The Teapot Dome Scandal and the Presidency Warren G. Harding was born in Blooming Grove, Ohio in 1865 and had a simple background growing up. After going to a small two-year college, which helped him prepare for his career in the newspaper industry, he bought the failing Marion newspaper and was able to turn it into a successful business. Harding would eventually find his way into politics and worked his way to becoming the 29th president of the United States. At the state level he was elected to two terms in the Ohio state Senate and also served one term as the Lieutenant Governor. In 1914, he was able to win a seat in the US Senate. Then in 1920 after serving his term as Senator, Harding somehow found his way into the Republican National …show more content…
He has been ranked one of the worst presidents in American history because of his administration and the corruption and scandals under him. From the last seven surveys conducted by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. Harding has been ranked last by both liberal and conservative historians and this trend follows in other presidential ranking surveys. President Harding is overlooked on his actual accomplishment while in office because of the association with the scandals. Harding had helped stabilize the economy and set way to the “Roaring Twenties” and the establishment of the Bureau of the Budget. The economic growth and prosperity was partly caused by his ability to cut spending by the use of the Washington Naval Conference of 1921. This conference had the major naval powers coming together and claiming that they would then reduce the size of their navies. By doing this Harding was also able to cut the tax rates. This was part of his more pro-business and industry efforts. Harding was also more involved in the civil rights issues than former President Wilson. He would give speeches on the matter and appointed some African-Americans to government positions. The problem with Harding and his administration was his view on the presidency. He viewed it as more of a figurehead role instead of a leadership position. This might have been a reaction to the more ideal Wilson and how he ran the government. However, this hurts his …show more content…
The scandal made people more cautious about the powers of the government and the leadership of the president. President Harding’s lack of direction and his corrupt appointments lead to the scandal that will be the downfall of his legacy. Although, President Harding was able to accomplish some positive task like strengthening the economy the scandal will always downplay what he did. This was not helped by the two political parties in the 1924 election and the reports by the press and because of this his presidency will be seen as being greedy and a