The high mortality rate of Presidents (18.2%)

By Jack Brummet, Presidents Editor

With an 18.2% mortality rate, the occupation of being President is far riskier than coal mining, law enforcement, working on a bomb squad, or as a daredevil.  Of the 44 Presidents, eight went out the door feet first; four from natural causes and four from assassination.  Warren Gamaliel Harding (POTUS 29), pictured below, died of a heart attack after two scandal-filled years in office.

POTUS	President	Days in office	Date of death	Cause of death	Age
9	William Henry Harrison	31	4/4/1841	Pneumonia/pleurisy	68
12	Zachary Taylor	491	7/9/1850	Acute Gastroenteritis	65
16	Abraham Lincoln	1,503	4/15/1865	Assassinated	56
20	James A. Garfield	199	9/9/1881	Assassinated	49
25	William McKinley	1,654	9/14/01	Assassinated	58
29	Warren G. Harding	881	8/2/23	Heart attack	57
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	4,422	4/12/45	Cerebral hemorrhage	63
35	John F. Kennedy	1,036	11/22/63	Assassinated	46

 

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A most excellent photograph of the 29th President of the United States, Warren G. Harding

By Jack Brummet, Presidents Editor

Warren G. Harding was one of the most interesting, and most corrupt Presidents of the United States ever.  He was the first incumbent Senator ever to be elected President.  He was only President for a little over two years when he keeled over and died, not long after the Teapot Dome scandal broke.  History has not looked on his Presidency favorably, although his administration had several notable accomplishments, including halving the unemployment rate.

Historians have almost never given Harding positive presidential reviews, mainly due to the numerous scandals that enveloped his administration.  His presidency has therefore usually been ranked very low on the Presidential scale...right near the bottom.  The Wikipedia entry for Harding is pretty well-balanced captures both his highs and lows.  Check it out here. 

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POTUS 29 - President Warren G, Harding, who didn't quite live to rue the day

Click to enlarge

A Democratic leader, William Gibbs McAdoo, called Harding's speeches "an army of pompous phrases moving across the landscape in search of an idea."

President Harding is often considered the most corrupt President ever (check out "The Teapot Dome Scandal"), in a close horse race with POTUS 38, President Richard M. Nixon. Like Nixon, he was probably less an actual crook than a chronic and pathetically inept judge of associates. He was a machine politician and came to Washington with baggage: an army of wardheelers and bosses. Many were indicted and convicted and served prison time.

President Harding never had to face total ignominy, alas; he died on a west coast trip two years into the 29th presidency.

Some writers and historians believe he was poisoned by his wife, who was fed up with his infidelities. Some scholars give this credence since she would not agree to an autopsy.

President Harding was succeeded by his Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge. Keep cool.
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