vcczar Posted October 7 Share Posted October 7 HM Daugherty of OH is known for two things - 1) Orchestrating the smoke-filled room agreement that got Harding the presidency, and 2) being a major part of the Harding admin corruption and scandals. Daugherty had sought political office routinely for about 20 years before the convention, but he always lost. He was better at elevating others into office. Without Daugherty you don't get a Harding presidency, for whatever that's worth. We'd probably have a President Leonard Wood, President Frank O. Lowden, or President Hiram Johnson. The first was a politically inexperience military general, the middle one was a conservative Gov of IL, and the last one was a progressive who had been Roosevelt's 1912 VP choice. His actions: Daugherty, Harry M 1908 Forges a faction of OH Republicans to force the powerful Sen. Foraker of the rival faction out of the US Sen Daugherty, Harry M 1912 Backs Taft over Roosevelt Daugherty, Harry M 1918 A lead advocate of prohibition in public for political influence, while privately maintaining his drinking Daugherty, Harry M 1920 Harding's campaign manager, playing critical role in getting Harding nominated Daugherty, Harry M 1921 Confirmed Att Gen for Harding Daugherty, Harry M 1921 A member of Harding's "Ohio Gang," which controversially played poker regularly at the WH w/ Harding, possibly also drinking illegally. Daugherty, Harry M 1922 Hit w/ Fraud scandal leading to threat of impeachment, but charges are dropped Daugherty, Harry M 1923 His personal assistant commits suicide b/c connected to Tea Pot Dome scandal and illegal bootlegging of alcohol Daugherty, Harry M 1924 bribes and kickbacks with Justice dept revealed during Harding admin Daugherty, Harry M 1924 Refused to resign despite scandals; fired by Coolidge Daugherty, Harry M 1926 Indicted on improperly receiving funds but acquitted after hung jury Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcczar Posted October 7 Author Share Posted October 7 He might be the worst Att Gen ever, considering he's supposed to have 100%+ integrity and uphold the law with that integrity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeP47 Posted October 7 Share Posted October 7 I mean, to be fair, this isn't the thread for any of those three, but the descriptions of those alternatives to Harding really undersell all of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcczar Posted October 7 Author Share Posted October 7 4 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said: I mean, to be fair, this isn't the thread for any of those three, but the descriptions of those alternatives to Harding really undersell all of them. Hiram Johnson was kind of xenophobic, but was otherwise extremely progressive. Were I GOP, and La Follette couldn't get the nomination, I would have probably backed Johnson in the 1920 GOP convention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeP47 Posted October 7 Share Posted October 7 2 minutes ago, vcczar said: Hiram Johnson was kind of xenophobic, but was otherwise extremely progressive. Were I GOP, and La Follette couldn't get the nomination, I would have probably backed Johnson in the 1920 GOP convention. Yeah, I think Lowden is probably the least impressive of the three, and you know how I like to shill for IL regardless of other factors. Wood, while indeed inexperienced politically, was a today overlooked General, but at the time one of the most well known military figures. Comparable to MacArthur in WW2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euri Posted October 7 Share Posted October 7 (edited) 10 minutes ago, vcczar said: Hiram Johnson was kind of xenophobic A big reason I'll vote unfavorable on his poll should we get that far, along with his ~30 year tenure in the Senate and isolationism I don't like Johnson at all Edited October 8 by Euri 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeP47 Posted October 8 Share Posted October 8 Random thought but it's interesting which ones of these get the comments haha. Like 10 minutes from now I'm gonna forget who Harry M Daugherty is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.