Warren Harding was the 29th President of the United Sta
tes, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. 56 One was a successful international conference (会议).
After World War One, Britain, Japan and the United States expanded their navies (海军). They built bigger and bigger ships. Many members of the United States Congress worried about the cost. 57 They asked President Harding to organize a conference to discuss these issues.
58 President Harding invited representatives from the major naval powers of the time Britain, Japan, France and Italy. He also invited representatives from countries with interests in Asia and Europe China, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands. He did not invite the new Soviet leaders in Russia.
Mr Harding’s Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, spoke. 59 He proposed that the world’s strongest nations should stop building warships for ten years. He also proposed that Britain, Japan, and the United States should destroy some ships to make their navies smaller immediately.
60 It involved the misuse of underground oil owned by the federal government. Warren Harding was an honest man. But he did not have a strong mind of his own. He was easily influenced. And he often accepted bad advice. He explained the problem with these words, “I listen to one side, and they seem right. Then I listen to the other side, and they seem just as right. I know that somewhere there is a man who knows the truth. But I do not know where to find him.”
A. He is remembered mostly for two events.
B. The conference was not a complete success.
C. They also worried about increased political tension (紧张) in Asia.
D. The conference was held in Washington in November, 1921.
E. President Harding appointed several men of great ability to his cabinet (内阁).
F. He offered the conference a detailed plan to reduce the size of the world’s major navies.
G. The second thing for which President Harding is remembered is the Teapot Dome scandal (丑闻).