Bush Is No Reagan; He’s a Harding — ‘Conservatives are claiming the new administration of George W. Bush

is less like his father’s than that of Ronald Reagan. But a close reading of

history suggests it’s more like that of Warren G. Harding.

It’s not just that Harding was an affable but not too bright politician

chosen for office by “fifteen men in a smoke filled room,” or that his

campaign slogan, “Back to normalcy,” reflected his tendency to mangle

the English language (he’d meant to say, “normality”).

Harding became the 1920 Republican standard-bearer after the

front-runners deadlocked at an oil dominated party convention in

Chicago. He won the backing of big business based on his pledge to cut

the tax rate for the top brackets (what Al Gore would call, “the top one

percent”). As President, Harding fulfilled this pledge, even though

Americans making below $66,000 saw no tax-relief.

Harding also filled his cabinet with a combination of old cronies and top

industry officials. Muckraker H.L. Mencken described Harding’s cabinet

as “three highly intelligent men of self-interest, six jackasses and one

common crook.” ‘ AlterNet