Warren Gamaliel Harding (2 November 1865 – 2 August 1923) was President of the United States from 4 March 1921 to 2 August 1923, succeeding Woodrow Wilson and preceding Calvin Coolidge. Harding's reputation was besmirched by the Teapot Dome scandal, and he died in office in 1923.
Biography[]
Harding at the RNC in 1920
Warren Gamaliel Harding was born in Blooming Grove, Ohio on 2 November 1865, and he became a newspaper magnate in Marion, Ohio, founding The Marion Star. In 1899, he was elected to the State Senate as a Republican Party politician, and he became Lieutenant-Governor of Ohio in 1904. From 1915 to 1921, he served as Senator from Ohio, succeeding Theodore E. Burton and preceding Frank B. Willis, and he decided to run for President of the United States in 1921. Few people knew about him, but he proved to be a viable alternative to General Leonard Wood and other Republican contenders who failed to win the majority of votes during the primaries. Harding won in a landslide against James M. Cox of the US Democratic Party and Eugene V. Debs of the Socialist Party of America, advocating a "return to normalcy" during his "frot porch campaign" (a campaign in which people would come to Harding's front porch to ask him questions). In 1921, the Washington Naval Treaty led to a decade-long naval limitations program, and he presided over a booming economy. However, the Teapot Dome scandal and his extramarital affairs damaged his reputation, and he died in office in 1923.