Simple Roots Quotes
Most historians agree with that Harding was very well qualified for the job. (See {622567} & {622568},) )And he personally did not have any great ambition to be president. He was a very affable man who spent much of his time drinking, playing cards, and having women entertain with his political buddies. His wife however, was a very accomplished and powerful newspaper publisher and she insisted that he run and he won. He continued his entertainment with his cronies and was a very weak president.
This is a great example of the hubris that affects many very successful politicians and erodes there effectiveness and makes them more dictatorial. They delude themselves into believeing that they are an accurte reflection of the people. In this case he absurdly argued that since he was brought up in a working class family and did not spend all his time with intllectuals, he therefore knew the Irish people’s preferences. If such an upbringing qualified a person to know the Irish wants, then there were millions of such in Ireland who grew up that way. And if they all reflected the Irish will, why was there so much disagreement amongst the Irish as with most other people?
Asked about the thoroughness of his committee's investigations into the Watergate break-in, he replied:
