!

Unlike many books this one is well-researched. It has tons of footnotes so you can check out the statements, quotes and if they are taken in context by John Dean. Check them I did, and I found no misquotes, misstatements or anything taken out of context. Excellent job by John Dean in this area! I like well-researched books that can back up their claims with documentation. I also like the fact that this author uses the papers of the Warren G. Harding administration in drawing his insights and conclusions. Excellent job in documentation makes this book much more powerful in its presentation.

It was refreshing to read about Warren G. Harding in a positive light. Some would have you believe that nothing good happened under the Harding Administration. This book describes very well the accomplishments that most overlook when Harding is considered. Every President has their failures and accomplishments and this book touches upon both bringing a much more balanced account of Harding and his Presidency than most books in the past have. However, John Dean does play up the the positive side slightly more, but with good reason. So much negative press has been given in the past with regards to this President and his Administration that to dwell upon this would not justify a new book on this topic. By reading this book in combination with others, which are more negative, one gets a much more balanced account of President Harding and his Presidency.

I liked how John Dean also explored the negative claims and clarified them, putting blame where blame is due and through documentation and use of other's first hand knowledge he refuted some of the more outragious claims. His use of Colonel Starling's quotes is one example of documentation that is helpful. I've read Colonel Edmund Starling's book and his being a Secret Service Agent from Woodrow Wilson thru FDR's years is interesting, informative and eye opening in regards to the Presidents he served and protected. John Dean perhaps plays a bit too lighty upon the negative, but in the introduction Dean does state he was concerned at how to best portray the truth of who Harding was, how he was elected and how he operated and performed as President. I feel he accomplished his goal very well with this book.

The flow of the book was done very well also. It was a pleasure to read and I never found myself bored, distracted or the reading tedious. It is a very well written, very well organized, very well researched and a very impressive book. You will come away from this book with a very different view of Warren G. Harding and his Presidency. For me I see him now in a much more balanced light. He made good and bad decisions. He had some of the best and some of the worst Cabinet members. He saved the government lots of money only to have some in his adminstration steal quite a bit. He had his moments of brilliance and his moments of either extreme ignorance or extreme naivete. Warren G. Harding was a very human President who did some very good things and made his share of mistakes. Was he the worst President ever? I don't think so, but I sure do not believe he was anywhere near being a great one either. If you want a much more balanced look at this man who I believe did the best he could do and achieved more than we are led to believe read this book! Five Stars.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

President Nixon?s former counsel illuminates another presidency marked by scandal

Warren G. Harding may be best known as America?s worst president. Scandals plagued him: the Teapot Dome affair, corruption in the Veterans Bureau and the Justice Department, and the posthumous revelation of an extramarital affair.

Raised in Marion, Ohio, Harding took hold of the small town?s newspaper and turned it into a success. Showing a talent for local politics, he rose quickly to the U.S. Senate. His presidential campaign slogan, ?America?s present need is not heroics but healing, not nostrums but normalcy,? gave voice to a public exhausted by the intense politics following World War I. Once elected, he pushed for legislation limiting the number of immigrants; set high tariffs to relieve the farm crisis after the war; persuaded Congress to adopt unified federal budget creation; and reduced income taxes and the national debt, before dying unexpectedly in 1923.

In this wise and compelling biography, John W. Dean?no stranger to controversy himself?recovers the truths and explodes the myths surrounding our twenty-ninth president?s tarnished legacy.

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