[9][10] His grandfather, a former member of his great-grandfather's firm, Jay Cooke & Company,[11] founded Charles D. Barney & Co. in 1873 before retiring in 1907.

[12] Harding prepared at the Groton School in Massachusetts before attending the United States Military Academy at West Point, from where he graduated in 1920.

[16] At his direction, the firm "recruited business school graduates, then put them through eight-and-a-half months of training in what was sometimes referred to on The Street as 'Harding Tech.'"

[20] After his retirement from of Smith, Barney & Co., he devoted his time to the New York Botanical Gardens, the Arthritis Foundation, serving as chairman from 1970 to 1976, and the Frick Collection, where he was treasurer for many years.

[14] He later relinquished his chairmanships with the botanical gardens and the Arthritis Foundation, but continued working with them and the Frick Collection until his death.