Presidents and Their Cabinet: Warren Harding
Warren Harding was a former newspaper editor and he managed to have a good relationship with the press because of it. He could say candid things to them and have confidence that they would remain off the record. He is quoted as telling journalist William Allan White, “I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies in a fight. But my friends, my goddamned friends, they're the ones who keep me walking the floor at nights!” His "goddamned friends" were indeed the root of most of his troubles, including some of the ones he included in his cabinet.
When Warren Harding assembled his cabinet in 1921, his goal was to select the "best minds" of the time for key cabinet positions, and in some cases that was just what he did. He also kept his own counsel, declining to accede to the wishes of more influential Republican leaders in selecting his ten-member cabinet. For example, influential Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, suggested that Harding appoint Elihu Root or Philander C. Knox to the post of Secretary of State. Harding declined their advice and instead selected former Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes for the position. Hughes had been the Republican Party's candidate for President in the election of 1916. Hughes proved to be a good appointment. He negotiated the Washington Naval Treaty, which sought to prevent a naval arms race.
Harding appointed Henry C. Wallace as Secretary of Agriculture in a move to shore up mid-western Republican Support. Wallace was an Iowa journalist who had advised Harding's 1920 campaign on farm issues. His son Henry A. Wallace would later serve in the same position as well as as Secretary of Commerce, Vice-President, and as a third-party candidate for President in 1948. The elder Wallace promoted programs for American farmers struggling against over-production and the collapse of farm prices that followed the end of World War I.
Illinois banker (and future Vice President) Charles G. Dawes was Harding's first choice to become Secretary of the Treasury, but Dawes declined the job, though he would later serve as Director of the Bureau of the Budget under Harding. Harding turned to a name suggested by Senator Boies Penrose of Pennsylvania and selected Pittsburgh billionaire Andrew Mellon for the post. Mellon would remain in that job until 1932, serving under Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. Mellon worked to reduce federal taxation and debt. He favored cutting the federal estate tax as well as income taxes for all income levels. His policies were enacted by Congress in the Revenue Act of 1921, the Revenue Act of 1924, and the Revenue Act of 1926. The national debt dropped dramatically during the 1920s, though it would rise again after the stock market crash in 1929.
Engineer and self-made millionaire Herbert Hoover had become famous for leading the U.S. Food Administration under Woodrow Wilson. He became Harding's Secretary of Commerce. Hoover greatly improved relations between business and government, after an adversarial relationship had developed under Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. He made the Commerce Department a more powerful department that worked to forge cooperative partnerships between government and business.
Harding did not give in to pressure to appoint Leonard Wood as Secretary of War. Instead he chose former Senator John W. Weeks of Massachusetts. Weeks was seen as a competent, honest, and respected administrator who guided the Department of War through its post-World War I downsizing. Harding selected James J. Davis for the position of Secretary of Labor. Davis was someone who was seen as acceptable to labor generally, but not too aligned with labor because of his unacceptability to labor leader Samuel Gompers.
Harding rewarded loyal republicans to some lesser cabinet posts. Will H. Hays, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, was appointed Postmaster General. He wanted to appoint Illinois Governor Frank Lowden to the post of Secretary of the Navy as a show of his gratitude for Lowden's support at the 1920 Republican convention, but Lowden turned down the post. Instead Harding appointed former Congressman Edwin Denby of Michigan. It was an appointment he would come to regret. The same would be said of New Mexico Senator Albert B. Fall, a close ally of Harding's during their time in the Senate together, who became Harding's Secretary of the Interior.
Harding's worst appointment was in the Department of Justice, where graft and corruption abounded. Harding had appointed Harry M. Daugherty as Attorney General because he felt he owed Daugherty for running his 1920 campaign. After the election, many of Daugherty's cronies moved to Washington, D.C., made their headquarters in a little green house on K Street. They would be eventually known as the "Ohio Gang". The financial and political scandals caused by this group severely injured Harding's personal reputation and legacy.
Some of Harding's appointees used their powers to exploit their positions for personal gain. Although Harding was responsible for making these appointments, Harding himself knew about his friends' illicit activities. No evidence has been found to suggest that Harding personally profited from their crimes crimes, but he was unable to prevent them.
The most notorious scandal was Teapot Dome, which came to light after Harding's death. This concerned an oil reserve in Wyoming that was covered by a teapot-shaped rock formation. Petroleum was important to the national economy and security and the reserve system was put in place to keep the oil under government jurisdiction rather than subject to private claims. Management of these reserves was the subject of a turf battle between the Secretary of the Navy and the Interior Department. There was also a debate topic between conservationists and the petroleum industry, as well as those who favored public ownership versus private control. Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall was a man with a large personal debt, incurred in his obsession to expand his personal estate, Three Rivers, in New Mexico. Fall contracted Edward Doheny of Pan American Corp. to build storage tanks in exchange for drilling rights. It later came to light that Doheny had made significant personal loans to Fall. Fall also negotiated leases for the Teapot Dome reserves to Harry Sinclair of the Consolidated Oil Corp. in return for guaranteed oil reserves to the credit of the government. It later came to light that Sinclair had personally made concurrent cash payments of over $400,000 to Fall. In 1931 Fall was ultimately convicted of accepting bribes and illegal no-interest personal loans in exchange for the leasing of public oil fields to business associates. He became the first cabinet member in history imprisoned for crimes committed while in office. Remarkably, while Fall was convicted for taking a bribe, Doheny was acquitted of paying it.
On September 16, 1922, Minnesota Congressman Oscar E. Keller brought impeachment charges against Attorney-General Harry Daugherty. On December 4, formal investigation hearings, headed by congressman Andrew J. Volstead, began against Daugherty, but the impeachment process stopped, since Keller's charges could not be substantially proven. One alleged scandal concerned the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corp., which allegedly overcharged the Federal government by $2.3 million on war contracts. Efforts to bring the company to trial, were blocked by Daugherty's Department of Justice. At this time, Daugherty owned stock in the company and later received more stock.
Daugherty remained in his position after Harding's death, but resigned on March 28, 1924, following allegations that he accepted bribes from bootleggers. Daugherty was later tried and acquitted twice for corruption, both cases resulting in hung juries
Narcotic trafficking was rampant at the Atlanta Penitentiary while Daugherty was Attorney General. The warden, J.E. Dyche fired two guards while two other officers were indicted by the Justice Department. As Dyche began to investigate the drug supply ring outside the prison, Daugherty fired him and replaced him with a close friend, A. E. Sartain. Daugherty stopped the investigation into the drug ring.
Daugherty, according to a 1924 Senate investigation into the Justice Department, had authorized a system of graft between aides Jess Smith and Howard Mannington. Both Mannington and Smith allegedly took bribes to secure appointments, prison pardons, and freedom from prosecution. A majority of these pardons were bought by bootleggers.
Other Harding administration officials were implicated in other prominent scandals that caused further injury to Harding's reputation. It remains unclear to what extent the knowledge that some of these scandals would soon break, contributed to Harding's sudden and unexpected death in August of 1923.
When Warren Harding assembled his cabinet in 1921, his goal was to select the "best minds" of the time for key cabinet positions, and in some cases that was just what he did. He also kept his own counsel, declining to accede to the wishes of more influential Republican leaders in selecting his ten-member cabinet. For example, influential Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, suggested that Harding appoint Elihu Root or Philander C. Knox to the post of Secretary of State. Harding declined their advice and instead selected former Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes for the position. Hughes had been the Republican Party's candidate for President in the election of 1916. Hughes proved to be a good appointment. He negotiated the Washington Naval Treaty, which sought to prevent a naval arms race.
Harding appointed Henry C. Wallace as Secretary of Agriculture in a move to shore up mid-western Republican Support. Wallace was an Iowa journalist who had advised Harding's 1920 campaign on farm issues. His son Henry A. Wallace would later serve in the same position as well as as Secretary of Commerce, Vice-President, and as a third-party candidate for President in 1948. The elder Wallace promoted programs for American farmers struggling against over-production and the collapse of farm prices that followed the end of World War I.
Illinois banker (and future Vice President) Charles G. Dawes was Harding's first choice to become Secretary of the Treasury, but Dawes declined the job, though he would later serve as Director of the Bureau of the Budget under Harding. Harding turned to a name suggested by Senator Boies Penrose of Pennsylvania and selected Pittsburgh billionaire Andrew Mellon for the post. Mellon would remain in that job until 1932, serving under Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. Mellon worked to reduce federal taxation and debt. He favored cutting the federal estate tax as well as income taxes for all income levels. His policies were enacted by Congress in the Revenue Act of 1921, the Revenue Act of 1924, and the Revenue Act of 1926. The national debt dropped dramatically during the 1920s, though it would rise again after the stock market crash in 1929.
Engineer and self-made millionaire Herbert Hoover had become famous for leading the U.S. Food Administration under Woodrow Wilson. He became Harding's Secretary of Commerce. Hoover greatly improved relations between business and government, after an adversarial relationship had developed under Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. He made the Commerce Department a more powerful department that worked to forge cooperative partnerships between government and business.
Harding did not give in to pressure to appoint Leonard Wood as Secretary of War. Instead he chose former Senator John W. Weeks of Massachusetts. Weeks was seen as a competent, honest, and respected administrator who guided the Department of War through its post-World War I downsizing. Harding selected James J. Davis for the position of Secretary of Labor. Davis was someone who was seen as acceptable to labor generally, but not too aligned with labor because of his unacceptability to labor leader Samuel Gompers.
Harding rewarded loyal republicans to some lesser cabinet posts. Will H. Hays, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, was appointed Postmaster General. He wanted to appoint Illinois Governor Frank Lowden to the post of Secretary of the Navy as a show of his gratitude for Lowden's support at the 1920 Republican convention, but Lowden turned down the post. Instead Harding appointed former Congressman Edwin Denby of Michigan. It was an appointment he would come to regret. The same would be said of New Mexico Senator Albert B. Fall, a close ally of Harding's during their time in the Senate together, who became Harding's Secretary of the Interior.
Harding's worst appointment was in the Department of Justice, where graft and corruption abounded. Harding had appointed Harry M. Daugherty as Attorney General because he felt he owed Daugherty for running his 1920 campaign. After the election, many of Daugherty's cronies moved to Washington, D.C., made their headquarters in a little green house on K Street. They would be eventually known as the "Ohio Gang". The financial and political scandals caused by this group severely injured Harding's personal reputation and legacy.
Some of Harding's appointees used their powers to exploit their positions for personal gain. Although Harding was responsible for making these appointments, Harding himself knew about his friends' illicit activities. No evidence has been found to suggest that Harding personally profited from their crimes crimes, but he was unable to prevent them.
The most notorious scandal was Teapot Dome, which came to light after Harding's death. This concerned an oil reserve in Wyoming that was covered by a teapot-shaped rock formation. Petroleum was important to the national economy and security and the reserve system was put in place to keep the oil under government jurisdiction rather than subject to private claims. Management of these reserves was the subject of a turf battle between the Secretary of the Navy and the Interior Department. There was also a debate topic between conservationists and the petroleum industry, as well as those who favored public ownership versus private control. Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall was a man with a large personal debt, incurred in his obsession to expand his personal estate, Three Rivers, in New Mexico. Fall contracted Edward Doheny of Pan American Corp. to build storage tanks in exchange for drilling rights. It later came to light that Doheny had made significant personal loans to Fall. Fall also negotiated leases for the Teapot Dome reserves to Harry Sinclair of the Consolidated Oil Corp. in return for guaranteed oil reserves to the credit of the government. It later came to light that Sinclair had personally made concurrent cash payments of over $400,000 to Fall. In 1931 Fall was ultimately convicted of accepting bribes and illegal no-interest personal loans in exchange for the leasing of public oil fields to business associates. He became the first cabinet member in history imprisoned for crimes committed while in office. Remarkably, while Fall was convicted for taking a bribe, Doheny was acquitted of paying it.
On September 16, 1922, Minnesota Congressman Oscar E. Keller brought impeachment charges against Attorney-General Harry Daugherty. On December 4, formal investigation hearings, headed by congressman Andrew J. Volstead, began against Daugherty, but the impeachment process stopped, since Keller's charges could not be substantially proven. One alleged scandal concerned the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corp., which allegedly overcharged the Federal government by $2.3 million on war contracts. Efforts to bring the company to trial, were blocked by Daugherty's Department of Justice. At this time, Daugherty owned stock in the company and later received more stock.
Daugherty remained in his position after Harding's death, but resigned on March 28, 1924, following allegations that he accepted bribes from bootleggers. Daugherty was later tried and acquitted twice for corruption, both cases resulting in hung juries
Narcotic trafficking was rampant at the Atlanta Penitentiary while Daugherty was Attorney General. The warden, J.E. Dyche fired two guards while two other officers were indicted by the Justice Department. As Dyche began to investigate the drug supply ring outside the prison, Daugherty fired him and replaced him with a close friend, A. E. Sartain. Daugherty stopped the investigation into the drug ring.
Daugherty, according to a 1924 Senate investigation into the Justice Department, had authorized a system of graft between aides Jess Smith and Howard Mannington. Both Mannington and Smith allegedly took bribes to secure appointments, prison pardons, and freedom from prosecution. A majority of these pardons were bought by bootleggers.
Other Harding administration officials were implicated in other prominent scandals that caused further injury to Harding's reputation. It remains unclear to what extent the knowledge that some of these scandals would soon break, contributed to Harding's sudden and unexpected death in August of 1923.