Harding: The Jazz Age President

by Ryan S. Walters

"Presidents are ranked wrong. In The Jazz Age President , Ryan Walters mounts a case that Harding deserves to move up—and supplies the evidence to make that case strong. -Amity Shlaes, bestselling author of Coolidge

He's the butt of political jokes, frequently subjected to ridicule, and almost never absent a "Worst Presidents" list where he most often ends up at the bottom. Historians have labeled him the "Worst President Ever," "Dead Last," "Unfit," and "Incompetent," to name but a few. Many contemporaries were equally cruel. H. L. Mencken called him a "nitwit." To Alice Roosevelt Longworth, he was a "slob." Such is the current reputation of our 29th President, Warren Gamaliel Harding. In an interesting survey in 1982, which divided the scholarly respondents into "conservative" and "liberal" categories, both groups picked Harding as the worst President.

But historian Ryan Walters shows that Harding, a humble man from Marion, Ohio, has been unfairly remembered. He quickly fixed an economy in depression and started the boom of the Roaring Twenties, healed a nation in the throes of social disruption, and reversed America’s interventionist foreign policy.

320 pages, Paperback

Published July 4, 2023

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect length. A lot of presidential biographies are excessively long. This one was to the point and informative.

[Josh Charvat · Rating 2 out of 5]

In my read through of presidential biographies I was pleased to find modern biogragphy for Harding; however, it was quickly apparent that this was a very biased book. While I can appreciate an author's desire to frame a historical figure a certain way I found Walters frequently inserting himself into his narrative unnecessarily. If Walter's would have presented the facts without his frequent commentary than I may have walked away with a greater appreciation for Harding. Rather I found myself questioning his portrayal and doubting Harding was a 'average' as a President that Walters attempts to make him out to be.

[Jeanne M. Umland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening

[Joseph K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, but written in a dry, textbook manner. The author was a bit too partisan in reference to President Harding.