The Strange Deaths of President Harding [Hardcover]

Robert H. Ferrell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996

Available for the first time in paperback, The Strange Deaths of President Harding challenges readers to reexamine Warren G. Harding's rightful place in American history.

 

For nearly half a century, the twenty-ninth president of the United States has consistently finished last in polls ranking the presidents. After Harding's untimely death in 1923, a variety of attacks and unsubstantiated claims left the public with a tainted impression of him. In this meticulously researched scrutiny of the mystery surrounding Harding's death, Robert H. Ferrell, distinguished presidential historian, examines the claims against this unpopular president and uses new material to counter those accusations.

At the time of Harding's death there was talk of his similarity, personally if not politically, to Abraham Lincoln. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes described Harding as one of nature's noblemen, truehearted and generous. But soon after Harding's death, his reputation began to spiral downward. Rumors circulated of the president's death by poison, either by his own hand or by that of his wife; allegations of an illegitimate daughter were made; and question were raised concerning the extent of Harding's knowledge of the Teapot Dome scandal and of irregularities in the Veterans' Bureau, as well as his tolerance of a corrupt attorney general who was an Ohio political fixer. Journalists and historians of the time added to his tarnished reputation by using sources that were easily available but not factually accurate.

In The Strange Deaths of President Harding, Ferrell lays out the facts behind these allegations for the reader to ponder. Making the most of the recently opened papers of assistant White House physician Dr. Joel T. Boone, Ferrell shows that for years Harding suffered from high blood pressure, was under a great deal of stress, and overexerted himself; it was a heart attack that caused his death, not poison. There was no proof of an illegitimate child. And Harding did not know much about the scandals intensifying in the White House at the time of his death. In fact, these events were not as scandalous as they have since been made to seem.

In this meticulously researched and eminently readable scrutiny of the mystery surrounding Harding's death, as well as the deathblows dealt his reputation by journalists, Ferrell asks for a reexamination of Harding's place in American history.
 

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this series of essays on President Harding's life, Ferrell (Harry S. Truman: A Life, LJ 12/94) offers a small, intriguing view of the ill-fated president. Ferrell briefly examines some of the controversial aspects of Harding's life, such as charges of extramarital affairs and political corruption, as well as his death. Ferrell tries to do what some might call impossible: to rebuild the reputation of one of our most maligned presidents. Ferrell's series of essays gives background to the events that led to the Teapot Dome Scandal and tells what really happened. Even in his death, Harding emerges as a flawed man who tried to do the right thing but failed primarily because of public perceptions, the biased accounts of early historians and writers, and the ill-advised destruction of his personal papers. Both informed lay readers and scholars will find this book useful since it presents new information about President Harding.?Richard P. Hedlund, Ashland Community Coll., Ky.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Despite the title, this work won't excite conspiracy buffs, for it is primarily a straightforward, well-written account of the final days and hours before Harding's fatal heart attack. Ferrell, a specialist in presidential histories, clearly feels Harding has been unjustly maligned since his death. Besides refuting claims regarding suspiciousness of Harding's death, Ferrell absolves him of several other charges; he is particularly provocative in insisting that Harding had little knowledge of or control over events that eventuated in the Tea Pot Dome and Veteran's Bureau Scandals. Despite Ferrell's insistence on making his points in mind-numbing detail, he presents a plausible, generally interesting case for reappraising the more conventional, derogatory view of Harding and his presidency. Iva Freeman

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 203 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Missouri Pr (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826210937
• ISBN-13: 978-0826210937
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,508,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Separates fact from fiction, February 4, 2006

By 

Jenks (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Strange Deaths of President Harding (Paperback)

The Strange Deaths of President Harding, by Robert Ferrell is a well researched and documented work that concerns itself with debunking many of the myths that surround the legacy of President Harding. Ferrell begins by recounting a story about a time when he was in college driving through Ohio with a carload of friends. Nearing the Harding Memorial, he drove onto the memorial grounds and stopped the car. At that moment, he pointed out to his friends that it was Harding's tomb, and everyone including Ferrell, laughed. Indeed Ferrell's story as he indicated, demonstrated how the passage of years can change a person's mind. And yet, as he also indicates, Harding continues to be ranked last in the presidential polls. Ferrell sets out not to argue that Harding should be considered a great or near great president--he simply calls for an honest reconsideration of Harding. Ferrell begins by offering evidence that Harding died of a heart attack, from overexertion and after years of suffering from heart disease; He disproves the theory that Florence Harding poisoned her husband. Ferrell then challenges the claims made by Nan Britton, who claimed Harding fathered her child. After which, Ferrell discusses the scandals of the Harding administration and the aftermath. He goes into great detail questioning the motives of a few journalists and authors who relentlessly attacked Harding's reputation and the many salacious biographies written before the Harding papers were opened that relied on rumor, gossip and unsubstantiated claims--and subsequent biographies after the Harding papers opened that continued to rely heavily on these earlier, albeit inaccurate works, giving little to no consideration of the Harding papers. Ferrell makes a compelling argument that many of the stories surrounding Harding would have been disproven had the Harding papers been available. He also suggests that Florence Harding, in her well meaning attempts to protect the legacy of her late husband by burning his papers,(she believed she had burned the majority of his papers but was not aware that she possessed only a very, very small portion of his papers) unwittingly helped hasten the maligning of her husband. Overall Ferrell makes a compelling case that given the inaccuracies that have persisted for decades regarding Harding, there should and must be a reexamination of Harding's legacy that separates fact from fiction.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the truth about Harding, well documented at that, September 17, 2005

By 

S. J. Koblentz (Columbus, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Strange Deaths of President Harding (Paperback)

Americans have always had a love hate relationship with the truth. We love the truth because it's something that we believe in, but we hate the truth when it is less entertaining than tawdry details dreamt up in the minds of scandal mongers. Such is the case of the Nation's 29th President Warren G. Harding, for whom lore wins out over the truth.

"The Strange Deaths of President Harding" is Robert Ferrell's painstakingly researched retort to the years of lies, myths and lore that have enveloped the legacy of President Warren G. Harding, the nations 29th President (1921-1923). At the time of Harding's death in 1923, he was one of the most beloved people in the nation. During the trip that returned his body to Washington D.C. for the State Funeral, millions of Americans lined the railway tracks to pay tribute to him. Adding to the speculation of wrong doing was Mrs. Harding's death in 1924, leaving both Harding's defenseless against the rising tide of tales surrounding them and the President's appointees. The Harding's reputations were so harmed by the public's inability to separate the man from his appointee's actions that their final resting place, completed in 1927 wasn't dedicated until 1931.

Ferrell's strength is not in writing a juicy tell all, but in writing a well documented expose on the truths about the Harding's, and the truth is always less juicy to the American people than the rumors that have persisted. Ferrell does an outstanding job at stripping away the salacious speculations (for example, Mrs. Harding did not kill her husband as Gaston Means speculated) and circumstantial evidence that has damned Harding to be appraised as one of the worst Presidents in American History. Indeed, once free of innuendo and false labels, Harding actually comes out as an average President who gave to much power the wrong the people, and suffered dearly because of this loyalty.

So if you are one of those who believe that Mrs. Harding and Dr. Sawyer conspired to kill Harding, or that Harding fathered Nan Britton's baby or that even Nan Britton worte "The President's Daughter", Ferrell is poised to poke you in the eye with fact patterns and research that show that Harding died of end stage heart disease, no concrete evidence exists to support the paternal claims of Britton and that Britton's book was most likely written by her middle-age mentor.

Despite Ferrell's outstanding work, this book will never enjoy the success it and its writer fully deserve and that is a true American tragedy. Had Ferrell set out to trash the reputation of an American hero, this would have been a best seller, his face would have appearred on the cover of Time and Oprah would have chosen this for her book club. Regardless, this remains a must read for those people who value truth over myth, and honor over dishonor.

8 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sexist Whitewash, August 16, 2004

By 

a reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Strange Deaths of President Harding (Hardcover)

I read through this book very carefully, as well as that of John Dean's recent one on Harding. Dean's is much more balanced, and gives a sense of Harding's attributes in the context of his very real and deep weaknesses. Personal weakness and strength affects every person's view of the world and job performance. Presidents are no different. Why is it that Ferrell cannot see the whole man and must whitewash him into a hero? To me the real hero is one who overcomes his failings to succeed. Also, the author rather proudly displays a very old view that women are liars at best for he dismisses the opinion and recollections of every woman who knew Harding - regardless of whether it was from a personal or political viewpoint - as "gossip" yet presents as unchallenged truth the gossip of men like the mail clerk! I also studied the footnotes to see that this book uses a sanitized "for public eyes" version of the presidential doctor's notes - while others use the raw handwritten diary notes. One obvious fact - the near mirror image of Harding's face to that of Nan Britton's alleged daughter by him is simply outright ignored by this author. Simply because she is a working-class woman her claim of honoring Harding's wish that she burn his love letters to her is assumed to be a lie, yet when portions of Harding's own public correspondence is burned to protect his memory, Ferrell supports this action - rather shocking for a person in a profession which requires preservation of all documentation. Either this book was rushed to print without review by professional standards or is simply a failed white4wash. Read Professor Murray's excellent book, Francis Russell - who in the 1950's actually interviewed many Harding contemporaries.