Editing Warren G. Harding (section)

==Presidency (1921–1923)==
{{Main|Presidency of Warren G. Harding}}
{{For|timeline|Timeline of the Warren G. Harding presidency}}
{{conservatism US|politicians}}

===Inauguration and appointments===
[[File:Harding swearing in.jpg|thumb|left|Harding takes the oath of office.]]
{{further|Inauguration of Warren G. Harding}}
Harding was inaugurated on March 4, 1921, in the presence of his wife and father. Harding preferred a subdued inauguration without the customary parade, leaving only the actual ceremony and a brief reception at the White House. In his inaugural address, he declared, "Our most dangerous tendency is to expect too much from the government and at the same time do too little for it."{{sfn|Russell|pp=2,14}}

After the election, Harding announced that no decisions about appointments would be made until he returned from a vacation in December. He traveled to Texas, where he fished and played golf with his friend [[Frank Scobey]] (soon to be [[director of the Mint]]) and then sailed for the [[Panama Canal Zone]]. He visited Washington when [[66th United States Congress|Congress]] opened in early December, and he was afforded a hero's welcome as the first sitting senator to be elected to the White House.{{efn|Harding resigned from the Senate in January 1921, waiting until Cox's term as governor expired. A Republican governor, [[Harry L. Davis]], appointed Willis, already elected to a full term on Harding's [[coattail effect|coattails]], to serve the remainder of Harding's term. See {{harvnb|Dean|p=92}}.}} Back in Ohio, Harding planned to consult with the country's best minds, who visited Marion to offer their counsel regarding appointments.{{sfn|Russell|pp=420–424}}{{sfn|Sinclair|p=181}}

Harding chose pro-League Charles Evans Hughes as Secretary of State, ignoring the advice of Senator Lodge and others. After [[Charles G. Dawes]] declined the Treasury position, he chose Pittsburgh banker [[Andrew W. Mellon]], one of the richest people in the country. He appointed Herbert Hoover as [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]].{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=38–39}} RNC chairman Will Hays was made [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]], then a cabinet post; he left after a year in the position to become chief censor to the motion-picture industry.{{sfn|Dean|p=89}}

The two Harding cabinet appointees who darkened the reputation of his administration by their involvement in scandal were Harding's Senate friend [[Albert B. Fall]] of New Mexico, the [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Interior Secretary]], and Daugherty, the attorney general. Fall was a Western rancher and former miner who  favored development.{{sfn|Dean|p=89}} He was opposed by conservationists such as [[Gifford Pinchot]], who wrote, "it would have been possible to pick a worse man for Secretary of the Interior, but not altogether easy."{{sfn|Noggle|p=242}} ''The New York Times'' mocked the Daugherty appointment, writing that rather than selecting one of the best minds, Harding had been content "to choose merely a best friend."{{sfn|Sinclair|p=188}} Eugene P. Trani and David L. Wilson, in their volume on Harding's presidency, suggest that the appointment made sense then, as Daugherty was "a competent lawyer well-acquainted with the seamy side of politics&nbsp;... a first-class political troubleshooter and someone Harding could trust."{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|p=43}}

[[File:President Warren G. Harding's First Cabinet 1921.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|{{center|Harding's original Cabinet, 1921}}]]
{{Infobox U.S. Cabinet
|align=none
|Name=Harding
|President=Warren G. Harding
|President start=1921
|President end=1923 
|Vice President=[[Calvin Coolidge]]
|Vice President start=1921
|Vice President end=1923
|State=[[Charles Evans Hughes]]
|State start=1921
|State end=1923
|Treasury=[[Andrew Mellon]]
|Treasury start=1921
|Treasury end=1923
|War=[[John W. Weeks]]
|War start=1921
|War end=1923
|Justice=[[Harry M. Daugherty]]
|Justice start=1921
|Justice end=1923
|Post=[[Will H. Hays]]
|Post start=1921
|Post end=1922
|Post 2=[[Hubert Work]]
|Post start 2=1922
|Post end 2=1923
|Post 3=[[Harry Stewart New]]
|Post date 3=1923
|Navy=[[Edwin Denby (politician)|Edwin Denby]]
|Navy start=1921
|Navy end=1923
|Interior=[[Albert B. Fall]]
|Interior start=1921
|Interior end=1923
|Interior 2=[[Hubert Work]]
|Interior date 2=1923
|Agriculture=[[Henry Cantwell Wallace]]
|Agriculture start=1921
|Agriculture end=1923
|Commerce=[[Herbert Hoover]]
|Commerce start=1921
|Commerce end=1923
|Labor=[[James J. Davis]]
|Labor start=1921
|Labor end=1923
}}
{{clear}}

===Foreign policy===

====European relations and formally ending the war====
[[File:League of Nations (Warren G. Harding).ogg|thumb|Warren G. Harding explains his unwillingness to have the U.S. join the [[League of Nations]].]]
Harding made it clear when he appointed Hughes as Secretary of State that the former justice would run foreign policy, a change from Wilson's hands-on management of international affairs.{{sfn|Russell|p=43}} Hughes had to work within some broad outlines; after taking office, Harding hardened his stance on the League of Nations, deciding the U.S. would not join even a scaled-down version of the League. With the Treaty of Versailles unratified by the Senate, the U.S. remained technically at war with [[Weimar Republic|Germany]], [[First Austrian Republic|Austria]], and [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]]. Peacemaking began with the [[Knox–Porter Resolution]], declaring the U.S. at peace and reserving any rights granted under Versailles. Treaties [[U.S.–German Peace Treaty (1921)|with Germany]], [[U.S.–Austrian Peace Treaty (1921)|Austria]] and [[U.S.–Hungarian Peace Treaty (1921)|Hungary]], each containing many of the non-League provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, were ratified in 1921.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=142–145}}

This still left the question of relations between the U.S. and the League. Hughes' State Department initially ignored communications from the League, or tried to bypass it through direct contacts with member nations. By 1922, though, the U.S., through its consul in Geneva, was dealing with the League, and though the U.S. refused to participate in any meeting with political implications, it sent observers to sessions on technical and humanitarian matters.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=145–147}}

By the time Harding took office, there were calls from foreign governments for reduction of the massive war debt owed to the United States, and the German government sought to reduce [[World War I reparations|the reparations]] that it was required to pay. The U.S. refused to consider any multilateral settlement. Harding sought passage of a plan proposed by Mellon to give the administration broad authority to reduce war debts in negotiation, but [[67th United States Congress|Congress]], in 1922, passed a more restrictive bill. Hughes negotiated an agreement for [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] to pay off its war debt over 62 years at low interest, reducing the [[present value]] of the obligations. This agreement, approved by Congress in 1923, served as a model for negotiations with other nations. Talks with Germany on reduction of reparations payments resulted in the [[Dawes Plan]] of 1924.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=162–163}}

A pressing issue not resolved by Wilson was U.S. policy towards [[Bolshevik]] Russia. The U.S. had been among the nations that [[American Expeditionary Force, North Russia|sent troops there]] after the [[Russian Revolution]]. Afterwards, Wilson refused to recognize the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]]. Harding's Commerce Secretary Hoover, with considerable experience in Russian affairs, took the lead on policy. When [[Russian famine of 1921|famine struck Russia in 1921]], Hoover had the [[American Relief Administration]], which he had headed, negotiate with the Russians to provide aid. Leaders of the [[U.S.S.R.]] (established in 1922) hoped in vain that the agreement would lead to recognition. Hoover supported trade with the Soviets, fearing U.S. companies would be frozen out of the Soviet market, but Hughes opposed this, and the matter was not resolved under Harding's presidency.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=116–126}}

====Disarmament====
{{Main|Washington Naval Conference}}
[[File:Charles Evans Hughes-01.jpg|thumb|right|[[Charles Evans Hughes]], former Supreme Court justice and Harding's Secretary of State]]
Harding urged disarmament and lower defense costs during the campaign, but it had not been a major issue. He gave a speech to a joint session of Congress in April 1921, setting out his legislative priorities. Among the few foreign policy matters he mentioned was disarmament; he said the government could not "be unmindful of the call for reduced expenditure" on defense.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=149–150}}

Idaho Senator [[William Borah]] had proposed a conference at which the major naval powers, the U.S., Britain, and Japan, would agree to cuts in their fleets. Harding concurred, and after diplomatic discussions, representatives of nine nations convened in Washington in November 1921. Most of the diplomats first attended [[Veterans Day|Armistice Day]] ceremonies at [[Arlington National Cemetery]], where Harding spoke at the entombment of the [[Tomb of the Unknowns|Unknown Soldier of World War I]], whose identity, "took flight with his imperishable soul. We know not whence he came, only that his death marks him with the everlasting glory of an American dying for his country."{{sfn|Dean|pp=130–131}}

Hughes, in his speech at the opening session of the conference on November 12, 1921, made the American proposal—the U.S. would decommission or not build 30 warships if Great Britain did likewise for 19 vessels, and Japan for 17.{{sfn|Russell|p=481}} Hughes was generally successful, with agreements reached on this and other points, including settlement of disputes over islands in the Pacific, and limitations on the use of poison gas. The naval agreement applied only to battleships, and to some extent aircraft carriers, and ultimately did not prevent rearmament. Nevertheless, Harding and Hughes were widely applauded in the press for their work. Senator Lodge and the [[Senate Minority Leader]], Alabama's [[Oscar Underwood]], were part of the U.S. delegation, and they helped ensure the treaties made it through the Senate mostly unscathed, though that body added reservations to some.{{sfn|Sinclair|pp=241–245}}{{sfn|Dean|pp=132–134}}

The U.S. had acquired over a thousand vessels during World War I, and still owned most of them when Harding took office. Congress had authorized their disposal [[Merchant Marine Act of 1920|in 1920]], but the Senate would not confirm Wilson's nominees to the [[United States Shipping Board|Shipping Board]]. Harding appointed Albert Lasker as its chairman; the advertising executive undertook to run the fleet as profitably as possible until it could be sold. Few ships were marketable at anything approaching the government's cost. Lasker recommended a large subsidy to the [[merchant marine]] to facilitate sales, and Harding repeatedly urged Congress to enact it. The resulting bill was unpopular in the Midwest, and though it passed the House, it was defeated by a [[filibuster]] in the Senate, and most government ships were eventually scrapped.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=174–178}}

====Latin America====
Intervention in Latin America had been a minor campaign issue, though Harding spoke against Wilson's decision to [[United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–24)|send U.S. troops to the Dominican Republic]] and Haiti, and attacked the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Franklin Roosevelt, for his role in the [[United States occupation of Haiti|Haitian intervention]]. Once Harding was sworn in, Hughes worked to improve relations with Latin American countries who were wary of the American use of the [[Monroe Doctrine]] to justify intervention; at the time of Harding's inauguration, the U.S. also had troops in Cuba and Nicaragua. The troops stationed in Cuba were withdrawn in 1921, but U.S. forces remained in the other three nations throughout Harding's presidency.{{efn|By Hughes's departure from office in 1925, American forces had left the Dominican Republic and were about to leave Nicaragua. The departure from Haiti was still being planned. See {{harvnb|Trani & Wilson|p=135}}.}}{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=133–135}} In April 1921, Harding gained the ratification of the [[Thomson–Urrutia Treaty]] with Colombia, granting that nation $25 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|25|1921|r=2}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation-year|US}}) as settlement for the U.S.-provoked [[Separation of Panama from Colombia|Panamanian revolution of 1903]].{{sfn|Murray 1969|pp=340–341}} The Latin American nations were not fully satisfied, as the U.S. refused to renounce interventionism, though Hughes pledged to limit it to nations near the Panama Canal, and to make it clear what the U.S. aims were.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=136–137}}

The U.S. had intervened repeatedly in Mexico under Wilson, and had withdrawn diplomatic recognition, setting conditions for reinstatement. The Mexican government under President [[Álvaro Obregón]] wanted recognition before negotiations, but Wilson and his final Secretary of State, [[Bainbridge Colby]], refused. Both Hughes and Fall opposed recognition; Hughes instead sent a draft treaty to the Mexicans in May 1921, which included pledges to reimburse Americans for losses in Mexico since the [[Mexican Revolution|1910 revolution]] there. Obregón was unwilling to sign a treaty before being recognized, and worked to improve the relationship between American business and Mexico, reaching agreement with creditors, and mounting a public relations campaign in the United States. This had its effect, and by mid-1922, Fall was less influential than he had been, lessening the resistance to recognition. The two presidents appointed commissioners to reach a deal, and the U.S. recognized the Obregón government on August 31, 1923, just under a month after Harding's death, substantially on the terms proffered by Mexico.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=130–132}}

===Domestic policy===

====Postwar recession and recovery====
{{Main|Depression of 1920–1921}}
[[File:Chas G Dawes-H&E.jpg|thumb|right|[[Charles Dawes]]—the first budget director and later, vice president under Coolidge]]
When Harding took office on March 4, 1921, the nation was in the midst of [[Depression of 1920–21|a postwar economic decline]].{{sfn|Murray 1973|pp=40–41}} At the suggestion of legislative leaders, Harding called a special session of Congress, to convene April 11. When Harding addressed the joint session the following day, he urged the reduction of income taxes (raised during the war), an increase in tariffs on agricultural goods to protect the American farmer, as well as more wide-ranging reforms, such as support for highways, aviation, and radio.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=54–57}}{{sfn|Murray 1973|pp=52–55}} It was not until May 27 that Congress passed an emergency tariff increase on agricultural products. [[Budget and Accounting Act of 1921|An act]] authorizing a [[Bureau of the Budget]] followed on June 10, and Harding appointed Charles Dawes as bureau director with a mandate to cut expenditures.{{sfn|Murray 1973|pp=51–52}}

====Mellon's tax cuts====
Treasury Secretary Mellon also recommended that Congress cut income tax rates, and that the corporate [[excess profits tax]] be abolished. The [[House Ways and Means Committee]] endorsed Mellon's proposals, but some congressmen wanting to raise corporate tax rates fought the measure. Harding was unsure what side to endorse, telling a friend, "I can't make a damn thing out of this tax problem. I listen to one side, and they seem right, and then—God!—I talk to the other side, and they seem just as right."{{sfn|Murray 1973|pp=52–55}} Harding tried compromise, and gained passage of a bill in the House after the end of the excess profits tax was delayed a year. In the Senate, the bill became entangled in efforts to vote World War I veterans a soldier's bonus. Frustrated by the delays, on July 12, Harding appeared before the Senate to urge passage of the tax legislation without the bonus. It was not until November that [[Revenue Act of 1921|the revenue bill]] finally passed, with higher rates than Mellon had proposed.{{sfn|Murray 1973|pp=55–58}}{{sfn|Dean|p=108}}

[[File:AWMellon.jpg|thumb|left|Secretary of the Treasury [[Andrew W. Mellon]] advocated lower tax rates.]]
In opposing the veterans' bonus, Harding argued in his Senate address that much was already being done for them by a grateful nation, and that the bill would "break down our Treasury, from which so much is later on to be expected".{{sfn|Dean|pp=107–108}} The Senate sent the bonus bill back to committee, but the issue returned when Congress reconvened in December 1921.{{sfn|Dean|pp=107–108}} A bill providing a bonus, though unfunded, was passed by both houses in September 1922, but Harding's veto was narrowly sustained. [[World War Adjusted Compensation Act|A non-cash bonus]] for soldiers passed over Coolidge's veto in 1924.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=78–79}}

In his first [[State of the Union|annual message to Congress]], Harding sought the power to adjust tariff rates. The passage of the tariff bill in the Senate, and in [[conference committee]] became a feeding frenzy of lobby interests.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=74–75}} When Harding signed the [[Fordney–McCumber Tariff]] Act on September 21, 1922, he made a brief [[signing statement|statement]], praising the bill only for giving him some power to change rates.{{sfn|Dean|p=104}} According to Trani and Wilson, the bill was "ill-considered. It wrought havoc in international commerce and made the repayment of war debts more difficult."{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|p=74}}

Mellon ordered a study that demonstrated historically that, as income tax rates were increased, money was driven underground or abroad, and he concluded that lower rates would increase tax revenues.<ref>{{cite book|first=Andrew.W.|last= Mellon|title=Taxation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8UMRAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16|page=16|publisher=Macmillan|location=New York|isbn=9785879551631|year=1924}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Joel|author1-link=Joel Slemrod|last=Slemrod|title=Does Atlas Shrug?: The Economic Consequences of Taxing the Rich|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mpiqxjB9AgC&pg=PA48|year=2000|publisher=Harvard UP|pages=48–49|isbn=9780674001541}}</ref> Based on his advice, Harding's revenue bill cut taxes, starting in 1922. The top marginal rate was reduced annually in four stages from 73% in 1921 to 25% in 1925. Taxes were cut for lower incomes starting in 1923, and the lower rates substantially increased the money flowing to the treasury. They also pushed massive deregulation, and federal spending as a share of GDP fell from 6.5% to 3.5%. By late 1922, the economy began to turn around. Unemployment was pared from its 1921 high of 12% to an average of 3.3% for the remainder of the decade. The misery index, a combined measure of unemployment and inflation, had its sharpest decline in U.S. history under Harding. Wages, profits, and productivity all made substantial gains; annual GDP increases averaged at over 5% during the 1920s. Libertarian historians Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen argue that, "Mellon's tax policies set the stage for the most amazing growth yet seen in America's already impressive economy."<ref>{{cite book|first1=Larry|last1=Schweikart|first2=Michael|last2=Allen|title=A Patriot's History of the United States|publisher=Penguin|year=2004|location=New York|page=536}}</ref>

====Embracing new technologies====
The 1920s were a time of modernization for America—use of electricity became increasingly common. Mass production of motorized vehicles stimulated other industries as well, such as highway construction, rubber, steel, and building, as hotels were erected to accommodate the tourists venturing upon the roads. This economic boost helped bring the nation out of the recession.{{sfn|Sinclair|p=206}} To improve and expand the nation's highway system, Harding signed the [[Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 (Phipps Act)|Federal Highway Act of 1921]]. From 1921 to 1923, the federal government spent $162&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|.162|1923|r=1}}&nbsp;billion in {{Inflation-year|US}}) on America's highway system, infusing the U.S. economy with a large amount of capital.{{sfn|Wynn|pp=217–218}} In 1922, Harding proclaimed that America was in the age of the "motor car", which "reflects our standard of living and gauges the speed of our present-day life".<ref>{{cite web|last=Harding|first=Warren G.|title=Second Annual Message to Congress|publisher=American Presidency Project|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29563|date=December 8, 1922|access-date=August 3, 2015}}</ref>

Harding urged regulation of radio broadcasting in his April 1921 speech to Congress.{{sfn|Murray 1973|p=46}} Commerce Secretary Hoover took charge of this project, and convened a conference of radio broadcasters in 1922, which led to a voluntary agreement for licensing of [[radio frequency|radio frequencies]] through the [[United States Department of Commerce|Commerce Department]]. Both Harding and Hoover realized something more than an agreement was needed, but Congress was slow to act, not imposing radio regulation until 1927.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|p=88}}

Harding also wished to promote aviation, and Hoover again took the lead, convening a national conference on commercial aviation. The discussions focused on safety matters, inspection of airplanes, and licensing of pilots. Harding again promoted legislation but nothing was done until 1926, when the [[Air Commerce Act of 1926|Air Commerce Act]] created the [[Bureau of Aeronautics]] within Hoover's Commerce Department.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|p=88}}

====Business and labor====
[[File:Wharding.jpeg|thumb|right|Harding's official White House portrait, {{circa|1922}} by [[Edmund Hodgson Smart]]]]
{{Further|Great Railroad Strike of 1922}}
Harding's attitude toward business was that government should aid it as much as possible.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|p=83}} He was suspicious of [[organized labor]], viewing it as a conspiracy against business.{{sfn|Sinclair|pp=253–254}} He sought to get them to work together at a conference on unemployment that he called to meet in September 1921 at Hoover's recommendation. Harding warned in his opening address that no federal money would be available. No important legislation came as a result, though some [[public works]] projects were accelerated.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=92–93}}

Within broad limits, Harding allowed each cabinet secretary to run his department as he saw fit.{{sfn|Murray 1973|p=29}} Hoover expanded the Commerce Department to make it more useful to business. This was consistent with Hoover's view that the private sector should take the lead in managing the economy.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|p=84}} Harding greatly respected his Commerce Secretary, often asked his advice, and backed him to the hilt, calling Hoover "the smartest '[[wikt:gink|gink]]' I know".{{sfn|Murray 1973|pp=32–33}}

Widespread strikes marked 1922, as labor sought redress for falling wages and increased unemployment. In April, 500,000 coal miners, led by [[John L. Lewis]], struck over wage cuts. Mining executives argued that the industry was seeing hard times; Lewis accused them of trying to break the union. As the strike became protracted, Harding offered compromise to settle it. As Harding proposed, the miners agreed to return to work, and Congress created a commission to look into their grievances.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=97–99}}

On July 1, 1922, 400,000 railroad workers went on strike. Harding recommended a settlement that made some concessions, but management objected. Attorney General Daugherty convinced Judge [[James H. Wilkerson]] to issue a sweeping injunction to break the strike. Although there was public support for the Wilkerson injunction, Harding felt it went too far, and had Daugherty and Wilkerson amend it. The injunction succeeded in ending the strike; however, tensions remained high between railroad workers and management for years.{{sfn|Russell|pp=546–549}}

By 1922, the [[eight-hour day]] had become common in American industry. One exception was in [[steel mill]]s, where workers labored through a twelve-hour workday, seven days a week. Hoover considered this practice barbaric and got Harding to convene a conference of steel manufacturers with a view to ending the system. The conference established a committee under the leadership of [[U. S. Steel]] chairman [[Elbert Gary]], which in early 1923 recommended against ending the practice. Harding sent a letter to Gary deploring the result, which was printed in the press, and public outcry caused the manufacturers to reverse themselves and standardize the eight-hour day.{{sfn|Sinclair|pp=255–256}}

====Civil rights and immigration====
[[File:Harding at Birmingham.jpg|thumb|Harding addresses the segregated crowd in Birmingham, Alabama, October 26, 1921.]]
Although Harding's first address to Congress called for passage of anti-lynching legislation,<ref name=Baker18Aug/> he initially seemed inclined to do no more for African Americans than Republican presidents of the recent past had; he asked Cabinet officers to find places for blacks in their departments. Sinclair suggested that the fact that Harding received two-fifths of the Southern vote in 1920 led him to see political opportunity for his party in the [[Solid South]]. On October 26, 1921, Harding gave a speech in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], to a [[racial segregation|segregated]] audience of 20,000 Whites and 10,000 Blacks. Harding, while saying that the social and racial differences between Whites and Blacks could not be bridged, urged equal political rights for the latter. Many African-Americans at that time voted Republican, especially in the Democratic South, and Harding said he did not mind seeing that support end if the result was a strong two-party system in the South. He was willing to see [[literacy test]]s for voting continue, if applied fairly to White and Black voters.{{sfn|Sinclair|pp=230–234}} "Whether you like it or not," Harding told his segregated audience, "unless our democracy is a lie, you must stand for that equality."<ref name=Baker18Aug/> The White section of the audience listened in silence, while the Black section cheered.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Radosh |first1=Ronald |author-link=Ronald Radosh |last2=Radosh |first2=Allis|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/hey_wait_a_minute/2014/07/warren_harding_letters_could_they_spark_a_revisionist_view_of_the_much_maligned.single.html |title=What If Warren Harding Wasn't a Terrible President? |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |date=July 16, 2014 |access-date=July 18, 2014}}</ref> Three days after the [[Tulsa race massacre]] of 1921, Harding spoke at the all-Black [[Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)|Lincoln University]] in Pennsylvania. He declared, "Despite the demagogues, the idea of our oneness as Americans has risen superior to every appeal to mere class and group. And so, I wish it might be in this matter of our national problem of races." Speaking directly about the events in Tulsa, he said, "God grant that, in the soberness, the fairness, and the justice of this country, we never see another spectacle like it."<ref>{{cite news |last=Robenalt |first=James D. |title=The Republican president who called for racial justice in America after Tulsa massacre |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 21, 2020 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/06/21/warren-harding-tulsa-race-massacre-trump/| access-date = June 22, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200622065637/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/06/21/warren-harding-tulsa-race-massacre-trump/| archive-date = June 22, 2020| url-status = live}}</ref>

[[File:Taft Harding Robert Lincoln 1922.jpg|thumb|left|Harding (center) with Chief Justice [[William Howard Taft|Taft]] (left) and [[Robert Todd Lincoln]] at the dedication of the [[Lincoln Memorial]], May 30, 1922]]
Harding supported Congressman [[Leonidas Dyer]]'s [[Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill|federal anti-lynching bill]], which passed the House of Representatives in January 1922.{{sfn|Dean|p=123}} When it reached the Senate floor in November 1922, it was [[filibuster]]ed by Southern Democrats, and Lodge withdrew it to allow the ship subsidy bill Harding favored to be debated, though it was likewise blocked. Blacks blamed Harding for the Dyer bill's defeat; Harding biographer Robert K. Murray noted that it was hastened to its end by Harding's desire to have the ship subsidy bill considered.{{sfn|Murray 1973|pp=89–90}}

With the public suspicious of immigrants, especially those who might be [[socialist]]s or [[communist]]s, Congress passed the [[Emergency Quota Act|Per Centum Act of 1921]], signed by Harding on May 19, 1921, as a quick means of restricting immigration. The act reduced the numbers of immigrants to 3% of those from a given country living in the U.S., based on the 1910 census. This would, in practice, not restrict immigration from Ireland and Germany, but would bar many Italians and eastern European Jews.{{sfn|Sinclair|p=215}} Harding and Secretary of Labor [[James J. Davis|James Davis]] believed that enforcement had to be humane, and at the Secretary's recommendation, Harding allowed almost 1,000 deportable immigrants to remain.{{sfn|Dean|pp=101–102}} Coolidge later signed the [[Immigration Act of 1924]], permanently restricting immigration to the U.S.{{sfn|Sinclair|p=217}}

====Eugene Debs and political prisoners====
Harding's Socialist opponent in the 1920 election, [[Eugene Debs]], was serving a ten-year sentence in the [[Atlanta Penitentiary]] for speaking against the war. Wilson had refused to pardon him before leaving office. Daugherty met with Debs, and was deeply impressed. There was opposition from veterans, including the [[American Legion]], and also from Florence Harding. The president did not feel he could release Debs until the war was officially over, but once the peace treaties were signed, commuted Debs' sentence on December 23, 1921. At Harding's request, Debs visited the president at the White House before going home to Indiana.{{sfn|Dean|pp=126–129}}

Harding released 23 other war opponents at the same time as Debs, and continued to review cases and release political prisoners throughout his presidency. Harding defended his prisoner releases as necessary to return the nation to normalcy.{{sfn|Murray 1969|pp=168–169}}

====Judicial appointments====
{{Further|List of federal judges appointed by Warren G. Harding|Warren G. Harding Supreme Court candidates}}
Harding appointed four justices to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]. When Chief Justice [[Edward Douglass White]] died in May 1921, Harding was unsure whether to appoint former president Taft or former Utah senator [[George Sutherland]]—he had promised seats on the court to both men. After briefly considering awaiting another vacancy and appointing them both, he chose Taft as Chief Justice. Sutherland was appointed to the court in 1922, to be followed by two other economic conservatives, [[Pierce Butler (justice)|Pierce Butler]] and [[Edward Terry Sanford]], in 1923.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=48–49}}

Harding also appointed six judges to the [[United States Courts of Appeals]], 42 judges to the [[United States district courts]], and two judges to the [[United States Court of Customs Appeals]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Biographical Dictionary of the Federal Judiciary |publisher=Federal Judicial Center |url=http://www.fjc.gov/public/home.nsf/hisj |access-date=June 14, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730115701/http://www.fjc.gov/public/home.nsf/hisj |archive-date=July 30, 2016 }} Searches run from page by choosing "select research categories" then check "court type" and "nominating president", then select type of court and Warren G. Harding.</ref>

===Political setbacks and western tour===
{{See also|Harding Railroad Car}}
[[File:President Harding in Alaska on Presidential Train.jpg|thumb|Harding aboard the presidential train in Alaska, July 1923, with secretaries Hoover, Wallace, Work, and Mrs. Harding]]
Entering the 1922 midterm congressional election campaign, Harding and the Republicans had followed through on many of their campaign promises. But some of the fulfilled pledges, like cutting taxes for the well-off, did not appeal to the electorate. The economy had not returned to normalcy, with unemployment at 11&nbsp;percent, and organized labor angry over the outcome of the strikes. From 303 Republicans elected to the House in 1920, the new [[68th United States Congress|68th Congress]] saw that party fall to a 221–213 majority. In the Senate, the Republicans lost eight seats, and had 51 of 96 senators in the new Congress, which Harding did not survive to meet.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=80–81}}

A month after the election, the [[lame-duck session]] of the outgoing [[67th United States Congress|67th Congress]] met. Harding then believed his early view of the presidency—that it should propose policies, but leave their adoption to Congress—was no longer enough, and he lobbied Congress, although in vain, to get his ship subsidy bill through.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=80–81}} Once Congress left town in early March 1923, Harding's popularity began to recover. The economy was improving, and the programs of Harding's more able Cabinet members, such as Hughes, Mellon and Hoover, were showing results. Most Republicans realized that there was no practical alternative to supporting Harding in 1924 for his re-election campaign.{{sfn|Murray 1973|p=95}}

In the first half of 1923, Harding did two things that were later said to indicate foreknowledge of death: he sold the ''Star'' (though undertaking to remain as a contributing editor for ten years after his presidency), and he made a new will.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|pp=172–173}} Harding had long suffered occasional health problems, but when he was not experiencing symptoms, he tended to eat, drink and smoke too much. By 1919, he was aware he had a heart condition. Stress caused by the presidency and by Florence Harding's own chronic kidney condition debilitated him, and he never fully recovered from an episode of influenza in January 1923. After that, Harding, an avid golfer, had difficulty completing a round. In June 1923, Ohio Senator Willis met with Harding, but brought to the president's attention only two of the five items he intended to discuss. When asked why, Willis responded, "Warren seemed so tired."{{sfn|Murray 1969|pp=438–439}}

In early June 1923, Harding set out on a journey, which he dubbed the "[[Voyage of Understanding]]".{{sfn|Murray 1973|p=95}} The president planned to cross the country, go north to [[Alaska Territory]], journey south along the West Coast, then travel by a U.S. Navy ship from San Diego along the Mexican and Central America West Coast, through the Panama Canal, to Puerto Rico, and return to Washington at the end of August.{{sfn|Murray 1969|p=441}} Harding loved to travel and had long contemplated a trip to Alaska.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|p=172}} The trip would allow him to speak widely across the country, to politic and [[bloviation|bloviate]] in advance of the 1924 campaign, and give him some rest{{sfn|Murray 1969|pp=439–440}} away from Washington's oppressive summer heat.{{sfn|Murray 1973|p=95}}

Harding's political advisers had given him a physically demanding schedule, even though the president had ordered it cut back.{{sfn|Dean|p=147}} In Kansas City, Harding spoke on transportation issues; in [[Hutchinson, Kansas]], agriculture was the theme. In Denver, he spoke on his support of Prohibition, and continued west making a series of speeches not matched by any president until Franklin Roosevelt. Harding had become a supporter of the [[Permanent Court of International Justice|World Court]], and wanted the U.S. to become a member. In addition to making speeches, he visited [[Yellowstone National Park|Yellowstone]] and [[Zion National Park]]s,{{sfn|Murray 1969|pp=442–443}} and dedicated a monument on the [[Oregon Trail]] at a celebration organized by venerable pioneer [[Ezra Meeker]] and others.{{sfn|Dary|pp=322–323}}

On July 5, Harding embarked on {{USS|Henderson|AP-1|6}} in Washington state. He was the first president to visit Alaska, and spent hours watching the dramatic landscapes from the deck of the ''Henderson''.{{sfn|Dean|p=149}} After several stops along the coast, the presidential party left the ship at [[Seward, Alaska|Seward]] to take the [[Alaska Railroad]] to [[McKinley Park, Alaska|McKinley Park]] and [[Fairbanks, Alaska|Fairbanks]], where he addressed a crowd of 1,500 in {{convert|94|F}} heat. The party was to return to Seward by the [[Richardson Highway|Richardson Trail]], but due to Harding's fatigue, they went by train.{{sfn|Murray 1969|pp=446–447}}

On July 26, 1923, Harding toured [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]] as the first sitting American president to visit Canada. He was welcomed by the [[Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia]] [[Walter Cameron Nichol|Walter Nichol]],<ref>{{cite web| url=https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/u-s-president-warren-gamaliel-harding-and-lieutenant-governor-nichol-in-procession-on-granville-street-vancouver| title=Item D-01800 – U.S. President Warren Gamaliel Harding and Lieutenant Governor Nichol in a procession on Granville Street, Vancouver| date=July 26, 1923| publisher=Royal British Columbia Museum| access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref> [[Premier of British Columbia]] [[John Oliver (British Columbia politician)|John Oliver]], and the Mayor of Vancouver, and spoke to a crowd of over 50,000. Two years after his death, a memorial to Harding was unveiled in [[Stanley Park]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/archives_harding.htm |website=The History of Metropolitan Vancouver |title=Warren G. Harding & Stanley Park |access-date=June 14, 2015 |archive-date=September 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916212018/http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/archives_harding.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Harding visited a golf course, but completed only six holes before becoming fatigued. After resting for an hour, he played the 17th and 18th holes so it would appear he had completed the round. He did not succeed in hiding his exhaustion; one reporter thought he looked so tired that a rest of mere days would be insufficient to refresh him.{{sfn|Murray 1969|pp=447–448}}

In [[Seattle]] the next day, Harding kept up his busy schedule, giving a speech to 25,000 people at [[Husky Stadium|the stadium]] at the [[University of Washington]]. In the final speech he gave<!-- phrasing is designed to exclude the speech he could not give in San Francisco that was released to the press -->, Harding predicted statehood for Alaska.<ref name=aaaaiblf>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=775XAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bvQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5690%2C4345509 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Alaska all right is belief of president after visit |date=July 28, 1923 |page=2}}</ref>{{sfn|Murray 1969|p=448}} The president rushed through his speech, not waiting for applause from the audience.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lange|first=Greg|title=U.S. President Warren G. Harding makes his last speech in Seattle on July&nbsp;27, 1923|url=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=878|publisher=HistoryLink.org|date=February 10, 1999|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref>