Black History Month: Warren Harding's Birmingham Speech

[kensmind]

Many people think of Warren Harding as one of the worst presidents, because of the scandals that tarnished his administration and because of his womanizing. But on October 21, 1921, at a time when the Ku Klux Klan was very popular, and at a time when white supremacy reigned supreme in the deep south, Harding very courageously became the first

Comments

[sdu754]

Harding really doesn't get the credit he deserves when it comes to Civil Rights. Most historians seem to ignore civil rights altogether when it comes to the pre-World War II presidents. I think having a positive record in this earlier timeframe is even more impressive, as it wasn't a popular thing even in the North.

[kensmind]

I think you and I have mentioned before how skewed presidential ratings have been, particularly when the Schlesingers were leading the ratings parade. A couple of recent books have tried to right the ship, but it's a difficult task. Irwin Gellman's book Campaign of the Century (reviewed here) makes a strong case why Kennedy's rankings are very unfairly skewed in his favor, and now Ryan Walter's book is making the case for Harding as well.

[sdu754]

Kennedy has three big factors in his favor that help him in the rankings