It's been a busy week!

But you're not here for excuses. You're here for Presidents. Let's do it.

One time when I told someone I am a political science major they asked me if George Bush is really the worst president ever, and I responded with a nonanswer. I haven't done any work ranking the presidents, and I'm done with outrage over the Bush administration. I am just waiting them out at this point. He is a lame duck now, the worst is over. The beauty of the American system, especially following the 22nd Amendment, is that there is a time limit.

There are two ways to illustrate the relative poorness of this administration compared to others. The first is to illustrate their failings. That has been done ad nauseam. The other is to redeem other reviled presidents. So, first in a series.

Let's start at the bottom of the barrel. The president ranked, on average, as the worst ever. Warren G. Harding. Ranked the worst president in history in Schlesinger's 1948 poll of Presidential Historians, in his 1962 poll, in Murray-Blessing's 1982 Poll, and in Siena's polls in 1982, 1990, and 1994.

Why do we hate Harding so? He is largely reviled for his corrupt administration. Few will defend his administration against those charges - his Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall was the first member of the Cabinet to ever go to jail (peculiarly, the only illegal thing Fall did was accept bribes. The leases he issued were perfectly legal). Several other high-level government officials were involved in similar bribery and fraud. Harding, however, appeared to be completely uninvolved, other than appointing a completely corrupt cabinet.

No one knows how much Harding knew about the corruption in his administration, but we do know he received a lengthy message directly preceding his death detailing illegal activities that he likely did not previously know about. When he died, the corruption charges had not yet come to light.

Harding knew he was unqualified for the job, he knew he had lost control on his cabinet. But what can we blame him for? Being a poor judge of character? Dying before having a chance to redeem himself? It seems very hard to fault him too much for this.

What did Harding do that should give him more historical credit? Here are several things:

• He held the first disarmament conference in history, the Washington Naval Conference, despite the US being outside the League of Nations, and it was largely a success, maintaining peace throughout the 1920s and establishing China's sovereignty.
• He pardoned Eugene V. Debs.
• He established the Bureau of Veterans' Affairs
• He compensated Colombia for the loss of Panama
• He made peace with the Central Powers to end World War I.

Great things? Hardly. Good things? Good enough. Good enough that Warren G. Harding should not be ranked as a necessarily bad president. Just a mediocre one.

Labels: presidents, warren g. harding