The war has ended; weary voices seek rest,
A nation turns from conflict’s heavy strain;
The people call for simpler days and blessed
Return to peace beyond the fields of pain.
No crown commands, no monarch’s ancient chain,
Yet hope now rests upon his steady hand—
He guides the nation toward a calmer land.
“Normalcy” becomes the promised road,
A pause from storms that marked the years before;
The government bears a lighter load,
As citizens seek peace forevermore.
The age of battles fades from shore to shore—
He guides the nation toward a calmer land.
The world still holds the scars of war’s great cost,
And nations seek a balance after flame;
The Washington Conference sets a course,
Where powers gather under reason’s name.
The navy’s growth is measured all the same,
As diplomacy extends across the strand—
He guides the nation toward a calmer land.
Abroad, he seeks a quieter role,
Avoiding conflicts distant from the shore;
The nation turns toward economic goals,
And leaves behind the burdens borne before.
The executive retreats from wartime lore—
He guides the nation toward a calmer land.
At home, prosperity begins to rise,
The factories grow, the markets find their way;
A business-friendly administration lies
Behind the optimism of the day.
The federal hand is limited in display,
A contrast to the years of greater command—
He guides the nation toward a calmer land.
Yet beneath the surface, dangers quietly grow,
As private influence enters public halls;
The trust placed in companions brings a blow,
When corruption stains the government walls.
The promise of reform begins to fall—
He guides the nation toward a calmer land.
The Teapot Dome scandal later reveals
How public power may be wrongly employed;
The nation questions what the office shields,
And confidence is shaken and destroyed.
Though Harding did not live to see the void
His administration’s scandals would expand—
He guides the nation toward a calmer land.
His death removes him before judgment falls,
Leaving others to answer for the blame;
History remembers both the hopeful calls
And those who damaged his administration’s name.
The office bears the weight of every claim—
He guides the nation toward a calmer land.
So stands the twenty-ninth in history’s line,
A president of peace after the storm;
He sought to make the nation realign,
To find a quieter and familiar form.
Yet even calm requires a standard norm,
For trust itself must guide the public hand—
He guides the nation toward a calmer land.
And from his term the lesson still remains:
The executor is measured not alone
By promises made beneath campaign refrains,
But by the government he calls his own.
The office stands beyond the person’s throne—
He guides the nation toward a calmer land.
Envoi:
O steward of a nation seeking sand,
You offered peace after the world’s demand;
Yet proved that every executor must stand
Accountable for those within his hand—
He guides the nation toward a calmer land.