Card catalogue data
Warren G. Harding (The American Presidents Series, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., general editor) by John W. Dean (New York: Times Books, 2004)
Categories: U.S. history, presidential biography
Format: Hardback from the library
Pages: 170 (203 with end matter)
This is the first book I read in July, and the 16th for 2016.
Bottom line
Warren G. Harding, our 29th president, has been consistently ranked near the bottom of a list of best to worst U.S. chiefs. His legacy has been plagued with false accusations and distortions. This bio seeks to right that wrong and show Harding in the light of newly discovered papers that were long believed destroyed.
About the author
Yes, this is the John Dean who served as Richard Nixon’s White House counsel and was deeply involved in the Watergate scandal cover-up.
Why I read this book
I am pursuing a long-term goal of reading a biography of each U.S. president in order. Not surprisingly, there are not a lot of choices when looking for a biography on Harding. This one, from the Schlesinger’s American Presidents series, was unexpectedly quite good.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Sources
The author uses presidential papers which had once been thought destroyed by Mrs. Harding.