Warren Harding's inauguration speech contained a counterintuitive warning.

Our most dangerous tendency is to expect too much from the government, he said.

In the 1920 election, Harding had been the first to employ

a professional ad man. Newsreels, billboards, and the innovation of telemarketing helped to raise

hopes of a new dawn. The result was the first landslide of the two-party era. But as if to manage expectations,

Harding immediately took a holiday.

He spent Thanksgiving in Panama.

There he received a curious gift.

The Harding Girls Club of Chicago sent him a holiday turkey. The elaborate publicity stunt

kick-started a Thanksgiving tradition. The following year the presidential

turkey made the trip to Washington in a de Havland D.H4 male plane.

The Turkey wore an aviation helmet, goggles, and a black and gold sweater, the Baltimore

Sun reported. But Turkey's are not well suited for flight, and the unfortunate

foul got air-sick, a harbinger of the hype that blights the modern presidency. Do we still expect too much? This is checks and balance.

I'm John Prido, the Economist's US editor.

Each week we take one big theme shaping American politics and explore it in depth.

Today, what happens when the presidential ideal clashes with reality? Policymaker, father figure, standing king. It's impossible to fulfil the multiple roles Americans expect of a modern president.

The expectations surrounding Joe Biden are more modest than for his predecessors.

Solid establishment picks for top cabinet positions

seem to confirm his ordinariness.

Where does our idea of the ideal president originate?

And how might Biden match up?

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