William Lloyd Harding (October 3, 1877 – December 17, 1934) was an American Republican politician. He was the 22nd Governor of Iowa, from 1917 to 1921.

Early life

William Lloyd Harding, was born in Sibley, Iowa, on October 3, 1877. He later lived in

Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

. From 1897 to 1901, he attended

Morningside College Morningside University is a private university affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1894 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Morningside University has 21 buildings on a campus in Sioux City (ar ...

, and then went on to earn his law degree from the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship uni ...

Political career

Harding entered politics in 1906, serving as a Republican member of the Iowa House of Representatives, a position he held for six years. He also served as Iowa's lieutenant governor from 1913 to 1917 during the terms of Republican governor George W. Clarke. Harding won the 1916 Republican gubernatorial nomination and then won the election in a landslide (winning 98 of 99 counties.) He was sworn into the governor's office on January 11, 1917. Harding was reelected to a second term in 1918 and thus was governor during the four years which roughly coincided with

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During that time, there were "defense councils" in every state, following President Wilson's famous statement "the world must be made safe for democracy",Woodrow Wilson, War Declaration to Congress, April 2, 1917 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." Harding was convinced that assimilation would heighten patriotism and felt there is a connection between communication and assimilation. He also claimed that any foreign language provided an opportunity for the enemy to scatter propaganda. Harding became the only governor in the United States to outlaw the public use of all foreign languages. He addressed those issues in an edict whose title was the Babel Proclamation, which prohibited all public communication in any language other than English. It forbade the use of

foreign language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a given country, and that native speakers from that country must usually acquire through conscious learning - be this through language lessons at school ...

s in public, over the telephone, in school, and in religious services. Harding's time in office was marred by scandal and controversy. His hostility towards immigrants and foreign ethnic groups extended beyond Germans and included Iowans of

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

and Danish descent.

Censure

An investigation revealed an alleged bribe of $5,000 for the Governor's pardon of a felon convicted of rape. Several resignations resulted, and an impeachment proposal was initiated but denied. A censure motion was approved by a vote of 70-34. He did not run again in 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, William L. 1877 births 1934 deaths Iowa lawyers University of South Dakota alumni Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives Lieutenant Governors of Iowa Republican Party governors of Iowa Politicians from Sioux City, Iowa People from Sibley, Iowa 20th-century American politicians