During his presidency, he organized international disarmament agreements, addressed major labor disputes, enacted legislation and regulations pertaining to veterans' rights, and traveled west to visit Alaska.
Harding inherited the aftermath of World War I after taking office in 1921, requiring him to formally end American involvement and participate in the polarized discussion of veterans' affairs, including the debate surrounding the Bonus Bill.
His administration was beset by scandal in March 1922 after the president dismissed officials at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the events of the larger Teapot Dome scandal began the following month when the Department of the Interior leased the Teapot Dome oil reserves to Harry Ford Sinclair.
Harding was forced to personally broker agreements amidst coal and rail strikes that escalated into violence in the summer of 1922.
In June 1923, he undertook a months-long Voyage of Understanding to tour the Western United States and the Territory of Alaska, also visiting British Columbia.