This ain't any
1880 or any 1904. We haven't any John Shermans or Theodore
Roosevelts. We've got a lot of second raters and Warren Harding is
the best of the second raters."
Once nominated as a Republican his election of course inevitably
followed. But to accept Mr. Brandegee's plea in avoidance is to
agree to the eternal poverty of American political life, for most
of our presidents have been precisely like Warren G. Harding,
first-class second raters.
Mrs. Harding, a woman of sound sense and much energy, had an
excellent instructive answer to the "why." The pictures of the
house in Marion, the celebrated front porch, herself and her
husband were taken to be exhibited by cinema all over the land. She
said, "I want the people to see these pictures so that they will
know we are just folks like themselves."
Warren Harding is "just folks." A witty woman said of him, alluding
to the small town novel which was popular at the time of his
inauguration, "Main Street has arrived in the White House."
The Average Man has risen up and by seven million majority elected
an Average Man President. His defects were his virtues. He was
chosen rather for what he wasn't than for what he was,--the
inconspicuousness of his achievements. The "just folks" level of
his mind, his small town man's caution, his sense of the security
of the past, his average hopes and fears and practicality, his
standardized Americanism which would enable a people who wanted for
a season to do so to take themselves politically for granted.
Pages:
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32