THE AVAILABLE MAN

The first volume in ""The Macmillan Presidents"" series is less a biography and more of an account of the American political scene in the early 1900's and the conditions that brought about Harding's election to the Presidency. Harding emerges as the proto-typical politician of his time; hail fellow, well met; noble looking; and a small town booster who could never have risen to the intellectual demands of his office but who might have begun to realize its ethical boundaries if he had lived. It was only at his death that he started to become aware of the scope of Presidential responsibility. Barely mentioning the scandals in Harding's private life, this long overdue political biography presents a fascinating study of a mediocre man in high office. Excellent reading for students of American politics.