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A Time of Scandal: Charles R. Forbes, Warren G. Harding, and the Making of the Veterans Bureau
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A Time of Scandal: Charles R. Forbes, Warren G. Harding, and the Making of the Veterans Bureau
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Overview
In the early 1920s, as the nation recovered from World War I, President Warren G. Harding founded the U.S. Veterans Bureau, now known as the Department of Veterans Affairs, to treat disabled veterans. He appointed his friend, decorated veteran Colonel Charles R. Forbes, as founding director. Forbes lasted only eighteen months in the position before stepping down under a cloud of suspicion. In 1926—after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud the federal government by rigging government contracts—he was sent to Leavenworth Penitentiary. Although he was known in his day as a drunken womanizer, and as a corrupt toady of a weak president, the question persists: was Forbes a criminal or a scapegoat?
Historian Rosemary Stevens tells Forbes’s story anew, drawing on previously untapped records to reveal his role in America’s commitment to veterans. She explores how Forbes’s rise and fall in Washington illuminates Harding’s efforts to bring business efficiency to government. She also examines the scandal in the context of class, professionalism, ethics, and etiquette in a rapidly changing world. Most significantly, Stevens proposes a revisionist view of both Forbes and Harding: They did not defraud the government of billions and do not deserve the reputation they have carried for a hundred years.
Packed with conniving friends, FBI agents, and rival politicians as well as gamblers, revelers, and wronged wives, A Time of Scandal will appeal to anyone interested in political gossip, presidential politics, the “Ohio Gang,” and the 1920s.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781421421315 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Johns Hopkins University Press |
Publication date: | 04/27/2021 |
Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 408 |
File size: | 6 MB |
Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Preface
Part I. American Dreams
Chapter 1: Hidden Stories, Fateful Meetings
Chapter 2: Washington, DC, March-April 1921
Chapter 3: The Dream of Efficiency in Government
Part II. Reality Checks
Chapter 4: Harding's Flagship Program, the US Veterans Bureau
Chapter 5: High Stakes: Controlling Veterans Hospitals
Chapter 6: Hype, Hooch and the Art of the Con
Part III. Winds of Change
Chapter 7: Taking a Friend on a Business Trip West
Chapter 8: Harding Resurgent: White House versus Forbes
Chapter 9: Transitions in 1923: Forbes's Resignation to Harding's Death
Part IV. Scandal Time
Chapter 10: Coolidge, Common Cause and the Politics of Scandal
Chapter 11: Rush to Judgment: A Senate Committee Investigates Forbes
Chapter 12: Scandal Weavers: Scripting a Story of Rogues, Graft and Greed.
Chapter 13: The Trial of Charles R. Forbes
Part V. Aftermath
Chapter 14: Making the Best of It
Chapter 15: Charlie and Bob, Masks and Mirrors
Coda
Acknowledgments
Time Line
Notes
Index
What People are Saying About This
Soundly researched and superbly written, this intriguing and important book will appeal to a broad audience. Weaving together the biography of Charles R. Forbes with the tumultuous early years of the Veterans Bureau and its place in the 'Harding scandals,' the author presents a rich historical account that features hubris, deception, vindictiveness, and an interconnected series of cascading events.
A splendid (and highly revisionist) book. A Time of Scandal, written with verve and intelligence by a major player in the history of American medicine and public health, is a fresh, convincing look at Warren Harding's presidency and Charles Forbes's tenure at the Veterans Bureau.
A splendid (and highly revisionist) book. A Time of Scandal, written with verve and intelligence by a major player in the history of American medicine and public health, is a fresh, convincing look at Warren Harding's presidency and Charles Forbes's tenure at the Veterans Bureau.—Ronald L. Numbers, University of Wisconsin–Madison, coeditor of Newton's Apple and Other Myths about Science
Soundly researched and superbly written, this intriguing and important book will appeal to a broad audience. Weaving together the biography of Charles R. Forbes with the tumultuous early years of the Veterans Bureau and its place in the 'Harding scandals,' the author presents a rich historical account that features hubris, deception, vindictiveness, and an interconnected series of cascading events.—Carl F. Ameringer, University of Nebraska Omaha, author of The Health Care Revolution: From Medical Monopoly to Market Competition
Sometimes the best story is the back story—what really happened behind the scenes. Rosemary Stevens reveals the truth behind one of the most colorful scandals in American political history in this incisive and gracefully written work. A tour de force of historical research and insight.—Evan Thomas, author of Being Nixon: A Man Divided
Equal parts detective, biographer, and keen historical analyst, Rosemary Stevens delves into one of America’s most infamous political scandals with stunning results. Cutting through the mist of intrigue and rumor, she offers a compelling portrait of President Warren Harding and his Veterans’ Bureau chief, Charles Forbes, and in the process forever alters our narrative of high politics in the Roaring Twenties.—Thomas J. Sugrue, New York University
This is a wonderfully researched and beautifully written examination of a key player—heretofore largely overlooked—who was deeply involved when things went amiss during the Harding presidency, and the book shines fresh light into a few dark corners of history that are worth reexamining.—John W. Dean, author of Warren G. Harding (The American Presidents Series)
Sometimes the best story is the back story—what really happened behind the scenes. Rosemary Stevens reveals the truth behind one of the most colorful scandals in American political history in this incisive and gracefully written work. A tour de force of historical research and insight.
This is a wonderfully researched and beautifully written examination of a key player—heretofore largely overlooked—who was deeply involved when things went amiss during the Harding presidency, and the book shines fresh light into a few dark corners of history that are worth reexamining.
Equal parts detective, biographer, and keen historical analyst, Rosemary Stevens delves into one of America’s most infamous political scandals with stunning results. Cutting through the mist of intrigue and rumor, she offers a compelling portrait of President Warren Harding and his Veterans’ Bureau chief, Charles Forbes, and in the process forever alters our narrative of high politics in the Roaring Twenties.