Rededicating America; life and recent speeches of Warren G. Harding

Foreword

Senator Harding possesses just those vital qualities of mind and heart necessary to-day and in the time just ahead. His poise of mind, his soundness of judgment, his hold on fundamentals, his appreciation of the needs of to-day and of to-morrow, his love of the people from whom he came and of whom he is one, and his faith in them; his magnificent grasp of large affairs, his great native ability and his training in statesmanship, his regard for the opinion of others, his experience and success in the handling of men, his proper appreciation of his country's position as a responsible factor in the world's future, but with the fullest realization of the absolute importance of our own supreme nationalism, his sterling Americanism, his righteous character and manhood, and withal his thorough humanness, all qualify him in the most exceptional degree for the tremendous responsibilities which will soon be his. He will make a splendid candidate and a great president. The country will love him, honor him, trust him and follow him, just as all who know him love and trust him, and the world will honor him.

Will H. Hays.

AUGUST 1, 1920

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I Warren Gamaliel Harding 11

II Speech of Acceptance. Address at Formal Notification of His Nomination for the Presidency,

CHAPTER I [Warren Gamaliel Harding

Nationalism is the life theme of Warren Harding. When the delegates to the Republican National Convention at Chicago called Senator Harding as the party's leader for the campaign of 1920, they chose a man whose controlling passion is, and has ever been, a complete devotion to America, strong and free, sovereign and supreme. As Senator Harding becomes better known to the American people, he will stand forth as the greatest nationalist of his day. Ever since he entered public life as a member of the Ohio legislature, he has thought in terms national. His devotion to the national ideal is the composite of the belief of William McKinley in representative government and the absolute Americanism of Theodore Roosevelt.

The Hardings have always thought in terms of nationalism. For three centuries those of his family who came before him were of the sturdy stock which early made its way to our colonial shores and had its part in the making of America as this country grew to be the best expression of governmental individual-

^12 REDEDICATII^G AMERICA

ism and developed nationality. The name Harding is as old as the Doomsday Book of 1086. Before America had its birth as a nation, many Hardings had come to cast their lot in the New England colony ; indeed, historical records show that at least six Hardings came to America's shores a century before the Revolution. Abraham Harding came to Massachusetts, his widow, EHzabeth, settled in Boston ; George Harding to Salem, John to Weymouth, Robert to Connecticut — all before 1650. From the Connecticut line of Robert Harding came Captain Stephen Harding, whose son, Abraham Harding, was the father of Amos Harding. The latter was the direct ancestor of Senator Harding. He reared a family of fourteen boys, all of whom bore Biblical names with the exception of George Tryon Harding, who was the father of Charles Alexander Harding and William Perry Harding. Charles Alexander left but one son, George Tryon Harding, father of Senator Harding.

Warren and his mother were genuinely intimate and affectionate. She was an ardent member of the Seventh Day Adventists and had the reputation of being the best versed woman in Biblical literature in her community. She was thoroughly cultured and had read widely. Persons who knew her well have told me that when Warren was a mere child, not over seven years old, she said to him repeatedly, **Warren, stay with your books and some day you will be president of the United States."

In after years Warren Harding moved to Marion, while his parents continued to reside in Caledonia, a small town ten miles to the east. For years it was

WARREN PAMALIEL HARDING 13

Warren's habit to go to his mother's home early every Sunday morning and the Sundays he missed were very few, indeed. By eight o'clock he was usually on his way to the old homestead armed with a handful of flowers. For nineteen years he took or sent flowers to her every week without fail. In the homecoming celebration following his nomination, D. R. Crissinger, his fellow townsman who made the welcoming address, referred graciously to this tender, weekly tribute which Senator Harding bestowed on his mother. It touched Mr. Harding deeply and was probably the most impressive moment of the celebration. The senator worshiped his mother and he did not endeavor to conceal his heart's regret that she was not here to be present at the homecoming. A stately woman, always of good cheer, she was universally loved. She was devoutly religious and her love for the beautiful and the true has made its eternal impress upon Warren's character. She died in 1910.

Senator Harding's father has been granted more than his three score and ten years, a kind Providence giving him the privilege of celebrating his seventy-sixth natal day on the very day his son was nominated for the highest honor at the bestowal of the American people. His father is a man of strong personality, with a kindly good will toward all the world and with a disposition characterized by tenderness and sympathy. He is still actively engaged in the practise of medicine. Of course, he has always been proud of Warren. In his modest way, however, he has endeavored to conceal his deep satisfaction upon his son's nomination. "I am not much excited," he said when Harding was nominated, but the truth is that he did not eat anything that day, having forgotten his meals altogether. He was just supremely happy and nobody in Marion begrudges him the genuine delight he so richly deserves. He sacrificed much in his earlier life that Warren might be thoroughly educated, and his son's success is his just reward.

A typical farm homestead near Blooming Grove, Morrow County, Ohio, was the birthplace of Warren Gamaliel Harding, November 2, 1865. He will celebrate his fifty-fifth anniversary on election day. This American community had already come to fame as the birthplace of Senator Calvin S. Brice and Albert P. Morehouse, governor of Missouri, and his great state, even before this time, had won its way into the hearts of Americans as the "Mother of Presidents."

All that is good in citizenship and honest living is the priceless possession of the Hardings. They lived the typical life of the early Americans. They did not suffer from an over-abundance of wealth, but without exception they held the esteem of their neighbors and were true to themselves. W^arren, in turn, lived the normal life of an American boy in the country districts of the great Central West. He was early a leader of his boyish crowd. As was the custom of his time, the winter months of his early years were spent in the country or village school, while the summers found him hard at work on his father's farm, or seeking employment in the village. Warren was naturally bright in school. It would hardly be proper to say that he was precocious, but his lessons came very easily and he led his class without having to dig; moreover, he was too hearty and healthy a boy to study much more than was necessary to keep him ahead of his fellows. He especially enjoyed grammar, and so it comes about that he possesses a remarkable aptitude for the choice of accurate and meaningful words.

As he came to his teens he did the work of the Ohio pioneer, clearing the woodland and developing the crops. At one time he worked in a sawmill. The owner of this mill to this day insists that Warren was such a good worker that it almost cost him his life. He had been given the task of cleaning the floor near a handsaw and was warned not to clear away the rubbish too near the saw. Warren was determined to make a complete job of it ; he leaned over to brush under the saw and in an instant the crown of his hat was clipped by the buzzer and whirled to the ceiling. The lad came within three inches of never having the opportunity to lead his party to victory. Later he worked as a laborer in building the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad which was laid through Morrow County, and he followed such other pursuits as the days might bring.

While a boy, young Harding is well remembered as having ridden the family mule from Caledonia to Marion, after the removal of the family from the village to the county-seat. The story is told that on the trip he stopped a farmer to inquire how much of his journey to Marion remained. The farmer looked at him reproachfully and dolefully exclaimed, "Wal, it taint so fur if you get off that there mule and walk, but if you're goin' to ride that beast, it's a j)urty durn fur ways off!"

Like most young men who were the leaders of their set, young Harding took his turn at teaching elementary school, mainly for the purpose of obtaining funds to continue his education. He was a good teacher, due partly to his genuine desire for learning plus his mental attainments, but more because of his executive ability. He taught the fundamentals very successfully and he held the respect and esteem of his pupils. But what is even more important, he instilled into them the spirit of thrift, of activity, of getting things done — and of patriotism.

When he was fourteen years of age, his parents were able to send him to Ohio Central College at Iberia, from which institution he was graduated with a very good record in scholarship, and the degree of Bachelor of Science. It was there, as editor of the college paper, that he found a liking and displayed a talent for journaHsm. "If I have any faculty for the work I am now doing," he said in later years, "I owe it most to my training as editor of the college paper while a student." His college course was marked by varied vacation employments, not because of poverty, but because his parents had taught him the value of work. He, therefore, engaged in cutting corn, painting houses and grading roadbeds. He was an average farmer, a very good house painter and a steady workman for the railroad.

His favorite pastime during this period of life was playing in the Caledonia and Marion bands. Despite stories to the contrary regarding the instrument he played, let it be said here in finality that Warren Harding played a tenor horn as a beginner, sometimes the tuba when a substitute was needed, and ultimately the cornet. Since his nomination he has been made to perform on almost every instrument known to a band, but his fellow musicians told me that there need be no doubt about it, for they all remember distinctly that he was a very good musician, regular at practise, and that he played the aforesaid horns. His band visited the neighboring cities and took third prize in the state-wide band tournament at Findlay, Ohio, in 1882. Only seven members of this organization now survive, and lo a man they declare that Warren Harding was a jolly good fellow as a young man, modest, unassum* ing, industrious, full of fun, loyal to his friends and devoted to his parents. "And what is more important," declared Joe Mathews, who played in the celebrated band with him, "is that Warren has never changed a bit to this day."

The odor of printers' ink took hold of him when he left college. He had become a hand typesetter as a boy, and when the linotype was first introduced he learned to operate the machine. He Is a practical pressman, job printer and make-up editor. To this day he carries, as his "luck piece," the printer's rule of his composing-room days. During the Blaine campaign he was employed on a Democratic newspaper and when his Republicanism could no longer be held within bounds and he joined a Blaine club and donned a Blaine hat, he lost his job.

He turned to reportorlal and editorial work on the Marion Daily Star of Marion, Ohio. The supreme desire of his early life was to own this newspaper and so in time his father gave him the small financial assistance that permitted him to purchase it. The guiding spirit of the Marion Star has been, and is, Senator Harding himself. Always constructive, always fearless, it has become known throughout the country as a newspaper of prestige and power. Senator Harding is justly proud of the fact that his paper has never had a labor strike or even a threatened controversy with its employees. As soon as he was able to put the Daily Star on a firm financial foundation, he organized a stock company with his employees, distributing shares to his workmen so that now they, with him, own the paper. Years ago he expressed his conception of the relation between the newspaper and the public in this creed, written in his office for his office staff:

"Remember there are two sides to every question. Get both. Be truthful. Get the facts. Mistakes are inevitable, but strive for accuracy. I would rather have one story exactly right than a hundred half wrong. Be decent ; be fair, be generous. Boost — don't knock. There's good in everybody. Bring out the good in everybody, and never, needlessly, hurt the feelings of anybody. In reporting a political gathering, give the facts ; tell the story as it is, not as you would like to have it. Treat all parties alike. If there's any politics to be played, we will play it in our editorial columns. Treat all religious matters reverently. If it can possibly be avoided never bring ignominy to an innocent man or child in telling of the misdeeds or misfortune of a relative. Don't wait to be asked, but do it without the asking, and, above all, be clean and never let a dirty word or suggestive story get into type. I want this paper so conducted that it can go into any home without destroying the innocence of any child."

Senator Harding's general business ability soon became recognized and he was called to interest himself in other commercial lines before he entered politics. He became a director of the Marion County Bank of Marion, Ohio ; a member of the board of directors of the Marion Lumber Company, the Marlon County Telephone Company, the Marion Home Building and Loan Association and numerous other concerns. He gave financial support to several new industries which came to Marion when these commercial organizations sought his business counsel. He devoted much time to civic affairs, and became a trustee of the Trinity Baptist Church, which he attends regularly when at home.

Warren Harding is essentially human. He has always been Interested in the charities of his town and has done innumerable acts of helpfulness known only to himself and the beneficiary of his kindness. He has given financial assistance to more than one fellow townsman who had met adversity and in whom many people had lost faith. On one of his recent trips he met an acquaintance whom he had not seen in many months and who was threatened with total blindness. Harding took his friend of earlier years with him to Washington, placed him in the hands of an eminent eye specialist, and was so sincerely happy when the physician was able to restore the sight of one eye that he confidentially told one or two of his neighbors about it.

Harding's humanitarianism, simple, unheralded, always behind closed doors, is one of his truly great characteristics, and ranks in importance with his utter sincerity. When I iasked a fellow member of the United States Senate what he regarded as the senator's greatest attribute, he replied instantly:

"Modesty and sincerity. Harding's modesty manifests itself at all times and sometimes to his disadvantage through being mistaken for a lack of confidence in himself. I have always been impressed with this quality in him. Both in committee meetings and on the floor of the Senate he advances his views, not with an air of finality, nor yet timidity, but with becoming modesty, and seldom until he has listened patiently to what others have to say, but he is tenacious of his opinions and is not easily swayed from his conclusions once they have been reached. He is as sincere as a man can be. I have never yet known him to temporize. What he believes he says and he does not say what he does not believe. I know of no other man in public life so little given to dissembling; for better QT for worse, he is just what he appears to be."

No sketch of the Republican standard bearer is com-» plete without tender and just tribute to Florence Kling Jiarding, his devoted, enthusiastic and very able wife, whom he married in 1891. She is his eternal inspira-r tion and their relations are as near ideal as could bq on this mundane sphere. They are the best comrades, sharing their problems in full together and finding their happiness in their afiFection for each other. Mrs. Harding is a woman of culture, sincere, genuine, and always happy. She has lived her entire life in or nea^ her present home. Her father, Amos Kling, was ^ substantial business man of Marion, and she attended the Marion schools. She is widely read and spends much time with her books. As a young woman, hei^ hobby was horseback riding; she was a clever rider and now is an excellent judge of saddle horses. She loves the great outdoors.

"I can not realize that Warren has been nominated for the presidency," she said to me a month after the nomination. **It hardly seems real to me." And her attitude bespeaks the fact, for she is the same cordial, lovable woman to-day that she was five years ago. Fully able to bear the heavy tasks which now come to her, she refuses absolutely to permit the tremendous honor to change her one iota.

Senator Harding also is privileged t9 ttijdy !he eomt-adeship of three loyal sisters. Miss Abigail Harding resides with her father In Marion and is a teacher of English in the Marion High School. Another sistef> Mrs. Carolyn Votaw, Is the wife of Doctor Herbert Votaw, of Washington, D. C. She is deeply interested in social problems and is a member of the Women's Bureau of the Police Department of the capital city. A third sister, Mrs. Charity M. Remsberg, resides in California. His only brother. Doctor G. T. Harding, Jr., IS an eminent physician of Columbus, Ohio.

While Senator Harding has always maintained his numerous business connections, increasing them from year to year, his interest in and ability for things governmental early turned him to an active participation in public affairs. He was elected a member of the upper chamber of the Seventy-fifth and Seventy-sixth Ohio General Assemblies as senator from the Thirteenth Ohio District, serving from 1899 to 1903. He had already gained a state-wide reputation as a public speaker and as editor of his forceful paper, whose editorials.

written largely by the senator himself, were read and valued throughout his state. He was now an Ohio figure and the following year his leadership was recognized in his nomination and election as lieutenant-governor. Seven years later found him the Republican candidate for governor, but, because of a party disaffection, he met his first political defeat. At that time he said publicly that he would leave the political arena, but in the short space of two years' time he returned actively to politics, supporting William Howard Taft for renomination and reelection as president of the United States. In another two years' time he became a candidate for the Republican nomination for senator and in the first primary election held in his state he defeated Senator Joseph B. Foraker. This was in the spring of 1914. When the votes were counted at the November election his fellow Ohioans sent him to the United States Senate with a majority of 102,373 over Timothy S. Hogan, his Democratic opponent, and with 73,000 more votes than the next highest candidate on the Republican ticket.

When he reached Washington, Senator Harding quickly won the respect and esteem of his fellow senators. He had the happy fortune of making and holding the genuine friendship of every member of that body. From that time to the present it has been an almost daily occurrence in the Republican senatorial cloak-room for some senator, in the course of a conference, to say, "Let's see what Warren thinks about this." His judgment, abundance of common sense and breadth of understanding are recognized as his most valued assets. Senator Harding has a fine poise and a deliberate and judicial manner. His friends say they have never known him to lose his temper in violent fashion and that he always has himself under perfect command. His opinions and views on public questions have met the almost universal approval of the members on his side of the chamber. They welcome his counsel and he invites theirs. If he removes from Capitol Hill to the White House, Senator Harding can not do otherwise than understand Congress and work with it to the expedition of legislation. And his lifelong desire for counsel will unquestionably cause him to call to his Cabinet strong, able, loyal Americans ; to the eternal glory of the republic.

Warren Harding attends to his senatorial business. Relying upon the ability and faithfulness of his secretary, George B. Christian, Jr., who is greatly devoted to his chief, he has established a reputation among his fellow senators for the efficient administration of the varied lines of activity which United States senators these days are called upon to perform. His office has an atmosphere of hospitality ; his visitors feel unconsciously that they are welcome ; he is always accessible, generous with his time, ready to hear and to help.

Senator Harding is in regular attendance at his committee meetings. Several years before he was publicly considered for the presidency, I observed him in committee sessions. In the course of an hour's meeting he invariably asks half a dozen pointed questions. He calls bluntly for the opinions of other senators on the committee and relies, to a considerable extent, upon their combined judgments in reaching his own conclu-

24 JIEDEDICATING AMERICA

sions on the question under consideration. He does a full day's work and is busy at his office from nine o'clock in the morning until Mrs. Harding comes for him at six in the evening, and often then his day's work is not yet completed. With Mrs. Harding and his devoted secretary, he gathers up in his automobile one or more other senators who are "going his way," sharing their comradeship and taking them to their homes.

Those acquainted with the official life of Washington know that the work of the government is done largely by congressional committees. It is in the committee rooms that the innumerable vital questions are considered in detail and committee conclusions reached after many hours of discussion and deliberation. Since his election to the Senate, Senator Harding has had important committee assignments. During the last two years he has served as chairman of the Committee on the Philippines. His most important assignment has been the Foreign Relations Committee, and next to that the Committee on Commerce. His other committees are : Territories ; Pacific Islands and Porto Rico ; Public Health and National Quarantine; Standards, Weights and Measures, and Expenditures in the Treasury Department.

In his busy career he has found time for three trips abroad, devoted largely to a study of European governments and their economic problems, and because of his travels his counsel has been much sought on questions before the Philippines Committee, Pacific Islands and Porto Rico and Territories. His extensive business connections throughout Ohio, covering many years, have made him an invaluable member of the Committee on Commerce. His especial interest in this committee relates to the merchant marine, and his activities were signally helpful in speeding up ship construction to meet war needs. He views the nation's commercial problems from a business man's standpoint, bringing to them practical considerations rather than the theories of the professional economist.

His greatest usefulness, as well as his deepest satisfaction and genuine interest, is in his membership on the Committee on Foreign Relations. This committee, since the signing of the armistice, has been by far the most important committee of Congress, and during the war it ranked second only to the Committee on Military Affairs. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has been charged with the gigantic task of considering the peace treaty. The time will surely come when the American historian will give just credit to those members of the Senate Cominittee on Foreign Relations who held firm to the advocacy of an America free, strong, untrammeled and supreme in her individualism. In this little group of stout-hearted Americans, Warren Harding deserves high rank. .He was one of those senators who maintained their calm and deliberation, who kept their minds clear and their hearts strong in the devotion to their country during the unsettled, anxious and abnormal times of the war and in all the subsequent and often acrid peace discussions. This service has been his highest contribution to America up to the present time. It is proper that Americans judge him by his attitude toward our international relations in connection with the war and I am sure that he would welcome all Americans in estimating his worth on this basis.

Senator Harding has always been in favor of a proper understanding among the nations of the world. Pie does not underestimate the awful horrors of war and he is willing to go far to prevent future conflicts. But he has a consuming passion for his beloved country, her safety and her preserved identity. "We do not need, and we do not mean to live within and for ourselves alone," he said on the floor of the Senate during the league of nations debate, "but we mean to hold our ideals safe from foreign incursion. It is easily possible to hold the world's highest esteem through righteous relationships. We are willing to give, but we resent demands. Let us have an America walking erect, unafraid, concerned about its rights and ready to defend them, sure of its ideals and strong to support them. Out of the discovered soul of this republic and through our preservative actions, we shall hold the word 'American' the proudest boast of citizenship in all the world."

He could never bring himself to accept the involvements which he felt sure would come to America by her membership in the league of nations as submitted to the Senate by the peace conference. The privacy and secrecy which he felt were so conspicuous in the peace conference were abhorrent to him. In his frank, sure manner of thought and action which has characterized his senatorial service, sometimes to his political disadvantage, he deeply resented the attitude of the peace confreres in failing to take the peoples of their respective countries into full confidence. He believed sincerely that the result of the peace negotiations would be to create a supergovernment over this country and, so believing, he declared his conviction to the people of the United States that he regarded this, though unconscious and unintended, a betrayal of the country.

His devotion to America was not a new attitude with him when the peace treaty was presented to the Senate. In explaining his vote on the declaration of war in, the United States Senate, Wednesday, April 4, 1917, he said, in his vigorous and deliberate way: "I want it known to the people of my state and to the nation that I am voting for war to-night for the maintenance of just American rights, which is the first essential to the preservation of the soul of this republic." That was his view of America before the European war was dreamed of ; it was his view of America when we entered the war and it was still his conception when the conflict had ended. He could not do otherwise in voting on the peace treaty than remain true to the faith that was in him. He was ready to go to war because America had been attacked, and he was willing to conclude peace only on a basis w^hich preserved his country inviolate. He believed that our entrance into the war was determined by the conscience of America and he thought that the dictates of that conscience should determine the terms of peace, so far as the United States was concerned.

His absolute candor, as exhibited in connection with the peace treaty, has shown itself in his attitude on all public questions. To some of his friends, and to some senators, it is almost uncanny. "Warren is making 2 mistake which will hurt him pohtically" has been the, comment heard in Washington on numerous occasions when he stated publicly his attitude on questions which held the attention of the American people. This aame frankness was shown during the consideration of the Cummins railroad bill. He voted for the anti-strike clause in the railroad bill despite the protests and threats that it would annihilate him politically. "If the government representing all the people can not guarantee transportation service under any and all conditions, it fails utterly," he declared, and he squared his public attitude with this conscientious belief. He has always favored rational unionism and collective bargaining, and has so stated publicly on many occa^ slons ; for eleven years he has operated his newspaper on the share-holding plan with the employees. But when the question was squarely put up to him as to whether he should vote to permit any one class to become stronger than his government, he took his stand, and this at a time when he contemplated becoming a candidate for the presidency. Again his love for America and his belief that she should be supreme overpowered all other considerations, and he said so.