DAUGHERTY GETS NOD AS ATTORNEY GENERAL
St. Augustine, Florida (JFK+50) On February 21, 1921, President-elect Warren G. Harding announced his readiness to appoint Harry M. Daugherty* Attorney General "if he would accept."
The New York Tribune reported the following day that not only would Daugherty accept, he had.
The President-elect said...
"I find Mr. Daugherty a splendid man, and I think he will make a splendid Attorney General."
Mr. Daugherty issued this statement...
"No man would refuse to serve a friend and his country. I am appreciative of both the honor and the responsibilities."
During his tenure as Attorney General, "Daugherty was suspected of profiting from the sale of government alcohol supplies, failure to enforce prohibition laws and the selling of pardons."
It is widely argued that Daugherty was "undoubtedly one of Harding's worst appointments."
*Harry Micajah Daugherty (1860-1941) was born in Ohio & received his LLB from the University of Michigan in 1881. As a Ohio Republican boss, HMD was instrumental in the political rise of Warren G. Harding.
During his service as AG, HMD was accused of involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal & President Coolidge asked for his resignation in 1924.
Herbert Hoover wrote in his memoirs HMD "should never have been in any government..."
SOURCES
"Daugherty and Hoover Join Cabinet," New York Tribune, February 22, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"Justice Department Scandal," www.u-s-history.com/
