That's one they might want to let us have

The New York Times has a fascinating article about persistent rumors, during his lifetime and after, that President Warren Harding had African-American ancestry. One can imagine the chuckle African Americans might have at the thought that at a time when racism and segregation reigned supreme in American society -- the articles notes that the Ku Klux Klan enjoyed a revival in the 1920s -- Americans inadvertenly elected a president with black relatives. On the other hand, no one is going to be doing any bragging about Warren Harding, who, as a friend noted, had the good sense to die before the extent of his administration's corruption was revealed.