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The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865- 1920. By RANDOLPH C. DOWNES. (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1970. x + 734p.; notes, bibliography, and index. $17.50.) At long last the historiography of Warren Gamaliel Harding has reached the point where two thorough and scholarly books have appeared. The statement refers to The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865-1920, by Randolph C. Downes, and The Harding Era: Warren G. Harding and His Administra- tion, by
Robert K. Murray. The road to this most recent and perhaps final stage of Harding historiography has been a rugged one. First there were the jour- nalists--William Allen White, Samuel Hop- kins Adams, Frederick Lewis Allen, and Mark Sullivan--who placed the Marion man into the mold of the 1920's emphasizing sex and scandal. Strangely, scholars of the 1930's and 1940's, noting in their reviews that the foregoing writers were not professional historians, still basically repeated the jour- nalistic emphases and inadequately handled political and administrative history; and even after the Harding Papers were made available to researchers in April 1964, writ- ers such as Andrew Sinclair and Francis Russell again repeated the old approaches. Downes and Murray, on the other hand, have taken advantage of the new Harding Papers and other affiliated sources and have pro- duced a new historiography. Ever since Murray's book appeared in 1969, reviewers have favorably noted its unique place in Harding historiography. In the 1970 summer issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History, Kenneth J. Grieb has correctly estimated that "this comprehensive study of the Harding Administration is a major revisionist work whose potential im- pact on the interpretation of the era should render it one of the most important Ameri- can history books of the year" (p.305).
The Downes volume, released only n December 1970, has still to be widely evaluated. The scope of The Rise of Warren Gama- liel Harding, 1865-1920 is impressively com- |
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plete, covering in its 734 pages, ancestry, early years, ownership and editorship of the Marion Star, boosterism in city affairs, state senatorship, lieutenant governorship, the contest for governor in 1910, election to the United States Senate in 1914, keynoter and other roles in the National Republican Con- vention of 1916, views on the First World War, the Wilson administration and the League of Nations, and finally the campaign for and election to the presidency in 1920. On nearly all of these major subjects Downes intrbduces new data and considerably alters commonly accepted views of Harding's life and career derived from early studies. Thus Samuel Hopkins Adams' picture of the lazy boy who quit a farm chore job in the first hour is replaced by that of an overworked youth who may have hurt his health by his toil. The young man's editorship of the Star is shown to have been far more than an ex- change of billingsgate with rival editors. As for the Amos Kling episode, formerly sen- sationalized as an angry father-in-law refus- ing to reconcile his daughter's marriage to "W.G." because of his "Negro
blood," the quarrel is shown to have been a clash of ideas between Kling, a real estate dealer and the wealthiest man in town, who wanted to keep Marion a village of gracious homes, and Harding, the young editor-booster, fight- ing for new industry to put the place on the map. In his revision of the old view of the Kling-Harding enmity, the author presents a discerning sociological account of booster- ism in action and the transformation of Marion from a mainly rural to a growing urban community. Downes' extended efforts to destroy the old myth of Harding's desire to be president, however, may result in the creation of a new one overstressing the Marion man's unwill- ingness to become the Chief Executive. Im- pressive as the author's case for the Ohio Senator's reluctance to run for the presi- dency may be, it must be balanced by letters exchanged between Harding and Harry M. Daugherty in January and February 1919. |
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These letters, written after Theodore Roose- velt's death on January sixth, show a Senator eager to become President. Indeed it appears that the Marionite--not Daugherty--took the lead in the planning for that eventuality. Nor should Harding's speech at the Tippecanoe Club in Cleveland in late January be over- looked. Some Ohio newspapers interpreted this as the opening salvo in a bid for the White House. Perhaps, it seems fair to state, Downes should divide his "profound per- sonal reluctance" thesis (pp. 351-352) into two parts--before and after T-R's death. More than old myths are attacked, how- ever. The complexities and confusions sur- rounding Ohio Republican politics, 1900- 1920, are unraveled and many matters about the regular Republicans made clear. Espe- cially featured and well executed is the theme of Harding's role as the harmonizer of state and later national Republican politics result- ing in his ultimate election to the presidency. To heal factional differences and to win vot- ers to his views, Senator Harding used and abused the concept of Americanism, often employing it as a substitute for hard analy- sis on issues such as the tariff, labor, expan- sionism, Wilson's conduct of the war, and the League of Nations. Finally, it is dem- onstrated that the Marionite was his own man--neither Harry Daugherty nor any other figure made decisions for him. The author's attitude toward Harding will undoubtedly create discussion. Unlike Mur- ray, who at times becomes Harding's advo- cate as well as his historian, Downes does not really like the gentleman from central Ohio. Harding's domestic and foreign policy ideas are unwelcome to Downes, who inter- prets them as unsuited to the age. Yet the Toledo Professor fully describes and dis- cusses the Senator's position on each topic, often turning to phrases such as "in all fair- ness to Harding" in an endeavor to balance the evaluative ledger. Downes, furthermore, almost invariably employs the Ohioan's own words--often quoted at great length--to sup- port adverse judgments about him. It must be noted, too, that the author displays al- most unstinted admiration for the technical skill by which Harding moved politically and contrasts his greater realism as to what suc- cess in Ohio politics demanded with that of |
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the less successful Progressives. Here and elsewhere the crusty writer shows a note of cynicism which idealistic readers may resent. The sources on which the book rests are rich and varied as demonstrated by seventy- seven pages of notes and bibliography at the end of the work. Downes has made an effec- tive use of the Marion Star to reveal the mind of Harding and the climate of the com- munity out of which it arose. The author's mastery of the more than eight hundred boxes of the Harding Papers is the bedrock on which his book rests and the reason why it supercedes all previous accounts of the life and career of Harding to 1920. With respect to sources, however, it is regrettable and surprising that the official governor's papers for the period under survey were by-passed. The George K. Nash Papers, for example, reveal that the first-term state senator Hard- ing had such confidence in himself in 1899 that he gave advice on political tactics and other matters to the Chief Executive. The Toledo Professor's accurate account of the suspicion and rivalry between Governor Myron T. Herrick and Lieutenant Governor Harding would have been significantly en- hanced by the many examples in Herrick's official files. And given the strong emphasis in the book on presidential candidate Hard- ing's efforts to conciliate Senator Hiram Johnson on the League of Nation's issue in 1920, the Johnson Papers might have been consulted profitably. Literary and other aspects of the book inspire positive and negative reactions from this reviewer. Downes writes forcibly, inter- estingly, and above all else vividly. He skill- fully puts the narrative together in such a manner that the reader feels "in on" its unfolding. Otherwise crystal clear organiza- tion is occasionally marred by unnecessary repetitions. The author succeeds in creating attention-gaining expressions. Yet such phrases as "Jingo Americanism" and
"Tar- iff Americanism" grate on one's literary ears even though they contain helpful interpreta- tions. The use of "Yes" in emphasizing con- clusions may be overdone and too informal. The physical appearance of the book is at- tractive in design and printing, but the price makes one wish for an early paperback edi- tion. The index, while accurate and adequate, |
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is none too detailed for the length of the book. Where Downes' book stops, with the pres- idency, Murray's takes over. Between them, the two writers have given readers the most widely researched, the most complete and the most scholarly account of the life and career of Warren Gamaliel Harding. For these reasons teachers of twentieth century American history should study these books to become professionally competent. DAVID H. JENNINGS Ohio Wesleyan University Henry Cantwell Wallace as Secretary of Agriculture, 1921-1924. By DONALD
L. WIN- TERS. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1970. x + 313p.; bibliographical essay and index. $8.95.) Winner of the 1969 Agricultural History So- ciety's book award, this detailed study pre- sents a generally favorable account of Henry Cantwell Wallace's tenure as Secretary of Agriculture in the cabinets of Harding and Coolidge. As son of the renowned Iowan "Uncle" Henry (fighting editor of Wallaces' Farmer), Henry
C. is perhaps the least known of the Wallace trio. In part this is due to the fame achieved later by his son Henry Agard, who served as Agriculture Secretary during the days of the New Deal, but more so perhaps because few works have dealt ex- plicitly with farm problems affecting the Harding administration. The opening of the Harding Papers in 1964 has helped rectify this situation as scholars now have the opportunity to look into this phase of the Ohioan's policies. It is obvious from this work that Progres- sivism did not totally die during the Harding era. Influenced by the New Nationalism of Theodore Roosevelt, Henry C. Wallace bat- tled vigorously, and at times successfully, to secure for farmers the benefits of positive government. Federal intervention on behalf of the rural sector did come in the form of the Fordney-McCumber Tariff (although protectionism was of dubious value) and |
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through regulatory legislation, such as the Packers and Stockyards and the Grain Fu- tures acts. In addition to these measures the Capper-Volstead act specifically exempted agricultural cooperatives from antitrust prosecution. The evidence amassed by the author cer- tainly makes it apparent that Warren G. Harding paid careful attention to agricul- tural legislation. Not only did the President heed much of the counsel proferred by Wal- lace, but he also took an active role in push- ing desired programs through Congress. Winter's version of Harding is not that of an inept politician, a rock-ribbed reaction- ary, or even of one who lacks knowledge about what is going on. Instead, Harding appears surprisingly flexible and quite eager to render assistance to hard-pressed farmers. It was Calvin Coolidge, not the man from Marion, who proved to be the farmer's im- placcable foe. From the present account, it seems clear the Republicanism of Wallace differed so markedly from that of Coolidge, that by 1924 only the Iowan's sudden death prevented a public break between the two men. Sometimes the author seems hesitant to set forth strong interpretations, but this does not detract from the value of the work. With- out question the book contributes much to our knowledge of rural America in the 1920's, places the Wallace family in the fore- front as agricultural leaders, and makes clearer the role played by Harding in his much maligned administration. EDWARD L. SCHAPSMEIER Illinois State University New Lamps for Old: One Hundred Years of Urban Higher Education at The University of Akron. By
GEORGE W. KNEPPER. (Akron: The University of Akron, 1970. 407p.; illus- trations and index. $6.95.) On July 4, 1871, the cornerstone of Buchtel College was laid in Akron, Ohio, fulfilling a decision made four years earlier by the Ohio Universalist Convention. Before the |
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First World War the college became the Municipal University of Akron; after an- other half century it was transformed into the University of Akron and has emerged as one of the major state universities of Ohio. The story of a century of sometimes troubled growth forms the subject of Professor George Knepper's volume New Lamps for Old. About a quarter of the book is devoted to the years before 1900 (the 1890's are identi- fied as "the dark decade"), one-half to the next forty-five years, and the final quarter to the period since the Second World War. Professor Knepper does not force the story along any narrow path but explores the de- veloping institution in various important as- pects at each stage, relating the college to the various communities in which it played a part--the church, the city, and the state. The heart of the educational enterprise has existed, he writes, in its students and faculty. Not surprisingly, the author devotes a great deal of attention to individuals; more than five hundred are mentioned by name, with special attention given to the original bene- factor John Richards Buchtel and to such influential presidents as Norman P. Auburn, Parke R. Kolbe, H. E. Simmons, Albert I. Spanton, and George F. Zook, among others. This is no mere name-dropping book. In- deed, one misses the customary lists of pres- idents, trustees, and other important officials. In place of such formalities Knepper has written at great length on dozens of such topics as curriculum, faculty, student life, sports, and finances. Even more prominence is given to vivid detail and to the humorous, poignant, and sometimes pathetic incidents that have occurred along the way. The result is a book rich in the human qualities that bring the story of an institution to life. Knepper's research may not be exhaustive, but it would be difficult to imagine a source that he has overlooked. More than a thou- sand excellent footnotes (placed at chapter ends) indicate the careful and extensive scholarship that has gone into the work; they serve also to replace a bibliography. Fifty- five carefully chosen illustrations (unfortu- nately not listed or indexed) add to the at- tractiveness of the volume. No single model can be used for writing col- lege history. The great variety of colleges and |
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universities in Ohio has led to a correspond- ing variety of histories. But for a private church-sponsored institution that has under- gone such transformations as those of Buchtel College, New Lamps for Old may well pro- vide a model that is balanced in emphasis, clear in structure, warm and affectionate in tone, and written with delightful style. HARRY R.
STEVENS Ohio University From Paddle Wheels to Propellers. By CHARLES PRESTON FISHBAUGH. (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1970. xiii + 240p.;
illustrations, tables, appendices, and index. $6.50.) Professor Fishbaugh introduces his book as "the story of the Howard Ship Yards as they reflect the economic history of steam navi- gation of the Western Rivers." He discusses both the economic history of the Howard Ship Yards and the economic history of steam navigation of the western rivers. The Howard Ship Yards were established in Jeffersonville, Indiana, in 1834 by James Howard and specialized in the larger boats used on the lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Between 1836 and 1847 Howard oper- ated yards in Madison and Louisville. In 1848 he moved back to Jeffersonville where the firm continued as a family enterprise until 1940. The output of the Yards fluctuated dra- matically from year to year in response to economic conditions on the rivers. Apart from such fluctuations, the output of the Howard Yards remained relatively constant from 1850 through 1916. Because of the de- cline in western river shipbuilding after 1878, the relative output of the Howard Yards in- creased from less than ten percent of the total during most of the antebellum period to well over fifty percent in several of the later years and was clearly an important part of the western rivers shipbuilding industry. Professor Fishbaugh attributes much of the Yards' early success to the fact "that the fifty-five Howard-built hulls from 1834 |
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through 1850 had an average life span of seven years compared with a five-year aver- age for the industry" (p.33). This is
too superficial. Using the Lytle list we find that western river steamboats of 250 tons and over constructed between 1835 and 1850 had an average life span of about six and one- half years. Yet the average for all western river steamboats constructed during that pe- riod was only five years. Thus, the Howard boats were not so different from other large boats. American railroads, aided by the Civil War blockade of New Orleans, developed much faster north of the Mason and Dixon line than south of it. Thus, the Howard cus- tomers suffered less from railroad competi- tion after the Civil War than did customers of most other yards. This may account for the increasing relative importance of the Howard Yards in the postwar years. Profes- sor Fishbaugh recognizes this possibility. The presentation of the economic history of the Howard Ship Yards is rather limited. Professor Fishbaugh gives us a short descrip- tion of the Yards' operations during the 1830's. He indicates that initially the How- ards built only the hull but that after 1859 they could build the cabins, finish the iron work, and paint the boat as well. He tells us some of the changes in the Yards' opera- tions with the switch to steel hulls in the 1890's. Finally, he gives us the costs of a num- ber of hulls and boats. There is no published study of the western rivers shipbuilding in- dustry. Much of the book is based on Pro- fessor Fishbaugh's study of the Howard Ship Yards and Dock Company collection in the Lilly Library at Indiana University. Thus, he had the resources for a quantitative descrip- tion of the Yards' operations at various points in time. His failure to provide such a description is the book's greatest disappoint- ment. Professor Fishbaugh adds to the existing literature on his subject in two ways. He provides a unified treatment of western river steamboating during the post-Civil War pe- riod that is better than most of the currently available studies. Included are discussions of the impact of the Civil War, competition from the railroads, the move to barge tows, |
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the switch to propellers, and the conversion to internal combustion engines. Second, he provides a number of hypotheses to explain developments in the steamboating industry, but these remain to be tested. Hunter's Steamboats on the Western Rivers, neverthe- less is the best general work on the subject. ERIK F. HAITES Stevenson & Kellogg, Ltd., Toronto Crisis at the Crossroads: The First Day at Gettysburg. By
WARREN W. HASSLER, JR. (University, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1970. vii + 214p.; map, bibliography, and index. $8.75.) Warren W. Hassler, Jr., professor of history at Pennsylvania State University, presents in a slim volume a step-by-step, blow-by-blow description of the first day's fighting in the three day battle of Gettysburg. He contends that this first day of battle "was quite as im- portant and significant as the succeeding two days' combat" (Foreward). His book, he says, for the first time presents this first day in such detail. Professor Hassler argues that the actions of Union commanders John Buford and John F. Reynolds on the morning of July 1 provided General George S. Meade with enough time to concentrate his scattered forces on the commanding Cemetery Ridge. Reynolds' decision to take a stand west of town, on Seminary Ridge, and hold it at all costs, was crucial to the final Union success. Though Reynolds died and his corps took a frightful beating, his stand permitted the formation of the Union "fish hook" on the Cemetery Ridge complex. The author has done a thorough job of research. Scarcely a movement of either army on the day in question is not discussed in detail. His knowledge of the sources, made evident in his work as compiler of the military campaigns section of Civil War Books by
Allan Nevins, et. al., is again obvi- ous here. He lists a wide variety of sources in his bibliography. His writing style is clear, |
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concise, and straightforward, a commend- able achievement considering the recital of corps and army names his work requires. In short, this work is generally well done. Still the question must be asked: why was this book published? David Donald, in the bibliography of his The Divided Union, the revision of J. G. Randall's monumental Civil War and Reconstruction, says bluntly: "Too much has been written about the battle of Gettysburg." Considering this fact, is Pro- fessor Hassler justified in putting into print yet another study of this overworked battle? This reviewer does not believe so. Other his- torians have recognized the role of the first day in the unfolding of the entire battle (though not emphasizing it as much as Has- sler), so this latest account presents little that is new. It is therefore not an essential addi- tion to Civil War literature. More importantly, Hassler's thesis is not convincing. The first part of any battle is an integral part of the whole, but it does not then follow that this first part necessarily determines the final outcome. At Gettysburg the first day's fighting was important, but it did not determine the result. Other factors played a more crucial role: the capture of the Little Round Top on the second day, the meanderings of Stuart and the Confederate cavalry and Longstreet's disagreement with Lee, to name several. These factors had more to do with the final Union victory and Confederate defeat than did the results of the first day's fighting. Still, this is an interesting book, perhaps of most appeal to buffs who will find the minute descriptions of army maneuverings fascinating. However, the totally inadequate maps and the lack of a chart listing the units and their commanders in one convenient place will cause reading problems. Hopefully, in the future, Professor Hassler will turn his considerable talents in military history to a work as significant as his earlier biography of McClellan. Perhaps too, the heroes of Gettysburg will now be given the chance to rest before they are called to take part in another re-enactment of their battle. JOHN F. MARSZALEK,
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Journal of a Tour in Unsettled Parts of North America in 1796 & 1797. By FRANCIS BAILY, edited by JACK D. L. HOLMES. (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1969. xxvi + 336p.; preface, introduction, illustra- tions, bibliography, and index. $15.00.) Francis Baily (1774-1844) departed England in 1795 for a tour of the United States; his reasons for such a journey are speculative. Arriving in the West Indies, he proceeded to Washington, D. C., up the seaboard to New York City, across the Alleghenys to Pitts- burgh, down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, then returned to New York by way of the Wilderness Trail (Natchez Trace). His journal ends at Knoxville, the succeeding chapters being lost; he also trav- eled from New York to New England. Baily arrived back in England in 1798, but not before he was captured by a French pri- vateer on the high seas. The following year he joined the London Stock Exchange, and within a few years became quite wealthy. His first major literary work was on life in- surance; then, in 1812, he wrote the first of a proposed series of books on world history. Baily retired from the business world in 1825 and devoted the rest of his life to physics and astronomy. He revised the ex- isting catalog of stars, receiving a gold medal for this work in 1827. He received a second gold medal in 1843 for calculating the true density of the earth. Baily's other major en- deavors were in solar eclipses (the phenome- non known as "Baily's Beads" was named after him), pendulums, and standard scien- tific lengths. He was honored for his scien- tific work throughout the world. Baily had edited his travel journal in 1809, making some notations, but the journal was not published until twelve years after his death. This posthumous publication was the idea of Augustus De Morgan, a colleague of Baily's, who wished to make public some of the unknown aspects of Baily's early life. De Morgan's editing of the 1856 London edition was sketchy, though no doubt the identification of names and places in the |
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United States was as difficult in England then as in the United States now. Sir John Herschel included a Memoir on Baily's life which has been excluded in the present re- print. This new edition of the Journal has been well edited by Jack D. L. Holmes. Bailey's account of his travels in the United States is remarkable because he was a well educated, inquisitive, and imagina- tive young Englishman who was genuinely interested in all that he saw and heard; he did not stay on "the beaten path" as so many of his fellow travelers did, thus avoiding close contact with the frontier areas; and he apparently recorded his impressions as fac- tually as possible without the built-in preju- dices so many of his countrymen reveal in their writings. His one evident prejudice was his dislike for the Spanish; Mr. Holmes has pointed this out in his commentary. For those readers interested in Ohio his- tory, Baily touched the Ohio shore at various points in 1797, beginning at Marietta. His best descriptions are of southwestern Ohio, particularly of the founding of the village of Waynesville in Warren County. It is actu- ally difficult to single out elements of Baily's |
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Journal for
specific praise because it is such an interesting and all-inclusive narrative. No doubt there are minor errors present which, despite Mr. Holmes' efforts, only local his- torians could ascertain (such as Marietta being called "Muskingham" [sic]),
but one must consider the entire work and the sound- ness of its construction with similar narra- tives of the same period. Reuben Gold Thwaites did not include the Journal in his series Early Western
Trav- els. It is
doubtful that Thwaites was ignorant of the work, for even W. H. Beers & Co. in The History of Warren County, Ohio (1882) published the sections dealing with Waynes- ville; probably the length of the Journal was a consideration as well as the time needed for editing. The library of the Ohio Histori- cal Society has an original edition. It should be obvious by now that Baily's Journal has
the unqualified recommendation of this reviewer--so it has. It is an excep- tional work. DONALD HUTSLAR The Ohio Historical Center |