The 29th President of the United States of America, Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 - August 2, 1923), was initially very popular. However, subsequent scandals during his presidency such as the Teapot Dome and an affair eroded his popularity. His stance on civil rights for African Americans is illustrated in a campaign speech from October 10, 1920:
". . . But I wouldn't be fit to be president of the United States if I didn't tell you the same things here in the South that I tell in the North. I believe in race equality before the law. You can't give one right to a white man and deny it to a black man. But I want you to know that I do not mean that white people and black shall be forced to associate together in accepting their equal rights at the hands of the nation."
This same viewpoint was reiterated on October 26, 1921, during a speech to a segregated audience of 20,000 whites and 10,000 blacks in Birmingham, Alabama. Harding did call for the passage on anti-lynching legislation and supported Leonidas Dyer's federal anti-lynching bill. While the bill passed the House of Representatives in January 1922, it was filibustered by Southern Democrats after reaching the Senate. The bill was withdrawn so that another bill Harding favored could be debated and many blamed Harding for the defeat of the Dyer's bill.