Wikipedia:Peer review/Warren G. Harding/archive1

Warren G. Harding

This peer review discussion has been closed.
I've listed this article for peer review because… I intend to nominate it for FAC. Yes, I know it's long. Most presidents don't have a whole bunch of scandals tagging after them, that have to be explained. Nixon's at least was revealed during his lifetime and fit into the chronology. Harding's were revealed after his death. I've cut considerably

Thanks, Wehwalt (talk) 13:56, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Comments from Dank

Comments. As always, feel free to revert my copyediting. - Dank (push to talk)

• " he lived in rural Ohio all of his life": Coming so early, this sentence will strike some as odd, that a person was a US senator and president while he was living in rural Ohio.

I guess, but they don't live in Washington or they wouldn't be representing their state. Possibly "resided".

Sure, "resided" works. - Dank (push to talk) 18:43, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

• I got down to Start in politics. These are my edits. - Dank (push to talk) 16:04, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Thank you very much for that.--Wehwalt (talk) 16:47, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Comments from Tim riley

First lot. More to come.

• Lead
  • I'll come back to this once I've read the full text.
• Editor
  • "As a politician, and as president" – the latter is surely the former too.
  • "janitor" – a link, perhaps for Britons and any others who don't use the term.
  • "Afterwards, with the financial aid of Dr. Harding…" – I was quite envious of this sentence: there are about five ways I can think of that it could have gone wrong, and this avoids them all.
• Start in politics
  • "the Republican state convention" – is there a suitable article to link to for those unfamiliar with US politics?
  • "Warren Harding continued to become involved" – not sure we need his first name at this point.

• • It's because the previous paragraph is talking about Florence Harding and I feared ambiguity.--Wehwalt (talk) 21:16, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

• State senator
  • "Both Foraker and Hanna supported Harding for state senate in 1899; the editor gained" – I think you could just say "he gained" without danger of ambiguity
  • "Harding always appeared calm" – another place where perhaps a "he" instead of his name might read more smoothly
  • "two terms in the state House of Representatives" – but "state senate" without a capital S earlier on
• Ohio state leader
  • "Harding had little to do, and he did it very well" – I see it's not just Asquith who conjures up Iolanthe.

Surprised you did not comment on the Duke and Duchess, which certainly evokes (and may derive from, for all I know) The Gondoliers.--Wehwalt (talk) 21:16, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

• • "Harding sought and gained the 1910…" – was it the gubernatorial nomination that was deeply divided, or the contest for it?
  • "Taft asked Harding to place his name in nomination" – this is ambiguous. At first I thought "his" was Harding rather than Taft. Would something on the lines of "Taft asked Harding to propose him as candidate" be possible?

Hm, I'll play with it.--Wehwalt (talk) 19:09, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

• Junior senator
  • "took narrow control" – "narrowly took control"?
• General election campaign
  • Could you find it in yourself to bend the rules and resize the July 22 picture?
  • "The Massachusetts governor was not a significant factor" – another place where you could get away with "He", and help the prose flow, I think.
• Appointments and inauguration
  • "the first sitting senator to be elected to the White House" – I was v. surprised to read this, and I wonder if the fact might be worth mentioning in the lead.
  • "Albert B. Fall of New Mexico for Interior Secretary" – the "for" seems odd here
  • The Harding Cabinet: to an English eye the order of precedence seems peculiar: is this how it was published?

It's by cabinet rank, which is the date of founding of the department.--Wehwalt (talk) 19:09, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

More shortly. This is, as you say, a long article, but so far I'm not finding it one word too long: top-notch stuff. Tim riley talk 19:00, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for that, and for being so quick to review.--Wehwalt (talk) 19:09, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Where I haven't responded, I've done it or something similar. Up to date. Thanks again.--Wehwalt (talk) 21:16, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Second lot

• Sorry, this is out of chronological order, but I've just noticed that in "Convention", Murray is mentioned as though we already know who he is: a word or two of context would be good.
• Disarmament
  • "setting forth" – sounds a bit Shakespearean. Perhaps setting out?
  • "run the fleet as profitably as possible until they could be sold" – singular noun but plural pronoun.
• Postwar recession and recovery
  • "the reduction of income taxes (raised during the war)" – if the structure of the paragraph will bear the weight I think the rates – mentioned in the next paragraph – would sit more naturally here.
  • "excess profits tax on corporations be repealed" – are taxes, rather than laws, repealed?

I've avoided it, but the subject of legislation can be repealed by legislation, not just the act itself in AmEng in my experience. For example, some people want to repeal Obamacare.

• • "became a feeding frenzy" – perhaps a slightly lurid phrase for our sober columns?

I'm inclined to let it stand. I can't think of an alternative that would work well, and this was the Roaring Twenties after all.

• Business and labor
  • "the smartest 'gink' I know" – what is a gink? ("She gave those poor Egyptian ginks, Something else to watch beside the Sphinx" – P G Wodehouse)

interwiki link to Wiktionary. I would imagine def. 2 was intended.

• • "with a view towards ending it" – "to" rather than "towards" is the usual construction, I think.
• Civil rights and immigration
  • "not restrict immigration from northern European nations, but would bar many Italians and Jews" – the latter surprised me: wasn't most Jewish immigration to the U.S. from northern Europe?

Apparently as they were not legally citizens, they fell under no quota. I will get down to cases, and blame the Irish as usual. My forebears got in a few years earlier, were already here, or got in through Canada.

• Judicial appointments
  • "Harding also appointed 6 judges…" – do you follow a rule not to mix numerals and number-words in the same sentence? It looks a bit odd to me, but de gustibus.

I didn't change existing text there. I have now.

• Political setbacks and western tour
  • "would see that party fall to a 221–213 majority. In the Senate, the Republicans lost eight seats, and would have 51 of 96 senators in the new Congress, which Harding would not survive to meet." – a lot of "woulds" here.
  • "a celebration organized by venerable pioneer Ezra Meeker" – how nice to meet the splendid old boy again!

Advertising, I fear. :) Still, Meeker was a well-known figure at the time and it's justifiable (also note the Scobey medal from my collection. I had a Mellon medal ready if needed).--Wehwalt (talk) 12:59, 18 June 2015 (UTC)

• Teapot Dome
  • "This is the only place where I think we have too much information for the main article. The Teapot Dome article is 800 words long and this section is a little over 600. I really think it should be pruned. The details belong in the TD article, in my view. What we want in the main Harding article is just that Fall was on the take, authorised a dodgy deal, was caught after Harding's death and went to gaol, and that Harding didn't know there was anything criminal going on. I really think you could lose the third and fourth paragraphs almost entirely.

I've cut it some. I don't think our article on Teapot Dome is adequate.

• Notes
  • Note b: for what it's worth (possibly nothing) the Oxford English Dictionary gives an 1857 instance of "normalcy" as its earliest example, in an American dictionary of mathematics. As for the wonderful "bloviate", if it ever had the neutral Ohio meaning of sitting round and talking, no-one has told the OED, which gives examples of its use from 1845 and 1887 which plainly mean "using inflated or empty rhetoric".

The first is what Russell has to say. I will in-line cite to Dean on the second, being respectful of the OED.

• General
  • I don't know that I have worked out your policy on using present-v-past tenses when telling us an author's views. "Murray noted" but "Dean deems", "Sinclair suggested" but "Coffee faults". In particular we go from past to present tense in one sentence at "Coffey deemed Dean's book the most revisionist biography of Harding to date, and faults him…"

If they're breathing, it's present tense. I've tried all past tense but run into flak.

• • "Possessive plurals for people with names ending in s: "Debs' sentence" but "Hughes's State Department", "Forbes' main task" but "Adams's fictionalized account" and so on.

Curses. I'll fix that. It's without the s, if only to tie in with Veterans' Bureau.

• Lead
  • The only comment I have on the lead is that you have enough material in the main text to justify beefing up the end of the first para of the lead to the effect that he is regularly ranked as one of the worst U. S. presidents. Otherwise, an ideal summary, I 'd say.

That's all from me. I very much enjoyed and admired this article. You will, I trust, ping me when it arrives at FAC. – Tim riley talk 10:05, 18 June 2015 (UTC)

Of course. Thank you very much for the review. I'll work through the remaining.--Wehwalt (talk) 12:59, 18 June 2015 (UTC)

Comments from BB

First batch, down to 1920:

Lead

• "he lived in rural Ohio all his life" – well, except for the years he was president.

He still lived in Marion, Ohio during that time. The president does not form a residence in DC while he is in the White House.

Childhood and education

• Is the reason knowm as to why Tryon, after qualifying as a doctor and starting a medical practice, suddenly became a newspaper proprietor?

He was always wheeling and dealing. I don't think he owned that much of it, but one of his son's biographies said it was the best investment he ever made.

Editor

• "Upon graduating in 1882, Harding moved back in with his parents in Marion" – this largely repeats the information at the end of the previous section.
• "Harding returned from Chicago to find that the paper had been reclaimed by the sheriff". Why did this happen?

The collateral that Harding had used to secure his paper was reclaimed due to an unrelated judgment. I felt it too much detail.

• "leaving an estate of $850,000 in 1923" – I'm wondering if providing this information at this point isn't jumping the gun a bit? Are we to assume that all his wealth came from these local investments?

I'm assuming the reader knows the basic facts of Harding's life. They did not all come from his investments. His salary, I believe, was $75,000 a year, which even with expenses he was expected to meet, usually gave presidents something to retire on even before they got pensions.--Wehwalt (talk) 21:01, 18 June 2015 (UTC)

• Would it be worth mentioning at this point that Florence was some years older than Warren? From the little that I've read on Harding, that may have been a factor in their relationship.

Start in politics

• "sometimes sending Warren to the bank with a gallon (3.8 l) full in each hand" – slightly perplexing. A gallon of what? As far as I'm aware, a "gallon" is a liquid measurement, not a receptacle.
• "Warren Harding continued to become involved in Republican politics." Unnecessary sentence. I'd begin: " In 1892, Harding traveled to Washington..." etc

State senator

• Clarify somwhere that the normal term for a state senator was two years
• "he first met" → "he met" ("first" is implicit in the context)

Ohio state leader

• "Both Herrick..." – stray capital as presently phrased
• Is Hanna's death relevant?

Not really, but it gets him out of the picture. I can have him fade away.

• "Roosevelt, running ran under the label of the Progressive Party, and Taft split the Republican vote, and Taft split the Republican vote..." For greater clarity I would say: "The Republican vote was split between Taft, the party's official candidate, and Roosevelt, running under the label of the Progressive Party. This allowed..." etc

Election of 1914

• "In 1914, the start of World War I, and the prospect of a Catholic senator from Ohio increased nativist sentiment." Additional punc needed, probably a comma after "senator from Ohio"
• "...the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, led by President Wilson." My understanding of the separation of powers in the US constitution is that the president is not the leader of Congress as implied here. Perhaps, "the Democrats, led by President Wilson, controlled both houses of Congress".
• "He voted for the Eighteenth Amendment, which imposed Prohibition after successfully moving to modify it..." Again, the missing comma, this time after "Prohibition" – otherwise the sentence becomes meaningless.
• "Despite increasing Republican unity, Hughes was defeated by Wilson". I'd amplify this a bit – you've mentioned conventions, but not the election. Suggest "In the November 1916 presidential election, despite increasing Republican unity, Hughes was narrowly defeated by Wilson". (It was narrow, wasn't it? In the film, Wilson went to bed thinking that he had lost.)
• "By May 1918" → "In May 1918..."

Very interesting thus far. I suppose we get to the seamier stuff soon. Brianboulton (talk) 19:04, 18 June 2015 (UTC)

Mostly at the end. Some tantalyzing references first. I'll work though these and post any additional comments. Thank you for the review.--Wehwalt (talk) 21:01, 18 June 2015 (UTC)

Part II: not much here, and still waiting for the sleaze:

Decision to run; primary campaign

• "Harding, while he wanted to be president, was as much motivated in entering the race by his desire to keep control of Ohio Republican politics..." I would delete "in entering the race", which tends to distort the meaning – it suggests that he entered the race in order to strengthen his position in Ohio, which doesn't make much sense in view of what you describe as his "low-key announcement".

He really did, or rather was hedging. He had set himself up for either alternative. Harding may not have been the brightest bulb in the bunch, but there was nothing wrong with his political strategy.

Convention

• "... behind the three main candidates, former justice Hughes, and Herbert Hoover" – I struggled with this, until I realised that an "as well as" is implied after "the three main candidates". It might be as well to actually insert it.
• "Harding gained votes on each of the next four ballot..." – I imagine that "ballot" should be "ballots".

General election campaign

• "like McKinley had in 1896" → delete "had"
• "In Marion, Harding ran his campaign." As the previous paragraph begins "Harding elected to conduct a front porch campaign", do we need this second statement?

It's to emphasize he wasn't being a pretty face, he was actually doing the work of running the campaign, with Daugherty's assistance locally and Hays in New York.

• " and stated that reservations to the treaty might be necessary" – do you mean "modifications"? Otherwise I'm unsure what Cox was stating.

Pipe inserted.

• "Wooster College" – I bet Tim enjoyed that. I clicked on it, and find that it is actually "The College of Wooster", which is even more delightful.
  • My eyebrow rose so much that my monocle fell from its socket. Behave! Tim riley talk 22:26, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

They would have named it the College of Jeeves, but he was too self-effacing.

Appointments and inauguration

• I think the "United States" in front of Hoover's appointment could be reasonably assumed.
• In the inauguration photograph, it looks very much as though the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt has put in an appearance (just to the right of the justice's raised hand).

I think that's Dr. Harding.

• I believe that Wilson did not attend his successor's inauguration; is this worth mentioning?

It was for health reasons. He accompanied Harding to the Capitol, signed a last few minute bills, but did not stay for the inaugural itself. It wasn't a situation like in 1869, where Johnson and Grant hated each other. Things were more leisurely back then, Harding wasn't sworn in until after 2 p.m. I don't think it's worth a mention.

Foreign policy

• I'm not sure that "Ending the war" is the best sub-section heading. THe general perception is that WW1 ended in November 1918, despite the technicality of unratified peace treaties. People might wonder who was still fighting in 1921. I'd replace "Ending the war" with "Peace treaties" or something similar.

Perhaps "formally" would improve it.

• Is the "took flight" quotation from Harding's address? This should be clarified.
• "Harding and Hughes were widely applauded for their work in the press" → "Harding and Hughes were widely applauded in the press for their work".

Should be through tomorrow. Brianboulton (talk) 22:18, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. Sleaze is at the end to ensure reviewers get through the dry stuff (and I don't mean Prohibition).--Wehwalt (talk) 23:10, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

Here are my final thoughts, on a long but generally fascinating read. It strikes me that there have probably been worse presidents than Harding in my lifetime, but maybe they were luckier. The ineffable Eland ranks him sixth in order of successful presidents (Tyler, Cleveland, Van Buren, Hayes and Arthur are ranked above him) and first on the short-term "Peace, Prosperity and Liberty" scale. That might be a rehabilitation too far.

Domestic policy

• An example of where savings could be made from the daunting wordcount is the phrase "When Harding addressed the joint session", which could be deleted with no effect on the prose. Likewise, "But it was not until May 27 that" could easily be "On May 27..."

On the first, I don't feel I can as there are a couple of mentions of the address later. And it was a significant event in Harding's presidency. I would not like to ignore it. On the second, I don't think I can entirely ignore Congress waiting almost seven weeks. Otherwise, there's a bit of a hole that might puzzle some readers.

• " A bonus, not payable in cash, was voted to soldiers despite Coolidge's veto in 1924." I really feel this is outside Harding's story. If it's worth noting, it should be by means of a footnote.

This was an important issue, which had repercussions later, as with the Bonus Army. I think it should be given some sort of resolution here.

• "Harding, in his first annual message to Congress..." – I'd flip this to: "In his first annual message to Congress, Harding..."
• Are hotels "raised"? I would have thought "built" was more normal

Avoiding dual use of word. I'll look at it again.

Changed to "erected".

• "As the strike became protracted, Harding offered compromise to settle it. The miners agreed to return to work..." What was the nature of Harding's apparently effective compromise?

It was what was set forth in the next sentence. I've made the connection clearer.

• "Harding granted reprieves to almost a thousand immigrants" – would "amnesties" be more fitting than "reprieves" which has a particular connotation (in UK at least)?

Avoided. "Stay of execution" is probably more common in the US, and reprieve a more general term.

• In the short "judicial appointments" subsection the second "main article" link is rather awkwardly placed in mid-text. I would place the two links together under the section title.

Final months, death, and funeral

• Link Fairbanks
• Perhaps specifically date the Alaska speech, since it was the last he gave.

The last was in Seattle.

Scandals

• First mention of the Ohio Gang, with no explanation as to who they were, so readers have to use the link. A few extra words of identification would be helpful.
• In the second paragraph, three successive sentences begin "Harding..."

Teapot Dome

• I suggest two very small prose changes. First, as the scandal is basically about corrupt lease arrangenents, I'd say Doheny "had been awarded a lease to drill along the edges of the naval reserve, Elk Hills..." And I'd say "that Teapot Dome had also been leased", to emphasise continuity in the prose.

Justice Department

• The link on Sawyer in the Smith/Sawyer image goes to "Charles W Sawyer", not the right man. Your guy is Charles E Sawyer – is that him in the picture? The image page appears to have it wrong.
• "Smith deposited $50,000 in a joint account with Daugherty used for political purposes" – needs either a comma after "Daugherty", or the words "which was"

Veterans' Bureau

• You mention a firm called Thompson-Black, and another called Thompson and Kelly, but you don't identify the "Thompson" who avoided his jail sentence by dying.

Extramarital affairs

• "Harding had an extramarital affair with Carrie Fulton Phillips of Marion". I see that this ended while Harding was a senator, but as she is thought to be the love of his life, can we be told how long the affair went on? And why it ended?

The reason why it ended is not agreed upon by biographers. I've seen the blackmail that we've got in our Phillips article. Maybe. Russell reports that Jim Phillips, during the Front Porch Campaign, had the only building in Marion that was not flag-draped as silent protest against the affair, that it was causing an open scandal with reporters in town, and that he and his wife were hustled out of town on a paid junket to Japan. I'll add a bit, but for the most part, I don't think I can economically go into the issue.

Historical view

• Check title of Joe Mitchell Chapple's book/ Life of times of... doesn't seem right
• "In 2004, John Dean, noted for his involvement in another presidential scandal, Watergate..." You've been referring to him as "Dean" since the first linked mention early in the article. As I didn't follow the link. I had no idea that this was the Watergate Dean. Perhaps his identification with Watergate could come earlier.

General

• I think there are a few too many images—they disrupt the text in several places. There is clearly no shortage of wholly relevant images, so I don't really see the need to crowd out the article with the more marginal ones. Thus, I would consider deleting the following:

• The Chicago Coliseum
• Roosevelt and Cox
• The Mexican president
• The "camping" photo (Ford, Edison, etc)
• Debs
• The Taft court
• Doheny and his lawyer
• Smith and (presumably) Sawyer

I'll cut all of these but Roosevelt/Cox (on the grounds anything a president does before becoming same is worth taking a second look at and Roosevelt is visibly a) Roosevelt and b) standing).

That still leaves 25 images in the article. I wwould also recommend that you reposition the official White House portrait in a less crowded spot.

Brianboulton (talk) 23:16, 20 June 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for that and for your kind words. I will work through these. I hope the sleaze was worth the wait.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:18, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

Comments from Coemgenus

Not much left to address here, but I found a few:

Editor

• "some have suggested..." Who? Schlesinger?

Yes, he does but he's not alone. I'd rather not ID for prose reasons but I can add a second source.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:18, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

Start in politics

• "Although Democrats generally won Marion County's offices, Harding ran for auditor in 1895, losing, but doing better than expected." The "although" is confusing here. Maybe "Democrats generally won Marion County's offices; when Harding ran for auditor in 1895, he lost, but did better than expected."

Ohio state leader

• "On the 22nd, Harding in the Star turned tail and declared for Taft, deeming Foraker defeated." "Turned tail" is a little casual. Maybe "reversed himself"?

Judicial appointments

• Is there a way to place both hatnotes at the top? It looks kind of sloppy to have the one in the middle, followed by a one-sentence paragraph.
• Other than a few minor copyedits, that's all I have. Nice article, I look forward to seeing it at FAC. --Coemgenus (talk) 15:11, 20 June 2015 (UTC)

References

• One last thing: you have Graff among the sources, but never actually cite to it. --Coemgenus (talk) 16:17, 20 June 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, I will work through these as well.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:18, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

Comments from Csisc

Dear Mr.,

I thank you for your work about Harding. It is a very excellent work. However, try to involve more details about Historical view by including some quotes and citations.

Yours Sincerely,

--Csisc (talk) 14:37, 28 June 2015 (UTC)

Thank you but there are some?--Wehwalt (talk) 17:29, 28 June 2015 (UTC)

Yes, please see Maranell, G. M. (1970). The evaluation of presidents: An extension of the Schlesinger polls. The Journal of American History, 57(1), 104-113.‏, Coolidge, C., & Hoover, H. (1923). Warren G. Harding. Journal of Education, 663-663.‏, Downes, R. C. (1970). Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865-1920. The Ohio State University Press.‏, Morello, J. A. (2001). Selling the President, 1920: Albert D. Lasker, advertising, and the election of Warren G. Harding (Vol. 1920). Greenwood Publishing Group.‏, Mee Jr, C. L. (2014). The Ohio Gang: The World of Warren G. Harding. Rowman & Littlefield.‏, Bagby, W. M. (1955). The" Smoke Filled Room" and the Nomination of Warren G. Harding. The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 657-674.‏, Grieb, K. J. (1969). Warren G. Harding and the Dominican Republic US Withdrawal, 1921-1923. Journal of Inter-American Studies, 425-440.‏ and Harding, W. G. (1920). Less Government in Business and More Business in Government. World's Work, 25-27.‏ would help you in that. Yours Sincerely, --Csisc (talk) 16:07, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Some of these are already cited. I wanted a copy of Downes but did not find it conveniently, but his views were mentioned in other works. Downes only covered the pre-presidency and I'm not sure how much that plays into historical view (other than being shaped to fit the image of Harding as amiable dunce). I will work through the journal articles. Really, I think the 2014 source in the article, Coffey, covered it well. It's always very useful to find a source that discusses the other sources, because then you can't be accused of picking and choosing to suit your own views. I thought of including "legacy" but decided that Harding's legacy is itself something not agreed upon by his biographers (whether praise is due to Hughes or Harding for whatever credit is due for the naval conference, for example, or the blame for Teapot Dome) so the best lens for this article to focus on Harding in retrospect is how he is depicted in biographies. Open to other ideas. If there's something specific we are leaving out, let me please know as well.--Wehwalt (talk) 06:40, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Comments from SNUGGUMS

Seems very well-sourced and detailed from a glance. While I found no copyright violations with the images, try to give more descriptive captions for File:Warren Harding c1882 age 17.jpg, File:Florence Kling Harding-01.jpg, File:Harding Memorial Marion Ohio.jpg, and File:Harry Daugherty, bw photo portrait 1920.jpg, especially since simply including names in a caption doesn't really give any benefit. I'll review the prose later this week, but out of curiosity, is there are any particular reason you aren't going for a GAN before FAC? Snuggums (talk / edits) 01:32, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

I think FA is the goal and it will get more FA level review here. Thanks for your comments. I will look at them.--Wehwalt (talk) 10:21, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

Let's have a look at other bits:

• For the infobox:

• add when he married Florence
• add "politician" to professions; he wasn't just a newspaper editor!

But that's basically true of any officeholder of more than minimal service. Isn't that taken for granted?--Wehwalt (talk) 06:40, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

• remove "Baptist" since he wasn't really noted for his religious affiliations

• No ... but I hesitate to remove it since people may come here looking for that.--Wehwalt (talk) 06:40, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

• For the lead:

• "When not yet 20 years of age" is a bit wordy, try something like "Before turning 20 years old"
• "The" is part of the title in The Marion Star, which should be fully italicized
• I'd specify that the tour mentioned in "Harding died of heart disease in San Francisco while on a western tour" was to prepare for campaigning in the 1924 election

• It had governmental purposes as well. A number of government departments had jurisdiction over Alaska Territory and Harding wanted to "see for himself" so as to be better able to decide competing claims. I've changed to "western speaking tour"--Wehwalt (talk) 06:40, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

• For "Early life and career":

• Under "Childhood and education":

• "His paternal ancestors, mostly Baptists, migrated to Ohio around 1820" isn't really necessary
• It would help to include the names of Harding's siblings

• The sisters, while he was always close to them, really never played a part in his life outside Marion. I'm minded to keep them out.

• While you don't necessarily have to go into extensive detail, I figured simply mentioning the names could help since the text says "Harding was the eldest of eight children", and readers would likely ask themselves what they were named after reading that. Snuggums (talk / edits) 16:39, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

• What was the last name of the great-great-grandfather Amos mentioned?

I'll be back with more later..... Snuggums (talk / edits) 17:54, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

• Under "Editor":

• "Marion Daily Star" should read The Marion Star and doesn't need to be linked again per WP:OVERLINK since it was already linked within the article body
• I think "socialized" would be a better word than "hobnobbed"

• Socialized has a double meaning.

• "Dr." from "with the financial aid of Dr. Harding" tends not to be used per WP:CREDENTIAL

• It's used here for disambiguation.

• When did Harding first meet Florence?

• The sources do not say. They lived in the same town together for years ... they may not have known.

• No need to include how much older Florence was

• Brianboulton thought otherwise, see above.

• Any particular reason Florence's mother's name isn't included? I understand mentioning Amos based on Harding's conflicts with him, though it seems somewhat incomplete to mention one parent but not the other.

• I don't think she had enough affect on Harding's life directly to be included. Amos was a significant figure in Marion, probably notable.

• "though who was pursuing whom is uncertain, depending on who later told the story of their romance" is unnecessary

• Fits well with Harding as henpecked husband, for which there is some historical evidence.

• "The" is part of the title for The New York Sun, which should be fully italicized

• For "Rising politician (1897–1919)":

• Under "State senator":

• What was the sister's name from "He had his sister appointed a teacher at the Ohio School for the Blind"?

• Under "U.S. senator":

• Within "Election of 1914":

• I don't think everyone reading this is automatically going to know what "conciliatory" means

• For "Presidential election of 1920":

• Under "General election campaign":

• I'm not sure if "Harding/Coolidge ticket" complies with MOS:SLASH

• It's common usage.

• "William G. McAdoo" → William Gibbs McAdoo
• The Gibbs is shortened in most sources that I've seen,
• "So it proved:" is unnecessary

• For "President (1921–1923)":

• Under "Appointments and inauguration":

• The second paragraph seems like it belongs in the previous section rather than here

It's difficult to place, but I think it best to jump from election to inauguration, then back and fill a bit.

• I could be wrong, but something tells me the box for "The Harding Cabinet" should be in prose form instead.

• Most president articles if not all have one, including a fistful of FAs. It would take FOREVER in prose to account for all the cabinet shifts, and incense reviewers, who did not like it when I tried a similar thing in McKinley.

• Under "Domestic policy":

• Expand or merge the two paragraphs within "Debs and political prisoners" and the two within "Judicial appointments" subsections per MOS:PARAGRAPHS, which discourages really short paragraphs

• We are not going to expand an already long article with filler to make paragraphs longer, and the prose does not conveniently allow for a merger. They are different subjects within a topic.

• Under "Final months, death, and funeral":

• Within "Political setbacks and western tour":
• "lame duck" for lame-duck session should be hyphenated

• Merge the last two paragraphs per MOS:PARAGRAPHS

• Three sentences seems adequate for a final paragraph. I think we're getting into eye appeal here, which is a bit subjective.

• Under "Scandals":

• Within "Teapot Dome":

• The last two paragraphs should be merged per MOS:PARAGRAPHS

• Adjusted instead.

• For "Extramarital affairs"

• "alleging that her child" → "alleging her daughter Elizabeth"
• "deteriorated" would be better to use than "fallen badly" from "The late president's reputation had fallen badly"

That's about all from me. It is overall a well composed article, but needs some touching up before FAC. Snuggums (talk / edits) 16:39, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for your review. Where I haven't commented, I've implemented. The MOS is advice, for the most part, and does not bind us in every situation.--Wehwalt (talk) 01:56, 11 July 2015 (UTC)