Editing Warren G. Harding (section)

==Historical views==
{{Main|Historical reputation of Warren G. Harding}}
[[File:Warren G Hardiing 1923 Issue-2c.jpg|thumb|upright|Harding memorial issue, issued September&nbsp;1, 1923]]
Upon his death, Harding was deeply mourned—not only in the United States, but around the world. He was called a man of peace in many European newspapers. American journalists praised him lavishly, with some describing him as having given his life for his country. His associates were stunned by his demise. Daugherty wrote, "I can hardly write about it or allow myself to think about it yet."{{sfn|Murray 1969|pp=456–457}} Hughes stated, "I cannot realize that our beloved Chief is no longer with us."{{sfn|Murray 1969|p=457}}

[[Hagiographic]] accounts of Harding's life quickly followed his death, such as Joe Mitchell Chapple's ''Life and Times of Warren G. Harding, Our After-War President'' (1924).{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|p=208}} By then, the scandals were breaking, and the Harding administration soon became a byword for corruption in the view of the public. Works written in the late 1920s helped shape Harding's dubious historical reputation: ''Masks in a Pageant'', by [[William Allen White]], mocked and dismissed Harding, as did [[Samuel Hopkins Adams]]' fictionalized account of the Harding administration, ''Revelry''.{{sfn|Coffey|p=80}} These books depicted Harding's time in office as one of great presidential weakness.{{sfn|Ferrell|loc=2970}} The publication of Nan Britton's bestselling book disclosing they had had an affair also lowered the late president in public esteem. President Coolidge, wishing to distance himself from his predecessor, refused to dedicate the Harding Tomb. Hoover, Coolidge's successor, was similarly reluctant, but eventually presided over the dedication in 1931 with Coolidge in attendance. By that time, with the [[Great Depression]] in full swing, Hoover was nearly as discredited as Harding.{{sfn|Russell|pp=632–633, 639–640}}{{sfn|Payne|2014|pp=125, 127}}

Adams continued to shape the negative view of Harding with several nonfiction works in the 1930s, culminating with ''The Incredible Era—The Life and Times of Warren G. Harding'' (1939) in which he called his subject "an amiable, well-meaning third-rate [[Babbitt (novel)|Mr. Babbitt]], with the equipment of a small-town semi-educated journalist&nbsp;... It could not work. It did not work."{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|p=209}}<!-- quoted in -->

Dean views the works of White and Adams "remarkably unbalanced and unfair accounts, exaggerating the negative, assigning responsibility to Harding for all wrongs, and denying him credit for anything done right. Today there is considerable evidence refuting their portrayals of Harding. Yet the myth has persisted."{{sfn|Dean|p=163}}

[[File:President Warren G. Harding and First Lady Florence Harding.jpg|thumb|left|Warren and [[Florence Harding]], {{circa|1922}}. Florence Harding was highly protective of her husband's legacy.]]
The opening of Harding's papers for research in 1964 sparked a small spate of biographies, of which the most controversial was Russell's ''The Shadow of Blooming Grove'' (1968), which concluded that the rumors of black ancestry (the "shadow" of the title) deeply affected Harding in his formative years, causing both Harding's conservatism and his desire to get along with everyone. Coffey faults Russell's methods, and deems the biography "largely critical, though not entirely unsympathetic."{{sfn|Coffey|p=86}} Murray's ''The Harding Era'' (1969) took a more positive view of the president, and put him in the context of his times. Trani and Wilson faulted Murray for "a tendency to go overboard" in trying to connect Harding with the successful policies of his cabinet officers, and for asserting, without sufficient evidence, that a new, more assertive Harding had emerged by 1923.{{sfn|Trani & Wilson|p=211}}

Later decades saw revisionist books published on Harding. [[Robert Ferrell]]'s ''The Strange Deaths of President Harding'' (1996), according to Coffey, "spends almost the entire work challenging every story about Harding and concludes that almost everything that is read and taught about his subject is wrong."{{sfn|Coffey|pp=88–89}} In 2004, John Dean, noted for his involvement in another presidential scandal, [[Watergate]], wrote the Harding volume in "The American Presidents" series of short biographies, edited by [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.]] Coffey considered that book the most revisionist to date, and faults Dean for glossing over some unfavorable episodes in Harding's life, like his silence during the 1914 Senate campaign, when his opponent Hogan was being attacked for his faith.{{sfn|Coffey|p=89}}
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?77425-1/strange-deaths-president-harding ''Booknotes'' interview with Robert Ferrell on ''The Strange Deaths of President Harding'', January 12, 1997], [[C-SPAN]] | video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?179807-1/warren-g-harding ''Booknotes'' interview with John Dean on ''Warren G. Harding'', March 14, 2004], [[C-SPAN]]}}

Trani faults Harding's own lack of depth and decisiveness as bringing about his tarnished legacy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://millercenter.org/president/harding/impact-and-legacy |title=Warren G. Harding: Impact and Legacy |publisher=[[Miller Center]] |access-date=December 26, 2017 |last=Trani |first=Eugene P. |date=October 4, 2016 |author-link=Eugene P. Trani }}</ref>

Harding has traditionally been [[Historical rankings of presidents of the United States|ranked as one of the worst presidents]].{{sfn|Ferrell|loc=3474–3485}} In a 1948 poll conducted by [[Harvard University]], historian [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr.]] conducted a survey of scholars' opinions of the presidents, ranking Harding last among the 29 presidents considered.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Schlesinger|first=Arthur M.|title=Historians Rate the U.S. Presidents|magazine=Life|author-link=Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr.|date=November 1, 1948|pages=65–66, 68, 73–74}}</ref> He has also been last in many other polls since then.

Ferrell attributes Harding's negative ratings to scholars who read little that is substantive, and who focus more on sensational accounts of Harding.{{sfn|Ferrell|loc=3474–3485}}

Coffey believes "the academic lack of interest in Harding has cost him his reputation, as scholars still rank Harding as nearly dead last among presidents."{{sfn|Coffey|p=86}}

===Reassessment===
In historical rankings of the U.S. presidents during the decades after his term in office, Harding was often rated among the worst. However, in recent decades, some authors and historians have begun to reassess the conventional views of Harding's historical record in office.<ref name=Robenalt13Aug /><ref name="Reputation">{{cite journal |url=http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_21_01_02_pecquet-thies.pdf |title=Reputation Overrides Record: How Warren G. Harding Mistakenly Became the 'Worst' President of the United States |last1=Pecquet |first1=Gary M. |last2=Thies |first2=Clifford F. |journal=[[The Independent Review]] |publisher=[[Independent Institute]] |volume=21 |date=Summer 2016 |issn=1086-1653 |pages=29–45 }}</ref> In ''The Spoils of War'' (2016), [[Bruce Bueno de Mesquita]] and Alastair Smith place Harding first in a combined ranking of fewest wartime deaths and highest annual per capita income growth during each president's time in office.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Spoils of War |last1=Bueno de Mesquita |first1=Bruce |last2=Smith |first2=Alastair |page=255 |year=2016 |publisher=PublicAffairs}}</ref>

Murray argued in his book ''The Harding Era'' that Harding deserves more credit than historians have given: "He was certainly the equal of a [[Franklin Pierce]], an [[Andrew Johnson]], a [[Benjamin Harrison]], or even a Calvin Coolidge. In concrete accomplishments, his administration was superior to a sizable portion of those in the nation's history."{{sfn|Murray 1969|p=536}}

Murray notes some general points regarding Harding's poor standing which illustrate the relatively obscure and weak basis for negative critiques of Harding in general. Namely, the conventional views often entail omission of an actual critique or analysis of Harding's actions, and often consist of a relatively limited and arbitrary focus on the nature of Harding's appointees, to the omission and detriment of a broader analysis of larger historical facts. Murray states:
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{{blockquote|
In the American system, there is no such thing as an innocent bystander in the White House. If Harding can rightly claim the achievements of a Hughes in State or a Hoover in Commerce, he must also shoulder responsibility for a Daugherty in Justice and a Fall in Interior. Especially must he bear the onus of his lack of punitive action against such men as Forbes and Smith. By his inaction, he forfeited whatever chance he had to maintain the integrity of his position and salvage a favorable image for himself and his administration. As it was, the subsequent popular and scholarly negative verdict was inevitable, if not wholly deserved.{{sfn|Murray 1969|p=536}}
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