New-York tribune., 1920-07-26
The Harding Character

The Harding Character
,ss,There seems no question that Sen
+.ater Harding's speech of acceptance
has gained favor the more it has
been read and discussed Hasty
critics of. the highbrow school dis
srfissed It out of hand for lack Of lit
erary style-it is certainly utterly
saacking in that literary facility
which is, second nature to President
Wilson. The intelleetuals jeered at
.it'because so much was tentative and
.hesitant and no complete and posi-
s5tave cures were promised.
Nevertheless popular opinion has
been. increasingly favorable to the
speech, and, we think, for clear and
sufficient reason. That reason we
swould define as the DOWNRIGHT sim
certify of its utterance, the solid basis
.af character, that underlies -,onvinc-
.ingly. the entire document.
sjStriking proof of the point is
furnished by the report of the cere-
monies of acceptance at Marion,
written BY an eyewitness, of indie
spendent politics. Mr.. Mark Sullivan,
for "The New York Evening Post"
Fa>the outsider the occasion seemed
certain to be wholly perfunctory
"one-in the. nature of things. So
Mr.. Sullivan expected it to prove.
ION the contrary, to his surprise, he
found the ceremony exalted and
moving" Why? Here is Mr.. Sulli-
tvan's analysis:
Zone was quite sure that much of
.s9this solemnity came from the audi
ence, but probably more of it came
from Harding himself. Not that he
consciously created it. He has al
most nothing of the dramatic in him,
but he was obviously and deeply
moved and moved in way that was
perfectly in tune with the occasion.
Gle vas the picture of difhdent,
almost shy, man called upon to &C
e., cept a high responsibility, sincerely
wishing 20 be sure that the country
" understood his limitations, earnestly
.. determined to make clear exactly
what were his ideas for the admins
- tration of the office to which he was
.--.' being invited; rather more con-
.cerped, you felt, with giving people
reasons why they might properly pre-
1.-The office for himself"
There is here we'll suggested a
basic appeal of the Harding candi-
dacy. For lack of more precise
definition i've offer the word "charac-
ter" to cover those very fundamen-
tai qualities of rectitude and devo-
.,hon' and steady intellectual processes
Which MIR, Harding displayed in his
speech of acceptance. 1t was essen
TALLY an American scene that Mr..
Sstilvan described, and the qualities
which Mr. Harding has to offer are
prominently American qualities.
=. The, speech includes no intellectual
speculations. The phrases are neither
imaginative nor striking In style it
is the effOrt-sometimes laborious
and involved-of a man to be accu-
rate, painstakingly accurate, and
trankr-neither pretending to more
deflniteness.e upon any particular
issue than was in his mind nor hold
ing. back any doubts or hesitations
which he felt. The substance of the
speech bore out the picture drawn by
Mr. Sullivan, "a diffldent, almost a
shy, man. called upon to accept a
high, responsibility and sincerely
wishing to be sure that the country
understood both his limitations and
his plans. .~s
'.N. We think the impression thus con-
veyed by Senator Harding will grow
with the campaign. We think it is
the true impression of the manner of
map Senator Harding is and the
manner of President he will make.
These Americans who prefer a
superman in the Office will obviously
no. vote for him. On the other hand
he will appeal strongly to- all who
hold to the older American tradition
which views the President as a CO.
operating executive head, wro can
best serve his country by organizing
III his. Administration the best minds
Of his party, and conducting the
business of the country by ard with
their advice.
,.s.-- r-. - -
sas,'