Rare US Peace President: Warren G. Harding
Growing up in the 50’s, we were taught by popular culture, even in
school, that the worst president among America’s 34 thru Eisenhower, was Warren
Gamaliel Harding (March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923). Harding was ancient history
to us school kids, having died in office 3 decades earlier in just his 29th
month as president. We couldn’t be bothered seeking to understand his true
governance.
What warranted Warren’s 34th place presidential finish among
historians? Oh, he had a few scandals in which some appointees made a killing
swindling Uncle Sam while Harding was busy playing poker and imbibing bootleg booze
with his ‘Ohio Gang’ cronies at their K Street playhouse. His affair and
resulting love child with a young secretary from back home helped cement his
lowly standing after publication of her tell all book.
But that narrative offered not one word on Harding’s policy
governance which crammed much good into his brief administration, especially
peace, both at home and abroad.
Domestically, Harding was way ahead of both his predecessors and
successors on racial equality. He told the Convention that nominated him in his
1920 acceptance speech, "No majority shall abridge the rights of a
minority. I believe black citizens of America should be guaranteed the
enjoyment of all their rights, that they have earned their full measure of
citizenship bestowed, that their sacrifices in blood on the battlefields of the
republic have entitled them to all of freedom and opportunity, all of sympathy
and aid that the American spirit of fairness and justice demands.” That
was gutsy talk for presidential nominee in white supremacist America. Not
surprising Harding was hounded on the campaign trail that he had a trace of
black blood, making him unfit to serve.
Harding followed words with deeds. He promptly reversed the
removal of black civil service employees from federal offices practiced by his
3 predecessors, initiated by uber racist Woodrow Wilson. On August 26, 1921, Harding
became the first president to advocate for black political, educational and
economic equality before southern whites. In the segregated audience in Deep
South Birmingham, AL, only the black section cheered.
But it was in foreign affairs that Harding’s words and deeds of
peace resonated worldwide. He not only didn’t initiate a single international
intervention, he made strides toward reconciliation with foreign targets of US
interference. More importantly, he promoted disarmament, which was both
successful and lasted over a decade after his death, only done in by German and
Japanese expansionism.
Harding was America’s first Good Neighbor to Latin America long before
FDR coined the phrase. He withdrew US troops from Cuba his predecessors sent
multiple times to protect US business interests. He criticized his
predecessor’s endless interference in Haiti, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua
as well. He achieved a treaty with Columbia that payed them $25 million in
reparations for TR’s fomented revolution there to build the Panama Canal. He
also worked with Mexican President Alvaro Abregon to reestablish diplomatic
relations with Mexico that had been severed by Woodrow Wilson as part of
Wilson’s several Mexican interventions.
But his greatest legacy was promoting what today’s America
wouldn’t dream of: disarmament. He achieved the largest global-disarmament
agreement ever at the November 1921 Washington Naval Conference he convened
with Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes including representatives from the
Japan, Britain, France, Italy, China, Belgium, Netherlands and Portugal. It
negotiated the halt of new battleship construction for over a decade. It
achieved reduction in dozens of warships by the US, Britain and Japan. A
reporter remarked that the Harding-Hughes duo “sank in 35 minutes more ships
than all of the admirals of the world have sunk in centuries.” Tho America
had the world’s largest navy, Harding pegged its future strength to parity with
Britain and Japan.
The conference produced six treaties and twelve resolutions on
issues ranging from signatories agreeing to honor their respective territorial
integrity in the Pacific, limiting tonnage of naval ships, and modernizing
custom tariffs.
Back at home, Harding pardoned socialist presidential contender
Eugene Debs, jailed by the anti free speech Woodrow Wilson for criticizing the
WWI draft, and released 22 other antiwar dissidents as well. Julian Assange
should have been so lucky to reveal America’s dirty foreign policy laundry
under a President Harding.
A century after his death, only JFK, another short term president
who pivoted to peace in just his last year, could arguably be judged as
promoting such a profoundly impactful peace agenda.
Wouldn’t the US be better off today if we had, occupying the Oval
Office, a hard drinking, adulterous, poker playing president who promoted
peace, instead of one with an infinitely more defective character who glories
in prosecuting and provoking senseless war?
Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL
