Who is the worst president in American history?

Since the founding of the United States.

There are 46 in total.

Rank the ** so far.

It's something Americans have always liked to do.

In 1948, 1962 and 1987, the Chicago Tribune organized three polls.

The question of the survey is simple:

Who is by far the best in American history**? Who is the worst**?

The top three "best**" results did not change in the three surveys, in order:

Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

And the name that topped the "worst**" list in all three surveys has not changed.

He is the 29th American**: Warren Harding.

Warren Harding was born on November 2, 1865, in Ohio, USA.

There should be no problem with describing Harding as "from an ordinary background". Harding's father was a village teacher, his mother was a midwife, and later obtained a medical license.

Harding worked on the farm, as an apprentice in a printing shop, studied trumpet, studied law, and worked as a temporary teacher......None of this really settled him down. An important influence on his life was a career he took up at the age of 19

Harding as a young man

However, it was on the small stage provided by this newspaper that Harding's talent was on display. He changed the moderation and moderation of Marion's daily star, and showed a clear political view: he supported the Republican Party. Under Harding's planning and promotion, the newspaper quickly broke through the world with its radical and spicy rhetoric and opinions, and gradually won the love of local readers, and then surpassed the Marion Independent, the largest circulation in the region, to become the most famous newspaper in the entire Marion County, and even Ohio began to know the name "Warren Harding" by many people.

At this time, Harding had already bought the shares of the newspaper from the two friends who had raised funds together and became the full controller of the "Marion Daily Star". And with his fame, there were more and more people willing to associate with him, including many women who admired him—a source of pride and distress for the rest of Harding's life.

Harding has such conditions: he is slender, personable, blonde, blue-eyed, facial features like a statue of a Roman, heroic and handsome, plus the title of "newspaper boss", very feminine.

Harding who began to grow a beard

Interestingly, the relationship also has a bit of a "Romeo and Juliet" flavor: Harding, who offended many local elites for his radical views while hosting Marion Daily Star, including the richest local real estate developer, Emos Klin, was disgusted by many of Harding's views and statements – Florence Kling was his daughter.

However, Florence's pursuit of Harding was so passionate that as an old father, Amos was completely unable to dissuade his daughter. And Harding himself chose to "surrender" after Florence's initiative to propose marriage - in 1891, the two were married.

The angry husband did not attend their wedding and cut off contact with his daughter and son-in-law for the next eight years.

Despite the blessings of his elders, the 26-year-old Harding began his married life. In hindsight, although it is not known whether Harding really reaped happiness in this marriage, at least the personalities of the couple were complementary:

Harding is easy-going, grinning, with an ordinary family background and not too self-motivated. Florence, on the other hand, is serious, logical, has the wealth and connections of a real estate family, and is willing to move forward step by step for the goal he pursues, even at any cost.

Harding, who came from an ordinary background, began to enter a new life track because of this marriage.

Florence is one of the few**

With his personable appearance and easy-going personality, Harding quickly became a star in Ohio's political scene. Although he lost badly in the 1910 Ohio gubernatorial race, it did not stop the Republican Party bigwigs from considering him an important figure in the party and willing to push him to the next level - in 1914, at the age of 49, Harding was elected to the U.S. Senate.

In Harding's six-year career as a senator, he was a role that could be almost ignored: he neither pushed any important bills nor did any outstanding work, and "mediocrity" is probably the most appropriate adjective to describe his work and ability. But it is precisely this characteristic of him that pushes him one step higher - to the highest peak that all politicians in the United States can achieve.

In 1920, the 29th election campaign of the United States officially kicked off.

The Democratic Party's candidate is James Cox, a battle-hardened politician as governor of Ohio. And Cox's partner in the campaign was Franklin Roosevelt, a young and promising assistant secretary of the Navy who was only 38 years old at the time.

Roosevelt, as one of the most admired by the American people in American history, was just beginning to emerge at that time

No matter who these people push out to run for the Republican Party, they will be very competitive. But it is precisely because of this that these people have their own behind-the-scenes forces in the party, and no matter who is launched, they cannot win the unanimous support of the party.

In this awkward situation, the main leaders of the Republican Party sat down at the negotiating table and tried to come up with another solution:

Either these people are pinned, and we will find another person in the party - someone who can be recognized by the majority of the party.

Warren Harding's name was thus proposed.

With Harding's ability and political achievements at that time, he had actually been excluded from the "first echelon" of the Republican Party's nomination list, probably ranking ninth or tenth. But it is precisely because of his mediocrity, easy-goingness, and indifference to the world that he has become a candidate acceptable to all forces in the Republican Party.

In June 1920, the Republican Party held a party primary in order to put forward a candidate for the election, and nine rounds of voting were held without results. After that, Warren Harding was called to a room where the Republican leaders were meeting. In that room, the leaders asked Harding:

Have you done anything that would embarrass the Republican Party? ”

Harding said he needed to give himself some time to think about it. Ten minutes after leaving the room, Harding returned, sincerely

My history is innocent. ”

In fact, Harding hid something from the leaders—we'll talk about that later—but the promise was enough to make up their minds. At the nomination meeting that was held next, after the tenth vote, the result was finally announced:

Warren Harding, 55, was put forward by the Republican Party as the candidate for the election.

Facts have proved that the Republican Party's seemingly "inexplicable" move is really the right move.

Despite his mediocre ability, Harding's easy-going attitude became his biggest advantage in the campaign.

In 1920, Europe had just recovered from the trauma of World War I, and the United States, which had reaped the benefits of World War I, was already the world's largest economic power, but it still needed to consolidate its position politically.

It was against this background that the U.S. delegation led by Wilson, then the U.S. leader, put forward the "League of Nations" plan and a completely new package at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, showing the strong desire of the United States to join and take the lead in redrawing the world pattern.

However, this was exactly what the domestic environment in the United States expected at that time.

In the aftermath of World War I, there was a general desire in the United States to return to the "isolationist" era of the past: to stop getting involved in matters outside the Americas, and especially not to get involved in the devastated European disputes. On this basis, the American people in turn are tired of the ** led by elite politicians represented by Wilson:

Can't you have an ordinary ** and bring us some ordinary and comfortable days?

Thomas Wilson, a former professor of law and economics and president of Princeton University, was the first person in U.S. history to hold the title of Doctor of Philosophy.

In terms of background and ability, Harding is lackluster, but this has become his advantage against the elite candidates of the Democratic Party. Moreover, the platform proposed by the Democratic candidate is to inherit Wilson's "active foreign policy", which is diametrically opposed to Harding's election platform.

Harding's campaign slogan, "Return to Normalcy," may sound banal, but it appealed to the needs of much of the American population at the time: raise tariffs, limit immigration, revive agriculture, and return the United States to its pre-World War I status quo ante — keeping the outside world at arm's length and focusing on the Americas and growing its economy.

In other words, it can also be explained like this:

The United States does not want to care about so many of your affairs anymore, and we will withdraw and take all actions with the interests of the United States as the first priority.

Although this is a well-designed campaign strategy by the Republican campaign, it must be admitted that Harding is indeed the best image spokesperson. In order to maximize Harding's strengths and avoid his disadvantages, the campaign team even asked Harding to avoid going on national tours to canvass for votes, because Harding's ability and knowledge were not enough to allow him to cope with the complex and changing on-site environment, and his frequent mispronunciation of words and logical confusion were also worrying. Republican Senator Boyce once said:

Don't let Harding leave his hometown, if he travels around to campaign, there will be people who ask him questions, and Harding is just a wretch who will open his mouth. ”

Harding's appearance has been described as "looking like an American**".

This campaign, known as the "Front Porch Movement", was an unprecedented success: by the eve of November 1920, about 600,000 people from all over the country had rushed to Marion to participate in this "pilgrimage", including famous bands, famous baseball teams, Hollywood stars represented by Douglas Van Punk, business groups represented by Henry Ford and Edison, and so on.

In front of the porch of his home, Harding skillfully delivered a pre-prepared, slurred speech:

Today, what America needs is not heroic acts, but healing wounds; not revolution, but restoration; It is not a matter of being encumbered by international affairs, but of domestic success ......”

The audience applauded and cheered.

It is worth mentioning that the personable Harding has also won the support of many female voters, of course, this is also related to his hint that the ** department will have a female minister and promise to promote "equal pay for equal work" between men and women. At this point, Harding's wife, Florence, played a key role. In fact, the wife who stood behind Harding played the role of "general manager": she was in charge of the contact between the campaign team and the company, providing plenty of photo opportunities for reporters, teaching her husband how to wave to the camera and angle, and even cooking and delivering snacks to reporters who came to cover the interview.

Finally, the day of the ** campaign vote was reached, and an unprecedented historical record was born:

Harding received 16.14 million votes and 404 electoral votes, while his opponent Cox received only 9.13 million votes and 127 electoral votes.

This is the largest margin of difference between the winners and losers since 1824, when the United States began counting the percentage of popular votes.

56-year-old Warren Harding entered the White House in 1921 and became the 29th member of the United States.

It should be said that after Harding entered the White House, he still did some things.

He made good on some of his campaign promises: a formal armistice with Germany, a reduction in domestic taxes, the establishment of agriculture, the establishment of a state budget, the establishment of the Veterans Affairs Administration, and so on. In particular, it is worth mentioning that as a **person-born**, he pioneered the form of "White House press conference" of "gathering reporters to ask questions to **", and adjusted the time of the press conference in order to take care of the newspaper reporters to press the next day.

At Harding's initiative, the United States also presided over the "Washington Conference" in 1921, at which an agreement was reached between the United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy to limit the tonnage of warships, stipulating that the ratio of warships, cruisers, and aircraft carriers of the five countries was the United States: Britain: Japan: France: Italy = 5:5:3:175:1.75, to a certain extent, limited the development of the Japanese Navy. In addition, he was the driving force behind the Nine-Power Pact.

Harding had a hobby of playing cards, a habit he developed in his early years when he was running a newspaper because of the pressure of work. After becoming the leader, Harding brought this "poker wave" into the White House — he played poker with his cabinet members at least twice a week.

Once, Alice, the daughter of former Theodore Roosevelt in the United States, came to the White House office and was surprised to find Harding and several of his cabinet members unbuttoning their shirts and resting their feet on their desks, each holding a glass full of whiskey in their hands, smoking a cigar, and happily playing cards there.

Harding's cabinet became known as the "Poker Cabinet".

Compared with the casualness of the work style, Harding has a more troublesome casualness - amorousness.

Harding, who had at least one lover when he was a U.S. senator, was eight years younger than Harding and was the wife of a department store owner in Marion. In 1915, Phillips asked Harding to divorce him, but Harding refused, but the relationship between the two did not seem to be affected.

On the night Harding was questioned by Republican bigwigs in 1920, he concealed the affair. When the bigwigs later found out that Harding still had this relationship that was easy to be ***, it was too late to replace him. Eventually, Phillips was secretly sent to Japan, where she received $50,000 and a regular monthly stipend.

The love letters written by Harding to Phillips were confiscated by authorities at the request of Harding's descendants, and according to the relevant regulations of the Ohio court, the love letters will be declassified in 2023.

After Harding entered the White House, he also semi-openly maintained a relationship with another former lover - the tryst between the two was chosen in a small room next to the office **. The woman's name was Nan Briden, and she was the daughter of a friend of Harding's doctors. Briden had always claimed that his daughter Elizabeth's father was actually Harding, but it was not admitted until 2015, when DNA tests proved that what Briden said was indeed true.

A photo of Harding's life at the White House

But Harding, precisely in his own job, did even worse.

Harding was pushed to the fore by a variety of forces, which also destined him to become the best and need something to return.

At this time, Harding's easy-going and indisputable personality was no longer his advantage.

Harding has an obvious standard for employing people in forming a cabinet: first, people who have contributed to his election - these are basically capitalists; The second is people with whom he has a good personal relationship - he doesn't even think about the abilities and even the character of these people.

Harding's appointed Secretary of State Hughes is the first person of Mobil Oil, Army Chief Werks is the manager of the Boston Stock Exchange of Morgan & Company, Secretary of the Treasury Melon is the boss of the Alcoa Trust, Secretary of Commerce Hoover has close ties with Morgan Electric, and Secretary of the Interior Fair has close relations with the Rockefeller family.

Herbert Hoover went on to become the 31st of the United States, and he has been a serious competitor to Harding in the list of "worst rankings" in the United States. His predecessor, the 30th American**, was Harding's campaign partner that year, and later succeeded Coolidge, the deputy of **. Some people also say that the "Coolidge boom" of that year actually dug a big hole for Hoover.

Of course, if you take into account that the election of the United States itself is a game of capital, then it is not unacceptable for the capitalists and their ** people to participate in the cabinet, although they will take into account their own interests, but as long as they can abide by the law and be honest and self-disciplined, then objectively they can also contribute to the development of the country's economy (after World War I, the United States and the oil industry have seen explosive growth). In addition, if Harding's so-called "good friends" can really think about Harding or are really capable, it is not that they cannot hold positions in key departments.

However, Harding used his style of "employing people without doubt" in exchange for a series of resounding slaps.

In 1922, Harding's confidant, Secretary of the Interior Fell, was asked to lease a federally owned oil field in Wyoming, called Teapot Dome, and two other oil mines belonging to the U.S. Navy to a private company at a fairly low price, and in the process, Fell admitted to accepting bribes.

This is the "Teapot Fort Incident" that caused a sensation in the United States - before the "Watergate Scandal" broke out, the "Teapot Fort Incident" had always been the biggest ** scandal in the United States. Fair was also imprisoned for this, becoming the first cabinet member in American history to serve as the first cabinet member.

And that's not all:

Miller, the director of the White House Office of Foreign Property, was sentenced for **; Smith, personal assistant to the attorney general, committed suicide after being embroiled in a liquor trafficking scandal; Forbes, the director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau, committed suicide by his assistant Kramer for taking large kickbacks and leading the underground alcohol and drug trade**.

This series of scandals all occurred in just two years after Harding became the **, and most of them were his promoted cronies.

Although there is no evidence that Harding was also involved in these criminal activities, he has an unshirkable responsibility as the person who appointed them. All this did hit Harding quite hard, he once told reporters:

I have no problem with my enemies; It's my damn friends who keep me up at night! ”

Harding's cabinet was called the "corrupt cabinet", which made even Harding, who was known for his "easy-goingness", unable to calm down.

Warren Harding

However, time was running out for Harding.

At the end of July 1923, Harding returned to the United States from Alaska as part of the "parade" plan.

At that time, rumors of more corruption in Harding's cabinet began to circulate, which made him even more worried. After arriving in San Francisco, Harding's condition went wrong, and doctors initially diagnosed him with pneumonia.

At 7:35 p.m. on August 2, 1923, Harding was talking to his wife, Florence, in his room when his heart suddenly stopped.

57-year-old American ** Harding died suddenly.

At first, Harding's personal physician, Sawyer, gave the cause of death as "stroke", but later there was evidence that Harding's cause of death may have been an irregular heartbeat. In order to find out the cause of death of **, the relevant departments requested an autopsy.

However, Harding's wife, Florence, sternly refused.

As a result, another speculation began to circulate: Harding actually died of his wife's poisoning, because she couldn't bear her husband's constant messing outside.

Such speculation is not supported by evidence, and later it became a gossip topic after dinner at most.

Harding and his wife, Florentine

What's more, what he left behind was a political answer sheet that people constantly criticized.

In particular, he didn't even get the chance to correct some of his mistakes.

End of text) Yaqiu's list of high-quality authors says.

Some time ago, I chatted with a friend in the United States on WeChat.

Originally, because the new crown virus continued to rage, I wanted to comfort her. As a result, after chatting for a few words, she suddenly said:

I didn't expect that one person could change so many things. ”

I know she's not talking about the pandemic.

She studied abroad in the 80s of the last century, has been settled in the United States, and never talks about political topics, which shows that her feelings are also very deep this time.

Of course, I believe she feels this way, and even more so because she is in the United States. It should be said that the original intention of the United States in designing the "separation of powers" system was to prevent individuals from exercising too much power and to effectively carry out checks and balances. However, judging from the course of history, although "putting power in a cage" is a common ideal of people all over the world, from a practical point of view, human beings have made various attempts, and they are still in the process of trying and trying.

In particular, the 2020 "natural disaster" and "man-made disaster" can allow people who previously held different opinions to calmly examine the behavior of the so-called "lighthouse state" in various fields on the world stage, no matter how you look at it.

In fact, according to various statistics and polls from various institutions over the past years, Warren Harding is not the undisputed "worst America in history**".

The United States has a survey statistics of the "United States Past Rankings", which brings together various survey statistical rankings from 1948 to 2018, and provides ranking statistics by scholars from universities such as Harvard University, as well as ** or institutions like the Chicago Tribune. On this **, Warren Harding is not always able to "come out on top", and he is fiercely competing with the 15th James Buchanan of the United States, as well as the 17th **Andrew Johnson, and even the Bush Jr. that our generation is familiar with, etc., but in summary, these people are nothing more than one of the two:

Inaction, or inaction.

This is also an interesting part of the American political system: a person who may not have the ability to be the best may also be able to sit on the throne of the first under the game and promotion of various forces. As for what he can bring to the country next, he can only resign himself to fate, or rely on the system he has established and run to correct the mistakes a little bit.

However, the cost of error correction is not necessarily small, and the trauma suffered is far-reaching.

Oh yes, since 2017, a new name has sprung up in this "America's Ranking of Former Americans" survey and statistics, and has begun to launch a strong impact on the "Worst American** of all times", and has surpassed Harding's ranking several times.

Guess who he is?

End of full text).This article mainly refers to **:

1、“historical rankings of presidents of the united states”（

2. "On Warren Harding's "Normalcy Policy" (Lu Yuan, Vicissitudes of Life, 2011.05).

3. "From a Tabloid Editor to the United States**", Fang Yingjiu, International Press, 1993, Issue 06).

4. "Romantic People: Harding, the Most Mediocre Terminus in American History" Jin Yonghua, "Vision", quoted from Oriental Net, July 2, 2004).

5. Wikipedia "Warren Gammariel Harding.""Entry.

6. Encyclopedia "Warren Gamelier Harding" entry.