Warren G. Harding: The American Presidents Series: The 29th President 1921-1923

President Nixons former counsel illuminates another presidency marked by scandal. Warren G. Harding may be best known as Americas worst president. Scandals plagued him: the Teapot Dome affair corruption in the Veterans Bureau and the Justice Department and the posthumous revelation of an extramarital affair. . Raised in Marion Ohio Harding took hold of the small towns newspaper and turned it into a success. Showing a talent for local politics he rose quickly to the U.S. Senate. His presidential campaign slogan Americas present need is not heroics but healing not nostrums but normalcy gave voice to a public exhausted by the intense politics following World War I. Once elected he pushed for legislation limiting the number of immigrants; set high tariffs to relieve the farm crisis after the war; persuaded Congress to adopt unified federal budget creation; and reduced income taxes and the national debt before dying unexpectedly in 1923. . In this wise and compelling biography John W. Dean―no stranger to controversy himself―recovers the truths and explodes the myths surrounding our twenty-ninth presidents tarnished legacy.