Ohio History Journal

NOTES 185

29. Percentages were derived from election statistics for 1916 and 1920 from World

Almanac, 1921, pp. 682-683.

30. Copy of a form letter by Governor Charles H. Brough dated Columbus, September

16, 1920. Box 594, Harding Papers.

31. New York Times, October 22, 1920, quoting the Toledo Pioneer.

32. Ibid.

33. Cleveland Advocate, April 10, September 25, October 23, 1920.

34. Copies of this campaign leaflet are in Boxes 606 and 610, Harding Papers.

35. Ibid., Mrs. E. Taylor to Harding, October 23, 1920, Box 606; Frank E. Linny to

Harding, October 26, 1920, Box 585; J. D. Pierson, Norman, Oklahoma, to Harding,

November 1, 1920; W. G. Peters, Salisario, Oklahoma, to Harding, November 1, 1920,

Box 610.

36. Ibid., Samuel C. McClure to Christian, October 13, 1920; Christian to McClure,

October 22, 1920. Box 599.

37. Public Ledger (Philadelphia), October 19, 1920.

38. Howard Sutherland to Will H. Hays, August 20, 1920; Hays to Sutherland,

August 27, 1920 (carbon), September 9, 1920. Hays Papers, Indiana State Library.

39. John C. Harding to W. G. Harding, October 16, 1920; W. G. Harding to John C.

Harding, October 20, 1920 (carbon). Box 518, Harding Papers.

40. Ibid., A. A. Graham to Christian, October 28, 1920, Box 534; John H. Wilkins,

Tulsa, Oklahoma to Harding, November 1, 1920, Box 610.

41. Ibid. Mrs. S. B. Williams to Harding, October 27, 1920. Box 607.

42. George Clark quoted in New York Times, October 17, 1920 and in Philadelphia

Public Ledger, October 19, 1920.

43. Paper strip and picture of Dr. George T. Harding (Harding's father) enclosed in

letter from Franklin C. Platt, Waterloo, Iowa to Harding, October 25, 1920. Box 533,

Harding Papers. A picture of a rooster occasionally appeared on Democratic ballots as

a party symbol.

44. Ibid., Don Cox to Harding, October 18, 1920, Box 590; H. H. Abee to Harding,

October 31, 1920 (telegram), Box 584; Frank Williams to Harding, October 28, 1920,

Box 607; S. A. Ringer to Harding, October 22, 1920, Box 617; W. W. Cowan to Manning-

ton, October 28, 1920, Box 606; James Curren to Harding, October 27, 1920, Box 691.

45. Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 24, 1920; Jewish Independent (Cleveland), August

27, 1920; New York Times, October 31, 1920; W. E. Chancellor, Warren Gamaliel

Harding, A Review of Facts Collected from Anthropological, Historical and Political

Researches (The Sentinal Press, n.d.), 23-27, 67.

46. Poster, "To the Men and Women of America, AN OPEN LETTER," in the Ohio

Historical Society.

47. Dayton Daily News, October 30, 1920.

48. New York Times, October 31, 1920.

49. Poster, "The Truth Will Out," in the Ohio Historical Society.

50. Poster, "The Harding Stock," issued by the Ohio Republican State Executive

Committee, on display (framed) in the home of Warren Marshman, Blooming Grove,

Ohio.

51. New York Times, November 2, 1920.

52. Election statistics from World Almanac, 1921, pp. 682-683.

53. Davis to Harding, November 1, 1920. Box 388, Harding Papers.

54. Cincinnati Times-Star, October 31, 1920.

55. Chattanooga Times, November 1, 1920; Paul J. Kresi, Chattanooga, vice-chairman

of Tennessee Republican Campaign Committee, to Christian, October 29, 1920 (telegram),

October 31, 1920 (telegram). Box 622, Harding Papers.

56. Samuel Hopkins Adams to Negley Cochran, Toledo, Ohio, April 12, 1939. Cochran

Papers, Toledo Public Library.

PRESIDENT HARDING AND HIS CABINET

1. All of these writers essentially agree on their evaluation of the cabinet but differ

on certain details regarding its selection. Their major source of information was the

daily press which was often erroneous. See William A. White, Masks In A Pageant

(New York, 1928); Frederick L. Allen, Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the

Nineteen-Twenties (New York, 1928-35); Mark Sullivan, Our Times: The United States,

1900-1925, VI, The Twenties (New York, 1935); Samuel Hopkins Adams, Incredible

Era: The Life and Times of Warren Gamaliel Harding (Boston, 1939.) The latter con-

tains a most highly colored and viciously slanted treatment in a chapter entitled

"Cabinet-Making," 196-208.

186 OHIO HISTORY

2. Frederick L. Paxson, American Democracy and the War, III, Postwar Years:

Normalcy, 1918-1923 (Berkeley, 1948), 192-196; Andrew Sinclair, The Available Man:

The Life Behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding (New York, 1965), 181-190.

Sinclair's treatment is the best yet to appear, mainly because of his use of the Warren

G. Harding Papers, Ohio Historical Society.

3. New York Times, November 6, 1920.

4. Ibid.

5. For sample speculation see ibid.; November 19, 1920; November 22, 1920; December

4, 1920.

6. For an interesting account of Harding's farewell speech and at least one senator's

reaction to it, see Belle Case La Follette and Fola La Follette, Robert M. La Follette,

June 14, 1855-June 18, 1925 (New York, 1953), II, 1020. Harding's speech appeared in

the major papers on December 7, 1920.

7. New York Times, February 22, 1921.

8. C. B. Miller to W. G. Harding, December 13, 1920. Box 655, Harding Papers.

For examples of invitations, arrangements and so forth, see ibid., Folder 3089-1, Box 405.

9. For sample letters to Harding see ibid., Folder 1, Box 694 and Folder 8, Box 701.

10. Calvin Coolidge, The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (New York, 1929),

154-155. See also Frank Brandegee to Harding, December 28, 1920. Box 694, Harding

Papers.

11. Harding to Malcolm Jennings, December 14, 1920. Malcolm Jennings Papers,

Ohio Historical Society.

12. Harding to Mr. Leffingwell, January 12, 1921. Box 360, Harding Papers.

13. Ibid., H. H. Kohlsaat to Harding, July 10, 1922. Box 366.

14. Nicholas Murray Butler, Across the Busy Years, Recollections and Reflections

(New York, 1939), I, 403.

15. Ibid., 399. These were Harding's views as of December 18, 1920. In an article

entitled, "The Men of the Cabinet," World's Work, LXII (May 1921), 81, Mark Sullivan

claimed that "If Harding had chosen his Cabinet the day after his election, it would have

been much more clearly a Cabinet of politicians than it now is." Sinclair in his Available

Man, p. 189, subscribes to this same view. There is no doubt that the Marion discussions

influenced Harding in a number of ways, but it is an exaggeration to say that Harding

changed his whole view of cabinet-making in a little over three week's time. Harding

was no novice to politics; he understood the realities of the situation from the beginning.

16. For Sullivan's account, which is the most detailed see Our Times, VI, 164-147,

fn.7. For a more recent erroneous treatment of Fall and Col. Harvey for Secretary of

State, see Karl Schriftgiesser, This Was Normalcy: An Account of Party Politics During

Twelve Republican Years: 1920-1932 (Boston, 1948), 83.

17. Charles Evans Hughes to Harding, December 13, 1920. Box 4A, Charles Evans

Hughes Papers, Library of Congress.

18. Ibid. See also Hughes to Ray B. Harris, April 3, 1934. Box 4, Ray Baker Harris

Papers, Ohio Historical Society.

19. Claudius 0. Johnson, Borah of Idaho (New York, 1936), 258; Brandegee to

Harding, December 28, 1920. Box 693, Harding Papers.

20. Philip C. Jessup, Elihu Root (New York, 1938), II, 484-415.

21. See New York Times, January 20, 1921; January 22, 1921.

22. Obviously, Butler's contention in his Across the Busy Years, I, 397, 403, that

Harding offered the post to him on December 18 is erroneous. So also is Willis F. John-

son's statement in George Harvey: A Passionate Patroit (Boston, 1929), 282, that Harding

offered the job to Harvey. It was claimed later that Knox was miffed at not being asked

to be Secretary of State but was mollified somewhat when Harding did not ask Lodge

either. It was claimed, too, that Lodge found it a bitter pill to swallow when Harding

passed him by for Secretary of State. See [Clinton W. Gilbert], The Mirrors of Wash-

ington (New York, 1921), 141.

23. New York Times, July 13, 1920. James Wilson, a "dirt" farmer, had been Secre-

tary of Agriculture for sixteen years under McKinley, T. Roosevelt, and Taft. Wilson's

Secretaries of Agriculture were David F. Houston and Edward T. Meredith.

24. For a discussion of Wallace see Russell Lord, The Wallaces of Iowa (Boston,

1947), 214-215.

25. Harding to H. C. Wallace, November 1, 1920. Box 535, Harding Papers.

26. New York Times, December 30, 1920; see also Harold F. Alderfer, "The Per-

sonality and Politics of Warren G. Harding" (unpublished doctoral dissertation, Syracuse

University, 1928), 187.

27. For various items showing support for Hoover, see Box 488, Harding Papers.

For various items relating to Hoover's visit to Marion, see ibid., Box 407. See also various

telegrams, Box AK I-7, Herbert C. Hoover Papers, Presidential Library, West Branch,

Iowa.

NOTES 187

28. Brandegee to Harding, December 28, 1920. Box 694, Harding Papers.

29. New York Times, January 19, 1921.

30. Harry S. New to Harding, December 22, 1920. Box 701, Harding Papers.

31. Ibid., Harding to Harry Daugherty, February 9, 1921, Box 368; see also various

items, Box 695.

32. Ibid., New to Harding, December 22, 1920. Box 701.

33. Ibid., Harding to Hoover, item 184821, Box 389. See also Wallace to Hoover,

January 18, 1921, indicating that Wallace appreciated Hoover's endorsement. Box

AK I-7, Hoover Papers.

34. Harding to Daugherty, February 9, 1921. Box 368, Harding Papers.

35. According to Hoover, Harding first mentioned a cabinet post to him shortly after

the election. The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: The Cabinet and the Presidency, 1920-

1933 (New York, 1952), II, 36. See also Hoover to Harding, December 22, 1920. Box

AK I-7, Hoover Papers.

36. "Fall Scandals," Beerits Memo, p. 1. Box 173, Hughes Papers.

37. Harding to Hiram Johnson, February 21, 1921. Box 699, Harding Papers. See

also New York Times, February 24, 1921.

38. Telegram from Hoover to Harding, February 23, 1921. Box AK I-7, Hoover

Papers. To take the Commerce post Hoover turned down an offer from Daniel Guggen-

heim as a full partner and a guaranteed annual income of $500,000. See Eugene Lyons,

Herbert Hoover: A Biography (New York, 1964), 144.

39. Henry L. Stoddard, As I Knew Them: Presidents and Politics From Grant to

Coolidge (New York, 1927), 521-522; Bascom N. Timmons, Portrait of An American:

Charles G. Dawes (New York, 1953), 200-201; Charles G. Dawes, The First Year of

the Budget of the United States (New York, 1923), 1. See also various items, Folder 4,

Box 395, Harding Papers.

40. William H. Taft maintained that on December 24, 1920, Harding told him he

hoped Hughes, Hoover, and Dawes would join the cabinet and that he already had

offered them positions. This was not completely accurate. By that date only Hughes

had actually been offered a position. Hoover and Dawes had been approached about

their interest in a post. By Christmas time, Harding's intention was to appoint both

of them.

41. Philip H. Love, Andrew W. Mellon: The Man and His Work (Baltimore, 1929),

33-37; Harvey O'Connor, Mellon's Millions: The Biography of a Fortune (New York,

1933), 117-119.

42. Letter from Andrew Mellon to Ray B. Harris. Folder 4, Box 4, Harris Papers.

43. Telegram from William Sproul to Harding. Item 175450, Box 370, Harding Papers;

ibid. numerous items, including Charles H. Sabin's statement, Folder 3944-1, Box 487.

44. Lyons, Hoover, 144; Stoddard, As I Knew Them, 521-522; for the clearest account

see Harry M. Daugherty, The Inside Story of the Harding Tragedy (New York, 1932),

92-100. For an example of how badly facts can be garbled see Schriftgiesser, This Was

Normalcy, 85. Schriftgiesser pictures Daugherty as telling Harding that he could not

have Hoover if he did not accept Mellon.

45. Timmons, Dawes, 203.

46. For problems relating to Mellon's acceptance, see Love, Mellon, 35-37; Philander

C. Knox Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.; various letters, Box 7, Harris

Papers; letter from Mellon to Harris, Folder 4, Box 4, Harris Papers; O'Connor, Mellon's

Millions, 121. For O'Connor's analysis of Mellon's reasons for joining the cabinet, see

ibid., 109-110.

47. Arthur Pound and Samuel T. Moore, eds., They Told Barron: Conversations and

Revelations of An American Pepys in Wall Street (New York, 1930), 17.

48. For endorsements of Wood for a cabinet position, see Folder 3956-1, Box 488,

Harding Papers; Hermann Hagedorn, Leonard Wood: A Biography (New York, 1953),

II, 374-375.

49. Henry Wallace was one of the chief opponents of Wood and advised Harding to

"dump" him. Henry C. Wallace to Harding, February 10, 1921. Box 655, Harding Papers.

See also Hagedorn, Wood, II, 374-375; New York Times, February 16, 1921. The charge

is sometimes made that Harding "exiled" Wood to the Philippines.

50. Henry Cabot Lodge to Harding, December 24, 1920. Box 655, Harding Papers.

See also, ibid., numerous items, Folder 3944-1, Box 487.

51. Photostats of Weeks's military career in Box 4, Harris Papers.

52. New to Harding, December 22, 1920. Box 701, Harding Papers.

53. New York Times, January 16, 1920.

54. James W. Wadsworth, Jr., to Harding, January 22, 1921. Box 655, Harding

Papers. For other endorsements of Weeks, see ibid., numerous items, Folder 3944-1,

Box 487. The announcement of Weeks's selection was not made until February 28, 1921.

55. Ibid., Harry L. Fidler to Will H. Hays, November 24, 1920. Box 697.

56. James J. Davis to Harris, April 2, 1934. Box 4, Harris Papers.

57. Various items, Folder 3934-2, Box 486, Harding Papers.

188 OHIO HISTORY

58. Ibid., for various endorsements of O'Connor, Folder 3931-1, Box 485; for Hilles's

activity, see ibid., Folder 4716-1, Box 655.

59. James J. Davis, The Iron Puddler: My Life in the Rolling Mills and What Came

of It (New York, 1922), Introduction. See also Book I, p. 214, Box 38, James J. Davis

Papers, Library of Congress.

60. For numerous items showing endorsements for Davis, see Folder 3932-1, Box 486,

Harding Papers.

61. James J. Davis to Harris, April 2, 1934. Box 4, Harris Papers.

62. Telegram from Samuel Gompers to Harding, February 7, 1921. Box 655, Harding

Papers. See also, New York Times, March 1, 1921.

63. Davis to Harris, April 2, 1934. Box 3, Harris Papers. Ibid., Wadsworth to Harris,

June 20, 1938, Box 2; see also various items, Folder 15-1 Box 31, Harding Papers.

Schriftgiesser in his This Was Normalcy repeats a completely false myth that Harding

wanted to appoint Charles M. Schwab as Secretary of Labor, 88.

64. Hays to Harding, February 4, 1921. Box 655, Harding Papers.

65. William T. Hutchinson, Lowden of Illinois: The Life of Frank 0. Lowden (Chicago,

1957), II, 484-485. For text of February 14 telegram, see ibid., 485, fn. 5.

66. Ibid., 486; letter from Mrs. John Weeks to Harris, no date, Folder 7, Box 4, Harris

Papers.

67. Sullivan, Our Times, VI, 295-296.

68. New York Times, February 27, 1921; "Denby, the 'Dark Horse' of the Harding

Cabinet," Current Opinion, LXX (April 1921), 471.

69. "A Cabinet Member Whose Life Story Reads Like a Dime Novel," Current

Opinion, LXXI (July 1921), 34-36.

70. See various issues of New York Times, January 27 to February 1, 1921; especially

January 28, 1921.

71. For an excellent discussion of early conservation opposition to Fall, see Burl

Noggle, Teapot Dome: Oil and Politics in the 1920's (Baton Rouge, 1962), 8-31.

72. Albert Shaw to Harris, November 19, 1933. Box 3, Harris Papers.

73. Ibid., Wadsworth to Harris, June 20, 1938. Box 2. For opposition to Daugherty,

see Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Crowded Hours (New York, 1933), 322; various items,

Folder 1, Box 693, Harding Papers; Col. T. Bentley Mott, Myron T. Herrick: Friend

of France (New York, 1929), 256. Of the important early visitors, only Taft put in a

good word for Daugherty.

74. Timmons, Dawes, 203.

75. William F. Anderson to Harding, February 20, 1921. Box 693, Harding Papers.

76. For Daugherty's story of his own selection, see Daugherty, Inside Story, 85-91.

77. For Mark Sullivan's account of Daugherty's appointment, see Our Times, VI,

147-152.

78. Finley Peter Dunne, "A Look At Harding From the Side Lines," Saturday

Evening Post, September 12, 1936, p. 76.

79. Sullivan, Our Times, VI, 151. Sullivan says Harding added: "You can set that

up in a block on your first page." Actually, this was said by Harding in a different

connection and did not relate specifically to Daugherty's appointment. See New York

Times, February 22, 1921.

80. Ibid.

81. Sullivan, Our Times, VI, 152.

82. Ibid., 150.

83. Ibid.

84. Ibid., fn. 9.

85. Daugherty, Inside Story, 91.

86. New York Times, February 22, 1921.

87. Sullivan, "The Men of the Cabinet," 81.

88. For a contemporary evaluation, see Gilbert, The Mirrors of Washington, 20-21.

89. William B. Munro, "Two Years of President Harding," Atlantic Monthly, CXXXI

(March 1923), 384-393.

DISHARMONY IN THE HARDING CABINET:

HOOVER-WALLACE CONFLICT

1. Letter, Herbert C. Hoover to Henry C. Wallace, undated copy in Wallace Corre-

spondence File No. 177-3. Food Administration File, Hoover Institution On War, Revolu-

tion, And Peace; Stanford University.

2. Telegram, Wallace to Hoover October 18, 1917. Food Administration File.

3. Report of Commission Appointed By The U.S. Food Administration To Inves-

tigate The Cost Of Producing Hogs, October 27, 1917, Chairman, John M. Evvard.

File 15-H, Box 49, Food Administration File.