Warren G. Harding Quotes
During the Republican National Convention of 1920, when the delegates were deadlocked between four candidates, Daugherty told the press:
In 1921 when Harding took office, the nation was in the midst of a major depression which was to get worse before it got better.
Harding was not the brightest bulb on the political scene but was a very affable and personable man.
Although obvious oversimplifications, these were key strategic elements of these Presidential campaigns.
The professor had done some historical research on Harding's ancestry going back to the seventeenth century and claimed that Harding had Negro blood. One Ohio newspaper carried the information and the Harding forces bought up most of the copies and suppressed the story. There has been no subsequent confirming research.
President-elect Harding had sounded out Herbert Hoover's interest in becoming Secretary of Commerce. At the time, the Commerce Department was of relatively little importance, housing only a few scientific bureaus. Hoover placed conditions upon his acceptance whereby the department, and he, would be given much more authority and funding. Word of the negotiations leaked and Hoover was asked if he was placing conditions upon the President:
The advice turned out to be essentially correct.
