Warren G. Harding, best known as the 29th president of the United States, was born in 1865 in Blooming Grove.
He won his presidency by the greatest popular vote margin at that time. He served from 1921-1923.
A Republican party member, he was one of the most popular sitting presidents, but a series of scandals, including the Teapot Dome and his relationship with Nan Britton, affected his reputation. Harding's career began when he was elected a state senator in 1899 and lieutenant governor in 1903.
Harding married Florence Kling in 1891 and soon, she became deeply involved in his career. It is believed that she was responsible for helping Harding achieve great heights of success; some have suggested that she was the driving force who helped him reach the White House.
Harding had a heart attack in 1923 in San Francisco while on a western tour and died. He was succeeded by Vice President Coolidge.
Harding is the sixth president to die in office. Here are some of his quotes taken from various books and speeches.
Most Famous Warren G.Harding Quotes
Harding had made some memorable quotes that went on to impact society and mindsets significantly. Read his most famous quotes below.
"America’s present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution but restoration."
“Let the black man vote when he is fit to vote; prohibit the white man voting when he is unfit to vote.” - 'Political Power In Birmingham', Carl V. Harris, University of Tennessee Press, 1977.
“Our most dangerous tendency is to expect too much of government, and at the same time do for it too little.” - March 4, 1921, Inaugural address, Washington D.C.
"I must utter my belief in the divine inspiration of the founding fathers."
"There is no relationship here between Church and State."
"I am just beginning to realize what a job I have taken over. God help me, for I need it."
"The black man should seek to be, and he should be encouraged to be, the best possible black man and not the best possible imitation of a white man."
"Congress ought to wipe the stain of barbaric lynching from the banners of a free and orderly representative democracy."
“The success of our popular government rests wholly upon the correct interpretation of the deliberate, intelligent, dependable popular will of America.” - March 4, 1921, Inaugural address, Washington D.C.
Most Interesting Quotes By Warren G. Harding
Here are some quotes by Harding that are absolutely iconic and unforgettable.
“There is something inherently wrong, something out of accord with the ideals of representative democracy, when one portion of our citizenship turns its activities to private gain amid defensive war while another is fighting, sacrificing, or dying for national preservation.” - March 4, 1921, Inaugural address, Washington D.C.
"Actually, we’re just glorified, flagpole sitters."
"America’s present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality…"
“Practically all we know is that thousands of native Haitians have been killed by American Marines, and that many of our own gallant men have sacrificed their lives at the behest of an Executive department in order to establish laws drafted by the Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
… I will not empower an Assistant Secretary of the Navy to draft a constitution for helpless neighbors in the West Indies and jam it down their throats at the point of bayonets borne by U.S. Marines.” - 'Democracy At The Point Of Bayonets', Mark Peceny, 1999.
“I knew that this job would be too much for me.”
"Religious liberty has its unalterable place, along with civil and human liberty, in the very foundation of the Republic."
"It is my conviction that the fundamental trouble with the people of the United States is that they have gotten too far away from Almighty God."
"It is impossible for one who has studied at all the services of the Hebrew people to avoid the faith that they will one day be restored to their historic national home and there enter on a new and yet greater phase of their contribution to the advance of humanity."
"Inherent rights are from God, and the tragedies of the world originate in their attempted denial."
"My countrymen, the pioneers to whom I have alluded, these stalwart makers of America, could have no conception of our present-day attainment. Hamilton, who conceived, and Washington, who sponsored, little dreamed of either a development or a solution like ours of today. But they were right in fundamentals. They knew what was faith, and preached security."
“I don't know what to do or where to turn in this taxation matter. Somewhere there must be a book that tells all about it, where I could go to straighten it out in my mind.
But I don't know where the book is, and maybe I couldn't read it if I found it.” - 'The Shadow Of Blooming Grove', Francis Russell, 1968.
Most Inspirational Quotes By Warren G. Harding
(Harding had received 60.2% of the popular vote during the presidential elections.)
Harding was and always will be a source of inspiration for not just his community, but other oppressed and minority groups as well.
“I want to see the time come when black men will regard themselves as full participants in the benefits and duties of American citizens. We cannot go on, as we have gone on for more than half a century, with one great section of our population .
. . set off from real contribution to solving national issues, because of a division on race lines.” - Birmingham Post (on the occasion of the city's semicentennial), 27 October 1921.
"Less government in business and more business in government."
"Ambition is a commendable attribute, without which no man succeeds. Only inconsiderate ambition imperils."
"The president is the cuticle of the nail bed of America: one would think pushing back makes him stronger, yet it turns out the opposite is true."
"There’s good in everybody, boost, don’t knock."
"Every student has the ability to be a successful learner."
"I hurt with the insatiate longing until I feel that there will never be any relief until I take a long, deep, wild draught on your lips."
"I couldn't catch a ball or any of that stuff. I could do only what required brute stupidity."
"That's good. Go on, read some more."
"I continued with whatever 'qualified climbers' I could con into this rather unpromising venture."
Best Quotes By Warren G. Harding
Before becoming the president, Harding served in the Senate and was the governor of Ohio for a while. Get an insight into his personality from the best quotes listed below.
"Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship."
"I expect it is very possible that I would make as good a President as a great many men who are talked of for that position."
"My countrymen, though not in any partisan sense, I must speak of the services of the men and women who rallied to the colors of the Republic in the World War. America realizes and appreciates the services rendered, the sacrifices made, and the sufferings endured."
"I do recall that El Cap seemed to be in much better condition than I was."
“I am not fit for this office and should never have been here.” - 'Across The Busy Years', Nicholas Murray Butler, 1939.
“In the great fulfillment, we must have a citizenship less concerned about what the government can do for it and more anxious about what it can do for the nation.” - June 7, 1916, Republican convention, Chicago.
“We must proceed with a full realization that no statute enacted by man can repeal the inexorable laws of nature.” - March 4, 1921, Inaugural address, Washington D.C.
"Treat your friend as if he will one day be your enemy, and your enemy as if he will one day be your friend."
"Screwing is more enjoyable than drilling bolt holes!"
"Honesty is the great essential. It exalts the individual citizenship, and, without honesty, no man deserves the confidence of the people in private pursuit or in public office."
"We are testing popular government's capacity for self-defense. We are resolved to liberate the soul of American life and prove ourselves an American people, in fact, spirit, and purpose, and consecrate ourselves anew and everlastingly to human freedom and humanity's justice."
