The Jazz Age President

Defending Warren G. Harding

By: Ryan S. Walters

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2022 Ryan S. Walters (P)2022 Random House Audio

Excellent

This is a well-researched book on Warren Harding. I enjoyed learning more about this President.

Interesting

The book provides a view of history and details facts that I was never taught in history class and confronts common misperseptions.

A proper reevaluation of a good president

After listening to this biography of Warren Harding, it's rather unfortunate that it took until now to give Harding a proper evaluation of his presidency. Regarding policy specifically, you won't find many better presidents in our history, particularly considering the mess that Woodrow Wilson left behind as he wrapped up his second term. In fact, when you compare and contrast Wilson and Harding, it's shocking to me that Wilson isn't actually rated as one of the worst presidents ever. Especially when you've read biographies of every president up to this point in our history like I've been able to do. As is highlighted in the book briefly, and most people seem to know about as opposed to anything else related to Harding presidency, he did have some shortcomings, including both personal failures maritally-speaking and some bad friends who took advantage of their power and position outside of his control. But outside of those things, the parts of his job that were under his control and directly related to his policies, he really was a great president. I think this would be a great read for anyone that actually wants to get an accurate and unbias view of the Roaring 20s, and why they started as well as they did along with a president that has gotten almost exclusively bad attention from left-leaning historians who have the stronghold on so many mainline history books regarding our presidents. The narrator does an excellent job adding multiple layers to the story as well.

Good read!

Great to learn more of our presidents, having knowledge of the past helps us not repeat the mistakes.

Excellent clarification

An excellent clarification of the various myths surrounding a scapegoat president.
It is safe to say that much of the misinformation about Harding has been conveyed in a need to paper over Wilson (A pompous ass who nearly destroyed this country) and create a false lead-up to the deification of FDR.
The author does an outstanding job of setting the record straight

worth the listen

Kind of opened my eyes to the birth of the current republican party. Good and quick read. I would recommend it.

Overall, a great book. 

If I can give one criticism, it would be that the author waited too long to address the extra marital affairs. Why wait until late in the conclusion to point out the infractions. If you are trying to build a case for Warren G Harding, don’t wait until the end to address his biggest scandals.

Brave, daring, a must read!

The author’s re-examination of Harding was a needed project. He bravely took on years of scholarly consensus on the president and found that Harding did some praiseworthy work. He created an economic boost in a time of near depression, worked to keep the US out of foreign entanglements, aided African Americans and Native Americans, and passed shorter workday legislation. The most impressive thing about the book was the author’s very accurate declaration that academia is one sided, praising all presidents of their political party and vilifying all those of the party they dislike.

Good balanced summary

A fine and balanced review of President Harding based on primary source. A good read/listen for someone interested in presidential histories and in post WW1 history.

Harding vindicated!

Thanks for this sincere presentation of Warren G. Harding. Clearly this portion of history is when the media showed they could abdicate their duty and become part of a rabid mob. All the good of Harding’s life and legacy has been ignored by the clamoring crowd. This behavior continues to this day. The American Public deserves better!