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American history, Andrew Sinclair, biographies, book reviews, Francis Russell, John W. Dean, presidential biographies, Presidents, Robert Murray, Samuel H. Adams, Warren Harding
Biographically, it seems Warren Harding comes in just two flavors: depressingly dull…or positively fascinating.
And the right choice of Harding biographies for you seems to depend on whether someone’s profligate personal life – or his politics, instead – are your thing.
After reading four biographies on Harding I was not surprised by how bad his presidency was (historians have generally condemned it as near-awful) but by how bad it was not. Perhaps I simply expected worse than I found – or maybe I’ve just been de-sensitized by the deficiencies of our modern day heroes?
In many respects Harding was ill-equipped for the demands of the presidency. Spectacularly salacious documentation also confirms that his personal life was a mess. And although he appears to have played no role in their evolution, several scandals emerged from within his administration which haunt his legacy. His presidential patina is deservedly tarnished.
But having vicariously survived the presidencies of political paragons such as Pierce, Buchanan, Johnson, Fillmore and Tyler (among others) I don’t see Harding as setting the Gold Standard for abysmal. For me, Harding merely defines the essence of “bottom quartile.”
And if he had possessed the public relations savvy of Ulysses S. Grant (whose administration was no stranger to scandal) or Bill Clinton (whose personal foibles are legend), Harding might today even be considered almost average…
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* My first Harding biography was Francis Russell’s 1968 “The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times.” Russell was one of five enthusiastic biographers who pounced on Harding’s papers when they were released by the Ohio Historical Society in 1964.
Russell’s book was not first to market; that distinction belongs to Andrew Sinclair. But Russell possessed one potential advantage over the rest of the field- he had previously stumbled upon a cache of colorful letters between Harding and one of his alleged mistresses. But while he was able to inject the “spirit” of those letters into his biography, the actual content had to be redacted due to a lawsuit brought by Harding’s descendants.
Despite this legal constraint, Russell’s biography was by a huge margin the most sensational – and one of the least scholarly – of the Harding biographies I read. Fans of slightly tawdry but captivating tales of infidelity will appreciate this book. But if a tabloidesque exposé is what you’re after, surely there must be a better subject than Warren Harding? (Full review here)
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* Next I read John W. Dean’s 2004 “Warren G. Harding.” As a member of The American Presidents series this book delivers exactly what you would expect: a clear, concise and competent analysis of Harding’s life, including his presidency.
Among the four Harding biographers I encountered, Dean was Harding’s most enthusiastic supporter. Dean’s biography seemed designed not only to inform…but also to rehabilitate Harding’s reputation. And he was reasonably convincing.
In the end, however, Dean was too forgiving of Harding’s failings – for the worst of his political appointments, in particular. But for readers committed to reading one biography on each president, Dean’s biography of Harding is probably the best among a fairly mediocre lot. (Full review here)
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* My third Harding biography was Andrew Sinclair’s “The Available Man: The Life Behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding.” Published in 1965, this was the first Harding biography published after the release of Harding’s papers in 1964.
Unfortunately, the haste with which Sinclair pushed this biography to press is demonstrated not only by its brevity (it is by far the shortest of the scholarly biographies) but also its overwhelming meaningful insight.
Sinclair substituted clever deduction for penetrating research and relied on platitudes and generalities to paint Harding with an excessively broad brush. But perhaps to his credit, Sinclair resisted the temptation to focus on the sensational stories of Harding’s personal life. Or perhaps he simply lacked the time? (Full review here)
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* The last Harding biography I read was Robert Murray’s “The Harding Era: Warren G. Harding and His Administration.” Published in 1969, this proved to be the most sober and scholarly of the Harding biographies. It was also fairly well-balanced, neither unfairly castigating Harding nor endlessly praising him. But it was far from ideal.
Murray devoted little attention to Harding’s childhood, his formative career as a newspaper publisher or his burgeoning political career. The first 54 years of Harding’s life were documented in less than 10% of the book’s pages.
Nowhere else have I seen a more detailed, well-researched or thoughtful (if unexciting) study of Harding’s presidency. But in order to truly understand Harding the man one must study far more than Harding the president. And in this respect, among a few others, Murray’s biography of Harding fell short. (Full review here)
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I am adding Samuel H. Adams “Incredible Era: The Life and Times of Warren Gamaliel Harding” to my follow-up list. Published in 1939, this is one of the earliest and best-known of the Harding biographies. It seems deeply flawed in several respects, but might prove interesting due to the early, central role it played in tarnishing Harding’s legacy.
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Best Biography of Warren Harding: John W. Dean’s “Warren G. Harding”
Most Scholarly Biography of Harding: Robert Murray’s “The Harding Era: Warren G. Harding and His Administration”
Most Captivating Read of Harding: Francis Russell’s “The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times”
Love the insights here Stephen.
I am now reading Downes’ The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding: 1865-1920. It did not get high ratings on Goodreads but I found a pdf file of it.
Enjoy Amity Shales’ Coolidge work. I will be interested in your thoughts on it. Also, read Coolidge’s bio, it is in the public domain.
Regards
Jim
I almost added Downes’ bio to my follow-up list but it seems to focus on everything but Harding’s presidency (and vice presidency). I’ll be keen to hear what you think of when once you’ve finished it. Perhaps it and the Murray biography would be perfect together?
Could be. Will let you know!
Harding earns my respect for one action: pardoning Eugene Debs.
Harding is certainly underrated as a president — far from great, but the notion that he ranks dead last (in many academic surveys) is laughable. And I say that as an academic! But given the progressive biases in academia, he pales next to his immediate predecessor (Wilson) as well as FDR. But while acknowledging his personal faults and the corruption that existed in certain parts of his administration, he was actually rather successful in his brief tenure. And compared to the extremely negative consequences of the Pierce, Buchanan, and Andrew Johnson presidencies….. And given the erratic nature of many aspects of Wilson’s presidency, it’s not hard to make an argument that Harding is preferable. I think I would be quite comfortable ranking a dozen president’s lower than Harding, based purely on accomplishments.
I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Howdy, and I dig your blog. Have you heard of a book called The Ohio Gang by Charles L. Mee, Jr.? It’s a fairly concise biography of Warren Harding, written to be both entertaining and informative. Probably not the four star bio you’re looking for, but given the dearth of well-reviewed Harding biographies, it might warrant a visit your second time through.
Thanks – ironically a friend of mine got me that book somewhat as a “gag” gift for my birthday (thinking that since it was about Warren Harding it couldn’t possibly be meaningful in any way). But despite mediocre reviews, I’m probably going to read it as part of my follow-up. There just isn’t much on the Harding presidency so it’s worth a look!
My wife found me a copy of “The Strange Death of President Harding from the diaries of Gaston B. Means, a Department of Justice Investigator” as told to Max Dixon Thacker. New York: Guild, 1930. Means was quite a shady character – I think he might have been mentioned in “The Shadow of Blooming Grove” – I read that a bit too long ago. Means was in prison over swindling money from a lady regarding the search for the Lindbergh baby.
I don’t remember Gaston Means (it is a memorable name…how did I miss him!?!?) but I’m intrigued by the book your wife uncovered. I’ll have to look into it and see if it’s something I need to go back and read – the “Harding” section of my bookshelf isn’t exactly overflowing!
Just snagged a copy of “Dead Last: The Public Memory of Warren G. Harding’s Scandalous Legacy.” I haven’t read it yet, but am curious to read the analysis. It’s not a biography, so wouldn’t make this list, but is an analysis of factors surrounding his legacy, such as the role of various biographers in shaping his early image and the tension between public memory and academic history. With it’s analysis of biographers role on his image, this may be of interest to you, simply because you have developed a 6th sense for sniffing out good biographers, and an analysis that the role of biography plays in shaping image may be interesting.
Sounds interesting. Will be curious to see what you think when you finish it. The title seems to pre-judge the outcome, no? 🙂
Well my one book per president approach was working well until I got to Harding. I’ve used the American President’s Series as a fallback. It worked well for Tyler, Taylor and Pierce. Plus, I had the advantage of your recommendation on Dean’s book.
Unfortunately, if anything you understated the extent to which Dean is enthusiastic in his efforts to rehabilitate Harding. Fawning over every positive aspect and decrying any negativity is how it came across to me.
So it looks like I will have to do a followup book on Harding when I get done. Not a bad outcome, I’ve already got Chernow’s book on Grant, as well as Shelby Foote’s Civil War series to do – and who knows how many others.
I’ll probably go with Murray or Russell.