III.

Harding's Presidency

Turning away from the powerful executive leadership style of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, Harding as president delegated much authority to his Cabinet chiefs, whom he chose for their national or regional constituencies or their weight in party councils. Among the outstanding members of his Cabinet were Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, and Secretary of Agriculture Henry C. Wallace.

Harding's first presidential task was to move the government away from wartime emergency conditions, and in this his administration was successful. In certain areas it was innovative, stepping up federal hiring during an employment slump, proposing agricultural legislation, and creating a Bureau of the Budget. In 1922 Secretary of State Hughes, with Harding's active support, scored a diplomatic triumph at the Washington Conference on naval disarmament, when the Great Powers agreed to limit their capital ship tonnage in fixed ratios. Harding also acted forcefully in the movement to limit the long hours of labour that had previously prevailed in the American steel industry.