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American history, biographies, book reviews, Francis Russell, presidential biographies, Presidents, Warren Harding
“The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times” is Francis Russell’s 1968 biography of the 29th president. The book is probably best known for controversy generated prior to its publication resulting from Russell’s discovery of a cache of letters between Harding and one of his mistresses.
The author intended to include excerpts from the letters in the biography but a lawsuit by the Harding family suppressed their disclosure. The reader, however, is never in any doubt as to the nature of the missing material and the controversy may have actually boosted sales of the book. Russell was a historian and prolific author; he died in 1989 at the age of 79.
While this biography is seemingly comprehensive and undeniably full of detail it fails, by a wide margin, to live up to its potential. And although Russell seems determined to provide the reader with the definitive biography of this former president, he is far more successful convincing his audience that Harding simply does not deserve a book of this length (663 pages).
Not only is this biography needlessly verbose but it also lacks punch. While it is sometimes accused of exposing the biases of its author, this biography disappoints not because it is scandalous but because it is filled with page after page of detail that reveals almost nothing substantive of Harding…short of demonstrating that he suffered a loveless marriage and filled the void with at least two affairs.
And while Russell seems determined to refurbish Harding’s lowly image, the man who emerges from these pages is at best a hapless, well-meaning back-slapper who miraculously rose to the nation’s highest office and found himself in over his head. But with almost no analytical glue to hold together the various stories, anecdotes and epistles, Harding is stranded as a two-dimensional caricature.
Harding’s tenure in the White House lasted just twenty-nine months, but I still found Russell’s description of his brief presidency haphazard and difficult to follow. The book’s narrative during these months seems to wander topically and chronologically, and I have a far better sense of Harding’s extramarital affairs during this period than of his presidential affairs.
Russell’s book is not without merit, however. He can be a shrewd observer of people and often provides interesting introductory material when weaving Harding’s friends or colleagues into the story. But even in these moments his writing style feels stodgy and dated.
The best chapter, by far, is “The Dark Convention” which describes how Harding obtained the Republican nomination for president in 1920. It also helps explain how someone of such middling talent managed to reach the highest political office in the nation. The book’s interesting penultimate chapter reviews the last years of the lives of the book’s major characters who, in some cases, outlived Harding by decades.
The final chapter in the book is an account of the author’s discovery of the Harding/Phillips letters and of the litigation which prevented their publication. As interesting as the back-story proves to be, this last chapter is of far less value than the final chapter which the book is missing: the one which critically but thoughtfully reviews Harding’s legacy.
Overall, Francis Russell’s “The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G Harding in His Times” proves more frustrating than enlightening. Although it doesn’t quite exude the feel of a tabloid expose, neither does it convey the impression of a deliberate, well-organized and thoughtful work of a great biographer. In the end, Francis Russell’s biography of Warren Harding is barely more inspiring than Harding himself.
Overall rating: 2¾ stars
My Journey Through the Best Presidential Biographies 
While Russell recounts Harding’s pre-presidential years with a touch of mordant humor, the book completely falls apart when it gets to his presidency, the account of which is curiously brief and disjointed and relies heavily on secondary works, some of dubious value. The only reason why anybody bought this book in 1968 was to read about (if not actually read) the racy letters Harding sent to his previously unknown other mistress, Carrie Phillips. The letters of course having been redacted from the final published product after a sensational public controversy and trial involving the Harding family — a situation that the author and the publisher milked to the fullest in order to turn the book into a best seller.
You and anybody else interested in Harding (who was/is more interesting and accomplished than Russell’s sad effort would indicate) would be better served by reading first The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865-1920 by Randolph C. Downes (Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 1970) followed by The Harding Era: Warren G. Harding and His Administration by Robert K. Murray (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1969). Taken together, the two volumes form an ersatz complete scholarly biography — the closest thing we have for Harding. Unfortunately, both volumes are a bit dry and stuffy in trying to reclaim Harding as a leader (however limited, both concede) worthy of serious attention.
The Downes had a limited print run as a university press title and generally can only be found as a library discard, but it can be downloaded for free, courtesy of Ohio State University, here:
Click to access THE_RISE_OF_WARREN_GAMALIEL_HARDING.pdf
The Murray, which I see you have already on your to-read list, is not a biography in the truest sense, though it includes biographical material about Harding and others in his administration. It is closer in spirit to the American Presidency Series books published by the University Press of Kansas, some of which you have read in the absence of suitable alternatives for some of the more obscure presidents. The key difference is that while the American Presidency books are largely distillations of existing scholarship about a given president and his administration, Murray was the first scholar to work extensively in the Harding presidential papers when they were opened to scholars in 1964 — something that Russell, more interested in sensationalism, could not be bothered to look into. Arguably, Murray overplays Harding’s success as president by giving him too much credit for the initiatives of his good cabinet members like Secretary of State Hughes and Secretary of the Commerce Hoover, but this book does provide some needed correction to the fixation on the personal scandals.
In fact, neither Downes nor Murray has much to say about Harding’s personal life, good or bad. Thus we still need a comprehensive modern biography by someone with the necessary scholarly training to provide balance and insight into Harding the man and his times. Also, it would not hurt to have a scholar who is also a good story-teller and historical detective who can decide which of the sensational tales about Harding and his cronies are true and weave them together into a story that is both tragic and comic.
Thanks for your extremely thorough and thoughtful comments. I recently acquired the Downes volume and will probably read it as part of my follow-up list (I originally decided to defer it because I understood it not to cover his entire life). It does have the appearance of being a bit dry and dull but depending on how the rest of my Harding experience goes, that might be a reasonable price to pay for a more serious portrayal of the man.
I occasionally tweak individual ratings once I’ve finished reading all of my biographies on a particular president and although I was tempted by a lower rating in this case I was hesitant to inadvertently penalize Russell for Harding’s shortcomings. I also try to maintain consistency across all presidents and their biographies (and if I were to do this entire journey over again I would know how to better stretch the bell curve out). But that said, if/when I tweak this rating after I finish up Harding I don’t expect it will be higher…
Basically, I think you are going to find that there is no satisfactory complete conventional biography of Harding. You will have to piece the story together yourself from various secondary works.
While it appears that Downes had planned to write a full life of Harding, he abandoned writing volume 2 for another project and died not long after. I suspect that he felt that Murray had stolen his thunder so far as Harding’s presidency was concerned. I would recommend reading the Downes before the Murray since the latter only offers cursory treatment of Harding’s early life and political career. You could also supplement these two books with the Robenalt mentioned by your other blog follower, Bert Wilson, since the Downes and the Murray are rather dismissive in their coverage of Harding’s extracurricular activities, despite the fact that the pro-German Carrie Phillips tried to blackmail Harding into voting a pro-German line in the U.S. Senate.
Also worth looking at are: 1) Carl Anthony’s Florence Harding — it’s a mess badly in need of an editor, but the author spends almost as much time on Warren as Florence and uncovers previously unknown details, including the existence of a third mistress, Grace Cross. 2) Robert Ferrell’s The Strange Deaths of President Harding, which explains how Harding’s reputation plummeted in the eyes of historians and the public because of the lurid stories that came out after his physical death. Ferrell refutes many of the claims about Harding and his administration uncritically accepted by Russell and others, though he is wrong about Nan Britton, where he comes across as a prissy old scold branding her as a fantasist and a loose woman.
Don’t bother with Samuel Hopkins Adams’s Incredible Era. It has zero value as a work of scholarship, being based heavily on rumors and innuendo, making it one of the primary texts for the Black Legend of Harding’s presidency. At that time, the Harding papers were closed to researchers. Most of its more sensational claims have since been refuted by Murray and Ferrell and other scholars.
As another commenter has said, your review is a bit generous given drift of the narrative. I have read the book twice, once when I was in college and again a few years ago. Both times I came away feeling that Russell wanted to expose Harding’s flaws instead of writing a serious history. In the end, all Russell managed to to do was to write a book, and not a very good one at that. I would recommend that you read, if you haven’t done so already – as the full text is available through Google books – the horrific and infamous racist screed on Harding from the poison pen of William Estabrook Chancellor, as I feel that it had influence over Russell’s original concept for the book had he not been diverted by the Phillip’s letters. I would also recommend Jim Robenalt’s book on the actual letters and their content, they are far less lurid than the have been rumored to be and give great insight into Harding’s love for Phillips, and later his supreme frustration with her expanding infatuation with all things German.
Thanks for your comments. I had heard rumblings that the Robenalt book was worth reading, which you confirmed. It seems I’m clearly going to have to read that as part of my Harding “follow-up” list.
When trying to determine which biographies of Harding I should put on my primary list I read somewhere that Chancellor wrote a scathing but unsubstantiated document about Harding…but I didn’t investigate further as it sounded like a campaign piece rather than serious history. Interesting (and disappointing) that Russell may have been influenced by that document…
Yes, that’s the other problem with the Russell: the misconceived premise of the book, as evidenced by its title. Russell starts to develop the idea that Harding’s devotion to conformity in his politics (if not his personal life) — to going along to get along — was due to the racist taunts he and his family suffered due to their abolitionist past and possible partial black ancestry. (Russell is unclear on this second point if he accepts Chancellor’s genealogical “research” as fact.) He quickly drops this narrative through-line since there is little actual evidence that Harding was affected by it. Instead he gets hung up on the sex stuff, only to be forced to take all of that out, meaning that the book has limited entertainment value even as smut. A real sloppy mess in many ways, this book.
The Robenault book is an interesting read. Documented, verified and scholarly. But do read Chancellor. It will give you a sound basis for understanding of the times then and now.
Noticed your “curriculum” page. You should look into including Donald R. McCoy’s Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President. Most scholars still consider it the best biography. (The more recent Sobel and Shlaes are agenda-driven books by conservative authors.) First editions of the McCoy published by Macmillan in 1967 are easily obtainable, if you are not picky about the condition of the dust jacket; also found as reprints by American Political Biography and Easton Press. It is relatively brief (472 pages), though perhaps not as terse as its subject.
I second that on the McCoy book. Not the most exciting book to read, but then again, Coolidge is not the most exciting person to write about. McCoy does do his homework, however, and the book is fair in its treatment of Coolidge.
I recently finished reading Russell’s biography of Warren Harding. I really enjoyed the book but it really had very little to do with what he wrote about Harding. I am on a similar odyssey as you, but mine is a little more modest, reading one or two bios per president. There were several presidents from Ohio between Grant and Harding. Russell extensively went over the history of the Republican Party in Ohio from the Civil War to Harding. I found this information fascinating and it helped give some context to some of the other post- Civil War presidents fron Ohio and their relationship to the Ohio Republican Party.
In a similar vein, I also really enjoyed his explanation of the break between the progressive and conservative wings of the Repulbican Party. I agree with you that the section on the 1920 Republican Convention was really strong.
I read this book over 30 years ago while recuoerating from a foot injury. I agree not really an impressive bio but to be fair, Harding was not really an impressive man. During one of Nixon’s aborted nominations for the supreme court, the candidate was criticized as being mediocre. Senator Hruska of Nebraska stated: ‘’Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren’t they, and a little chance? We can’t have all Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos.’’ Harding was a president to represent such people.
Two developments since the publication. Harding’s love letters to one of his mistresses discovered by Russell were unsealed in 2014 (and covered in the NYTimes.) All letters are available at the library of congress website.
http://www.artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/29/warren-g.harding
A DNA test also proved that Harding did father a child with his mistress, but also showed that the “Shadow of Blooming Grove”, i.e. Harding having black ancestory, was not true. That doesn’t mean, obviously, that this stigma of his racist time did not over hang him.
http://www.time.com/4002116/warren-harding-african-american
Without trying to get too salacious, the mistress letters reveal that Harding had a nickname for his organ, “Jerry.” I recall from a bio that LBJ also used a nickname, “Jumbo.” Have there been revealed any other such pet names in the biographies. Sorry for that question, but one has to know.
As I recall, the Harding letters came out a bit before I got to his bios but since they weren’t incorporated into any of the biographies I read they were just an interesting sideshow for me. It will be interesting to see if anyone decides to write a more “inclusive” bio now that there is more insight into Harding’s life…
Separately, I don’t remember any “pet names” other than those you mentioned. But at this point, having read so much about the often outlandish behavior of JFK, LBJ, FDR and others, I’m not sure I would remember someone merely naming a body part 🙂