Blythe Harding

Blythe Harding is an obscure author best known for The Honest American Voter's Little Catechism for 1880, a political satire published in the United States during the 1880 presidential campaign. Library and public-domain catalog records consistently connect the name with that work, but they offer very little biographical detail.

Because so little reliable personal information is readily documented, it is safest to describe Harding through the surviving book rather than through unconfirmed life facts. The work uses a question-and-answer format to poke at the politics, personalities, and campaign habits of its day, giving modern readers a lively glimpse of how American elections were argued over in the late 19th century.

For listeners interested in forgotten political writing, Harding's appeal lies in that voice: brisk, skeptical, and surprisingly familiar in its view of election-season spin.