Why was the Harding administration so scandal ridden....?

Question

Considering both Harding's personal qualities and the postwar climate......what long term impact did these scandals have on Harding's reputation, the Republican Party, and American national interests....?

Answer 1

Harding had the misfortune of dying before he could defend himself. Historians feel they have to have someone to kick around and so whenever there is a need to cite 'bad' Presidents, Harding and Nixon rise to the top of the pack when the sad fact is that the worse President was James Buchanan and in truth a majority of Presidents have been, at best, mediocre.
Where does Harding fit in? His administration was no worse and certainly better then many of his predesors. In fact here is an Amusing paralell to Anerica in 2007. The worst member of Hardings Cabinet, the Crook whose actions generated scandal was his Attorney General. This was one of the absolute worse appointments ever made. Harry Daugherty was the dark smudge that forever doomed Harding to the whipping post.
This is ironic because aside from Daugherty, Harding had one of the best Cabinets ever. Aside from Daugherty the rest of the Cabinet was brilliant. Earlier you asked about Woodrow Wilson. Well the man Wilson defeated in 1916 was Charles Evan Hughes a truky great man and one of America's true losses was his losing bid for the Hite House, Hughes was great Secretary of State. Two others if noite, Andrew Mellon and Herbert Hoover, great administrator lousy President....

And Harding pushed for Disarnament. WHO can hate a Man who wants Peace? The Republican Party is great for surving scandal. They most often make the perp fall on his sword or in Hardings case they DIE. America enjoyed the scandal, made for great reading, "Boo, Hiss" curse the villains, and Harding recently dead did nothing to defend himself and as for his friends, well you are aware of the phrase fair weather friends...

Gonna throw links and words at you...
http://www.presidentprofiles.com/Grant-Eisenhower/Harding-Warren-G.html
"""""""Presidential Appointments and Style
The result was a curious blend of the best and the worst in cabinet making. Harding shocked many old-guard supporters by naming Charles Evans Hughes, a proponent of the League of Nations, as his secretary of state. Harding considered him as having one of the "finest minds in the country." Similarly, he gave conservative Republicans "gooseflesh," as one phrased it, by appointing Herbert Hoover as secretary of commerce. Somewhat of a political maverick, Hoover was distrusted by a sizable number of powerful old-line Republican politicians, but Harding selected him over their protests because, as he explained to one of them, "I believe he's the smartest 'gink' I know." In another independent decision, Harding chose Henry C. Wallace, editor of Wallace's Farmer and a member of one of the most famous farming familes in the United States, as his secretary of agriculture.

Some of his other appointments were more to conservative liking. Andrew W. Mellon of Pittsburgh was given the nod for secretary of the treasury, a selection that delighted such old-guard stalwarts as senators Boies Penrose and Philander Knox of Pennsylvania. The post of secretary of war went to John Weeks of Massachusetts, who was sponsored by Senator Lodge. James J. Davis, an active union member, was made secretary of labor. Will Hays, chairman of the Republican National Committee, was offered the position of postmaster general. Edwin Denby, a former member of the House Naval Affairs Committee, was named secretary of the navy. Albert Fall, senator from New Mexico and a personal friend of Harding's, was given the job of secretary of the interior, despite the cries of some conservationists who were disturbed by his anticonservationist views.

Harding appointed his campaign manager and confidant, Harry Daugherty, as attorney general. Even some old-guard members balked at this selection, being concerned about Daugherty's questionable lobbying past. But Harding was adamant, once telling a disapproving Senator James W. Wadsworth of New York, "I have told [Daugherty] that he can have any place in my Cabinet he wants, outside of Secretary of State. He tells me that he wants to be Attorney General and by God he will be Attorney General!"

The change between the Wilson and the Harding administrations was immediately noticeable. Following a subdued and unostentatious inauguration, the Hardings threw open the White House gates, which had been closed in the last years of the Wilson administration, and quickly chased the gloom of the Wilson illness from the executive mansion. Portions of the White House were even opened to the public. Brighter colors were added to the furnishings and flowers appeared everywhere. Mrs. Harding reinstituted White House teas and gave three garden parties during the first summer. The president immediately restored regular White House press conferences, which Wilson had abandoned. Unquestionably, Harding had the best working relationship with the press of any chief executive in history."""

Peace....

PS A Direct answer to 'why was - - - -,' because Harding was too trusting, too quick to see the good in people, he had a hard time discerning deceit and treacheryrusted his fridends and several of them betrayed that trust. And Harding like to smoke cigars drink whisky and get frisky with women other than his wife which Evangelical America condem more harshly than fnancial scams and launching wars.................

Answer 2

Harding Administration Scandal

Answer 3

My husband's side of the family are direct descendant of Hayes--politically greedy power mongers make a lot of scandals, but if you really knew the man, his insight, his civil rights view, even the first president to allow women lawyers to argue before the Supreme Court, his honesty and forthright commitment to what is good for the many was undermined by the ugly state of politics from all sides. He was known not to offend anyone but everyone because he did what he thought right. Only President to have been wounded in the Civil War (five times). His view was simple so much so, he believed a president should serve only once. A man of ideals that wanted the best for the poor as well as the worker. He disliked huge commercialism and rooted for the underdog. He had a passion for life, dedicated father and husband. He remembered his friends, but made decisions based on righteousness and not what a friend personally wanted. I think that would be good even today, but you would have to be a billionaire to win the office now--and you can't get there today with the honesty Hayes had and the openness he felt for people of all races, colors, and creeds.