William L. Harding

William Lloyd Harding (October 3, 1877 – December 17, 1934) was an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Iowa, from 1917 to 1921.

Early life

William Lloyd Harding was born in Sibley, Iowa, on October 3, 1877, to Orlando B. and Emalyn (née Moyer) Harding, the fourth of nine children. and "millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy live amongst us....Should there be any disloyalty it will be dealt with a firm hand of repression." On May 23, 1918 he addressed these issues in an edict whose title was the Babel Proclamation, stating:

FIRST. English should and must be the only medium of instruction in public, private, denominational or other similar schools.

SECOND. Conversation in public places, on trains and over the telephone should be in the English language.

THIRD. All public addresses should be in the English language

FOURTH. Let those who can not speak or understand the English language conduct their religious worship in their homes.

In response to complaints from pastors, Harding stated that "there is no use in anyone wasting his time praying in languages other than English. God is listening only to the English tongue."

His hostility towards immigrants and foreign ethnic groups extended beyond Germans and included Iowans of Norwegian and Danish descent. He was convicted on December 22, being sentenced to life in prison in Anamosa Men's Reformatory. Rathbun's attorney, George Clark, appealed the conviction to the Iowa Supreme Court. Harding went to the Iowa House to offer his version of events and demanded that the legislature either charge him or clear his name. The House initiated a Special Investigative Committee but could find no evidence that Harding actually received any of the $5000. Clark testified that he used some of the money to pay for legal debts owed to Thad Snell, while Snell testified that it was for poker debts.

On March 21, a sworn affidavit from Rathbun's father detailed how he gave $5,000 to lawyer George Clark and this was supposed to be passed on to the governor.

On April 12, the Iowa House Judiciary voted in favor, 17-14, of impeachment. The dissenting 14 wrote that the governor acted in a hasty manner with regards to the pardon. The full house later agreed with the minority report and voted for censure.

On April 11, 1919, the Iowa House initiated impeachment proceedings against Harding. The next day, the House decided against impeachment and pursued censure.

Censure

Around 1 a.m. April 17, the House voted 70-34 for censure rather than impeachment. "No man in Iowa has had to submit to more severe political persecution than I,” Harding said in a statement, vowing to expose the conspiracy against him.

The House also voted 49-53, against censuring Attorney General Havner.

He did not run again in 1920.

Later life

After leaving the Governor's Mansion, he joined Harding, Ruffcorn & Jones law firm in Des Moines.

In September 1934 while at a campaign event in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Harding suffered a serious heart attack, which lead to declining health.

Harding died of diabetes on December 17, 1934 in Des Moines. He then was entombed in a mausoleum at the Graceland Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Iowa.