Warren G. Harding

photo by Ballard Blog

Tucked away in a forgotten corner of Vancouver's Stanley Park is this memorial to the forgotten Warren G. Harding, President of the United States from 1921-1923. Harding? Why him? He is, after all, often considered the worst president of the 20th century, an amiable and photogenic boob who presided over a corrupt administration of the sort not seen again until the current amiable and photogenic boob came along .

Well, Harding was the first American president to visit Canada. On a western trip in 1923 he stopped in Vancouver on his way to San Francisco where he died of a heart attack. I suppose Vancouverites had been grateful for the attention and found themselves a bit overwrought at his death so soon after his visit. That's what opens checkbooks for this sort of thing. Aside from his tomb in Marion, Ohio, I wouldn't be surprised if this were the only other memorial to the poor fellow.