Various historians yearly rank the 46 presidencies from best to worst. Each year, a president may move up or down in the rankings as their impact on history is constantly evaluated. Abraham Lincoln and George Washington consistently rank first and second, respectively, as the best presidents of all time. One president is always close to the bottom: Ohioan Warren G. Harding.
The White House Historical Association describes Harding in less than flattering terms. He is known for “unsuccessful attempts to study law,” “he compiled an unexceptional legislative record” while a United States senator, “everybody’s second choice,” and “bland speeches.”1 On a positive note, though, he was known for having “the inestimable gift of never forgetting a man’s face or his name, and there was always a genuine warmth in his handshake, a real geniality in his smile.” There was a “geniality, charm and friendliness” with “emphasis on party harmony and loyalty.”2
How did this guy become president? “Harding’s bland but reassuring speeches and affable personality appealed to an electorate looking for surcease after the tumult and sacrifice of the war years. He won over 60 percent of the popular vote for the largest electoral victory since James Monroe’s a century before.”3
Upon taking office, Harding had appointed a number of friends to high positions within his cabinet. By his own admission, Harding knew he was an unremarkable leader. Therefore, he pledged “appoint a cabinet representing the “best minds” in America, but unfortunately he chose several intelligent men who possessed little sense of public responsibility.”5
Corruption was boiling in the Interior and Justice Departments as well as the Veteran’s Bureau. There was the Teapot Dome oil leasing scandal. There were the extramarital affairs with Carrie Fulton Phillips which ended the year before he was sworn into office and the simultaneous affair with Nan Britton which produced a child that he denied was his. DNA tests performed in 2015 proved that this child was indeed his. All of this was happening while he was married to his wife, Florence. And it came to a fatal head on August 2, 1923, when President Harding died from a stroke in a hotel room in San Francisco.
Harding had been doing a presidential tour along the west coast and Alaska. “At around 7:30 that evening, [his wife] Florence was reading to him “A Calm Review of a Calm Man”, a flattering article about him from The Saturday Evening Post; she paused and he told her, “That’s good. Go on, read some more.” Those were to be his last words. She resumed reading when, a few seconds later, Harding twisted convulsively and collapsed back in the bed, gasping. Florence Harding immediately called the doctors into the room, but they were unable to revive him with stimulants; Harding was pronounced dead a few minutes later, at the age of 57.”4
During this trip, Harding was known to be pacing the floor, brooding about something. Evidently, he knew that his return to Washington, D.C. would precipitate the exposure of things he had kept hidden. It’s believed that the pressure of the scandals had deteriorated his health.
Though Harding died with a high approval rating, as the scandals posthumously bubbled to the surface, his approval rating quickly sank. Today, he is rated near the bottom as one of the worst presidents our nation has had in its 248 years of existence.
This lengthy walk through history is necessary to demonstrate the destructive nature of sin. Many men and women have experienced sin’s devastating effects on their health. Just consider David.
“O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. (2) For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. (3) There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. (4) For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. (5) My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. (6) I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. (7) For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. (8) I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. (9) Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. (10) My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. (11) My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.” (Psalms 38:1-11)
We cannot comprehend the destructiveness of sin. When we see the havoc it wreaks, we are stunned and repulsed. However, we quickly forget and return to our own sinful ways.
Today, we need to learn the lessons of history. If we are involved in sin, again, consider David. Psalms 51:1-4, 7-10 says, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. (2) Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. (3) For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. (4) Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight… (7) Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (8) Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. (9) Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. (10) Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
1https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-life-and-presidency-of-warren-g-harding
2Ibid.
3Ibid.
4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_G._Harding#Death_and_funeral
5https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/harding-dies-before-scandals-break
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