In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones recorded a jingle for Rice Krispies. In the television commercial, Mick Jagger sings about “Rice Krispies for you and you and you.”
Folks think the ad was made around 1963 or 1964. That places the commercial around the time of the first albums by the Rolling Stones, including 1964’s The Rolling Stones (called England’s Newest Hitmakers in the U.S.) and 1964’s U.S. album 12 X 5.
Although the Stones themselves do not appear in the commercial, the ad includes what looks like screaming fans at a rock concert. And the voice is unmistakable. Check it out.
On June 12, 1920, Republicans at their National Convention in Chicago nominated Warren Gamaliel Harding for president. Harding’s career continues to divide commentators, with much of the debate on whether he was a horrible president or a president who did some okay things. In addition to those debates about Harding’s career, recent stories about Harding have focused on scandals from his personal life.
A Compromise Candidate at the Convention
Before the convention in 1920, Ohio Senator Harding earlier had been a favorite for the nomination. But by the time the convention started, there were a number of other strong candidates.
Through eight ballots, other candidates received more votes than Harding. Finally, Harding took the lead in the ninth ballot as a compromise between divided voters. Then, the man who was born in Blooming Grove, Ohio on November 2, 1865 won the nomination on the tenth ballot.
A Landside Win
In the fall, Harding and his vice-president candidate Calvin Coolidge won in a landslide, stressing a campaign promise of a return to normalcy. Harding defeated the Democrat ticket of James M. Cox, who like Harding was from Ohio.
Cox was the only person of the 1920 major presidential and vice-presidential candidates who would never sit in the White House. Cox’s vice-presidential candidate, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would be diagnosed with polio less than a year after the election, became president for more than a decade starting in 1933.
Harding’s tenure in the White House was much shorter than Roosevelt’s. In a little more than two years after Harding took office on March 4, 1921, he became ill. And he died from a cerebral hemorrhage on August 2, 1923. Coolidge then became president.
One of the Worst Presidents of All Time?
Despite his short term in office, Harding is largely regarded as one of the worst presidents of all time. For example, U.S. News & World Report has him as the second-worst president of all time.
A wide spectrum of experts and writers are critical of Harding, who was born on November 2, 1865. A recent poll of scholars ranked the twenty-ninth president among the worst presidents.
I remember one of my favorite miniseries from the 1970s, Centennial, about the settling of Colorado, invoked Harding’s name in a non-flattering way. In the final episode, Paul Garrett (David Janssen) referred to Warren G. Harding as one of the “most useful Americans who ever lived.” Garrett explains that Harding created a benchmark for how bad politicians could be. Thus, whenever a politician takes office, they should think of Harding and say, “I will never allow myself to be that bad.”
Harding’s bad reputation largely centers on his lack of leadership while appointing friends who used their offices for financial gain. The most famous example is the Teapot Dome scandal that occurred under his presidency.
Reassessing Harding’s Presidency
Not everybody hates Harding, though. The Warren Harding Home and Museum in Marion, Ohio shows visitors a video that focuses more on the positive aspects of Harding’s life and career.
Similarly, some recently have argued that we should reassess Warren G. Harding’s presidency as pretty good. They claim he stabilized the country, and they argue that his legacy should not be destroyed by scandals where he had no direct involvement. Yet, most still assert that Harding was under-qualified and his actions and in-actions created problems and allowed for the corruption.
Personal Scandals
Beyond the political scandals, there is another side of Harding involving personal scandals. It is these scandals that have garnered Harding more attention in recent years.
Historians have long known Harding was a womanizer, but in 2014 the Library of Congress unsealed some of Harding’s letters that showed a little more of Harding’s personality. The letters, written before and during his tenure as a U.S. senator, were to his lover Carrie Fulton Phillips, who was the wife of a Marion, Ohio, store owner.
In the following segment, John Oliver from Last Week Tonight, gives a brief recap of some of the juicy parts, including Harding’s preference for referring to a certain part of his anatomy as “Jerry.”
Harding was married for 33 years until his death in 1923, but Phillips was not Harding’s only other lover. In 2015, DNA testing confirmed that Harding had fathered a child with Nan Britton during the same period in which he was writing the love letters to Phillips.
Why do we care about Harding’s love life? One may make the case that we should not dig around the private lives of politicians. But when it comes to history, perhaps understanding a little more about Harding may help us understand him as a flawed human being instead of just a ranking on worst presidents lists.
Photo via Library of Congress. Who do you think was the worst president of all time? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Turner Classics Movie host Robert Osborne was born May 3, 1932 in Colfax, Washington. While most people know Osborne for his wonderful hosting duties on TCM (and before that on The Movie Channel), Osborne had a diverse career and started out as an actor before later focusing on writing and journalism.
One of his television roles was an appearance on the pilot for a TV series in 1962. There was a possibility of a regular role, but Osborne did not think that the series, The Beverly Hillbillies, would be much of a success. “The show itself seemed so loony and unimportant,” he later explained, adding, “I was sure the pilot would never sell.” Of course, the series then ran for nine seasons.
In the clip below, you may see a young Robert Osborne in that pilot episode of The Beverly Hillbillies. Check it out.
If that segment makes you want to see the entire episode, you may watch the entire pilot below. Check out “The Clampetts Strike Oil.”
Osborne explained that Lucille Ball had put him under contract at her studio. And it was she who eventually encouraged him to pursue a career in writing instead of acting. She was impressed by his vast knowledge about the history of Hollywood.
In 2015 and 2016, due to health issues, Osborne announced he would not attend the TCM Classic Film Festival. He also had to cut back on his work at TCM, and he passed way on March 6, 2017.
I do like Ben Mankiewicz, who filled in for Osborne in a number of roles, although I miss Osborne. Whenever I watch a movie on TCM, I would hope for Osborne or Mankiewicz to appear. Without them, I feel like I am not getting the whole value of the movie.
Osborne became a part of the life of anyone who watches classic movies. He became a mainstay of TCM since he introduced the first film the network aired, Gone With the Wind, on April 14, 1994.
For one, I’m glad that his career with The Beverly Hillbillies did not quite work out. He brought us a lot of joy, and he was a wonderful and intelligent companion for many nights watching great films. This post was updated March 2017. Leave your two cents in the comments.
This week, Michael Stipe appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to pay tribute to the late David Bowie. It was a rare recent public performance by the former lead singer of R.E.M. and a moving way to honor Bowie with a performance of “The Man Who Sold the World.”
Accompanied only by piano, a bearded Stipe sang a haunting version of Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World.” Check it out. [2018 Update: The video of the performance is no longer available, but the video below contains the audio of Stipe’s appearance.]
Stipe is also taking part in two New York City David Bowie tribute concerts this week. One will be at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, March 31 and the other will be at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, April 1. You may watch a live stream of the April 1 tribute concert at musicofdavidbowie.com with a small donation that goes to the Melodic Caring Project, a non-profit that helps bring streaming music performances to kids in hospitals.
Celia Gómez recently put together a video supercut that compiles many of the movie tributes that have appeared on The Simpsons. The tributes include Mr. Burns as the title character out of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) and Bart Simpsons as Indiana Jones from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
Although most of the tributes are ones most people would catch, some of the best references are ones you may have missed while watching The Simpsons. The cuts showing both the movie scenes and the scenes from The Simpsons highlights the animators’ attention to detail. Check it out.
The music accompanying the video is “Sing Sing Sing With a Swing” by the Benny Goodman Orchestra.
What is your favorite Simpsons movie tribute? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On June 12, 1920, Republicans at 
Turner Classics Movie host 
