Warren Harding Just Can't Get No Respect

As usual, getting the U.S. into a war seems to be the best guarantee that a president will be highly ranked. Lincoln, FDR, Harry Truman, Polk, and Woodrow Wilson were rated either"great" or"near great."

But the survey had some pleasant surprises, at least for me. Cleveland (in my view a"great") was rated 12 ("above average"), ahead of Madison, Monroe, and Kennedy. Coolidge and Van Buren, two of my other choices for"great" or"near great," were confined to the"average" category.

The worst disappointment was that Warren G. Harding was ranked second to last (38) just ahead of James Buchanan (39) in the"failure" category.

An closer look at Harding's record shows that he merits"near great," possibly"great," status. He cut taxes, retrenched on government spending, ended the Red Scare by releasing Woodrow Wilson's political prisoners, and presided over economic prosperity. His cabinet appointments were generally first rate and included Charles Evans Hughes and Andrew Mellon. He signed one of the most far-reaching arms limitations in American history, the Washington Naval Treaty. Lastly, he had a relatively good civil rights record and supported a federal anti-lynching bill. The civil rights record of his"near great" predecessor, Woodrow Wilson, by contrast, was atrocious.

Have I convinced you yet? Here are some more reasons. He wisely refused to intervene in the depression of 1921 and 1922, thus making it short and relatively painless. Harding was also a modest man (in this respect anticipating Harry Truman) who freely expressed his limitations. He had a self-effacing and disarming sense of humor (a la Reagan). When rumors spread that Harding's ancestry was"tainted with Negro blood," he joked that he wouldn't be surprised if some of his forebearers went"over the fence."

The corruption of the Harding admininistration was quite real, but no more serious than that which characterized many of the"great" and"near great" presidents. Moreover, in contrast to several of these presidents, Harding himself was not personally involved. In fact, when he first heard about the first evidence of illegality shortly before his death he responded with outrage and a desire to root it out.