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80-479: The jail was built in 1913 to replace the county's previous jail, which suffered from flooding, overcrowding, and poor living conditions. It soon played a central role in a number of conflicts which engulfed Williamson County in the 1920s, giving the county the nickname "Bloody Williamson". In 1922, the jail housed the men arrested for their role in the Herrin massacre, a deadly riot between union and non-union coal miners. Of

160-533: A landslide to become the first sitting senator elected president. Harding appointed a number of respected figures to his cabinet , including Andrew Mellon at Treasury , Herbert Hoover at Commerce , and Charles Evans Hughes at the State Department . A major foreign policy achievement came with the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–1922, in which the world's major naval powers agreed on

240-588: A "Harding for President" campaign office in Washington (run by his confidant, Jess Smith ), and worked to manage a network of Harding friends and supporters, including Frank Scobey of Texas (clerk of the Ohio State Senate during Harding's years there). Harding worked to shore up his support through incessant letter-writing. Despite the candidate's work, according to Russell, "without Daugherty's Mephistophelean efforts, Harding would never have stumbled forward to

320-612: A Democrat in the White House, the party's leaders could not use patronage to get their way. Reporters deemed Harding unlikely to be nominated due to his poor showing in the primaries, and relegated him to a place among the dark horses . Harding, who like the other candidates was in Chicago supervising his campaign, had finished sixth in the final public opinion poll, behind the three main candidates as well as former Justice Hughes and Herbert Hoover, and only slightly ahead of Coolidge. After

400-591: A campaign of such sweetness and light as would have won the plaudits of the angels. It was calculated to offend nobody except Democrats." Although Harding did not attack Foraker, his supporters had no such scruples. Harding won the primary by 12,000 votes over Foraker. Read The Menace and get the dope, Go to the polls and beat the Pope. Harding's general election opponent was Ohio Attorney General Timothy Hogan , who had risen to statewide office despite widespread prejudice against Roman Catholics in rural areas. In 1914,

480-563: A close eye on "the Duke" and their money. Florence Harding became deeply involved in her husband's career, both at the Star and after he entered politics. Exhibiting her father's determination and business sense, she helped turn the Star into a profitable enterprise through her tight management of the paper's circulation department. She has been credited with helping Harding achieve more than he might have alone; some have suggested that she pushed him all

560-625: A conflict which became known as the Klan War. The conflict escalated until state troopers were called to the jail to stabilize the county and protect the prisoners from lynch mobs . The war ended when Young and Deputy Sheriff Ora Thomas killed each other in a shootout. The jail played a role in yet another conflict in the 1920s when a gang war arose between the Shelton Brothers Gang and Charles Birger's gang. The gangs, led by rival bootleggers, became notorious for exchanging murders. The majority of

640-541: A divorce, and she and Harding were courting, though who was pursuing whom is uncertain. The budding match snuffed out a truce between the Klings. Amos believed that the Hardings had African American blood , and was also offended by Harding's editorial stances. He started to spread rumors of Harding's supposed black heritage, and encouraged local businessmen to boycott Harding's business interests. When Harding found out what Kling

720-434: A dying rag into a powerful small-town newspaper. Much of his success had to do with his good looks, affability, enthusiasm, and persistence, but he was also lucky. As Machiavelli once pointed out, cleverness will take a man far, but he cannot do without good fortune. The population of Marion grew from 4,000 in 1880 to twice that in 1890, and to 12,000 by 1900. This growth helped the Star , and Harding did his best to promote

800-467: A friend of McKinley's, to run. Herrick was also better-placed to take votes away from the likely Democratic candidate, reforming Cleveland Mayor Tom L. Johnson . With little chance at the gubernatorial nomination, Harding sought nomination as lieutenant governor, and both Herrick and Harding were nominated by acclamation. Foraker and Hanna (who died of typhoid fever in February 1904) both campaigned for what

880-549: A great-looking President he'd make." In early 1903, Harding announced he would run for Governor of Ohio , prompted by the withdrawal of the leading candidate, Congressman Charles W. F. Dick . Hanna and George Cox felt that Harding was not electable due to his work with Foraker—as the Progressive Era commenced, the public was starting to take a dimmer view of the trading of political favors and of bosses such as Cox. Accordingly, they persuaded Cleveland banker Myron T. Herrick ,

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960-460: A landslide that also swept into office a Republican governor, Frank B. Willis . When Harding joined the U.S. Senate, the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress , and were led by President Wilson. As a junior senator in the minority, Harding received unimportant committee assignments, but carried out those duties assiduously. He was a safe, conservative, Republican vote. As during his time in

1040-509: A local weekly newspaper. At The Argus , Harding, from the age of 11, learned the basics of the newspaper business. In late 1879, at age 14, he enrolled at his father's alma mater — Ohio Central College in Iberia —where he proved an adept student. He and a friend put out a small newspaper, the Iberia Spectator , during their final year at Ohio Central, intended to appeal to both the college and

1120-470: A major speech against it. By then, Wilson had suffered a stroke while on a speaking tour. With an incapacitated president in the White House and less support in the country, the treaty was defeated. With most Progressives having rejoined the Republican Party, their former leader, Theodore Roosevelt, was deemed likely to make a third run for the White House in 1920, and was the overwhelming favorite for

1200-711: A naval limitations program that lasted a decade. Harding released political prisoners who had been arrested for their opposition to World War I . In 1923, Harding died of a heart attack in San Francisco while on a western tour, and was succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge . Harding died as one of the most popular presidents in history. The subsequent exposure of scandals eroded his popular regard, as did revelations of extramarital affairs. Harding's interior secretary, Albert B. Fall , and his attorney general , Harry Daugherty , were each later tried for corruption in office; Fall

1280-481: A schoolroom and the original jail cells. There is also a genealogical and historical research library. The architectural firm of N. S. Spencer and Temple designed the building in the Prairie School style. The three-story building was built with brick and stone. The building's design features an emphasis on horizontal lines, a low roof with an overhanging cornice , and an art glass transom and sidelights around

1360-450: A small child, he was the eldest of eight children born to George Tryon Harding (usually known as Tryon) and Phoebe Elizabeth (née Dickerson) Harding. Phoebe was a state-licensed midwife . Tryon farmed and taught school near Mount Gilead . Through apprenticeship, study, and a year of medical school, Tryon became a doctor and started a small practice. Harding's first ancestor in the Americas

1440-545: A speech that according to Dean, "would resonate throughout the 1920 campaign and history." There, he said that "America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration." Dean notes, "Harding, more than the other aspirants, was reading the nation's pulse correctly." The 1920 Republican National Convention opened at the Chicago Coliseum on June 8, 1920, assembling delegates who were bitterly divided, most recently over

1520-459: A table, some one of them will say: "Who will we nominate?" At that decisive time, the friends of Senator Harding can suggest him and afford to abide by the result. Four ballots were taken on the afternoon of June 11, and they revealed a deadlock. With 493 votes needed to nominate, Wood was the closest with 314 1 ⁄ 2 ; Lowden had 289 1 ⁄ 2 . The best Harding had done was 65 1 ⁄ 2 . Chairman Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts,

1600-453: A thief, who had been caught in the act by the family, started the rumor in an attempt at extortion or revenge. In 2015, genetic testing of Harding's descendants determined, with more than a 95% chance of accuracy, that he lacked sub-Saharan African forebears within four generations. In 1870, the Harding family, who were abolitionists , moved to Caledonia , where Tryon acquired The Argus ,

1680-520: A toll on his health. Five times between 1889 (when he was 23) and 1901, he spent time at the Battle Creek Sanitorium for reasons Sinclair described as "fatigue, overstrain, and nervous illnesses". Dean ties these visits to early occurrences of the heart ailment that would kill Harding in 1923. During one such absence from Marion, in 1894, the Star' s business manager quit. Florence Harding took his place. She became her husband's top assistant at

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1760-580: A young man, he bought The Marion Star and built it into a successful newspaper. Harding served in the Ohio State Senate from 1900 to 1904, and was lieutenant governor for two years. He was defeated for governor in 1910 , but was elected to the United States Senate in 1914 —the state's first direct election for that office. Harding ran for the Republican nomination for president in 1920, but

1840-445: Is the only U.S. president to have had full-time journalism experience. He became an ardent supporter of Governor Joseph B. Foraker , a Republican. Harding first came to know Florence Kling , five years older than he, as the daughter of a local banker and developer. Amos Kling was a man accustomed to getting his way, but Harding attacked him relentlessly in the paper. Amos involved Florence in all his affairs, taking her to work from

1920-467: The Brownsville Affair . Though Foraker had little chance of winning, he sought the Republican presidential nomination against his fellow Cincinnatian, Secretary of War William Howard Taft , who was Roosevelt's chosen successor. On January 6, 1908, Harding's Star endorsed Foraker and upbraided Roosevelt for trying to destroy the senator's career over a matter of conscience. On January 22, Harding in

2000-642: The Espionage Act of 1917 , which restricted civil liberties, though he opposed the excess profits tax as anti-business. In May 1918, Harding, less enthusiastic about Wilson, opposed a bill to expand the president's powers. In the 1918 midterm congressional elections, held just before the armistice , Republicans narrowly took control of the Senate. Harding was appointed to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee . Wilson took no senators with him to

2080-575: The Paris Peace Conference , confident that he could force what became the Treaty of Versailles through the Senate by appealing to the people. When he returned with a single treaty establishing both peace and a League of Nations , the country was overwhelmingly on his side. Many senators disliked Article X of the League Covenant , that committed signatories to the defense of any member nation that

2160-688: The Republican National Committee (RNC). Both Foraker and Hanna supported Harding for state Senate in 1899; he gained the Republican nomination and was easily elected to a two-year term. Harding began his four years as a state senator as a political unknown; he ended them as one of the most popular figures in the Ohio Republican Party. He always appeared calm and displayed humility, characteristics that endeared him to fellow Republicans even as he passed them in his political rise. Legislative leaders consulted him on difficult problems. It

2240-494: The Star on the business side, maintaining her role until the Hardings moved to Washington in 1915. Her competence allowed Harding to travel to make speeches—his use of the free railroad pass increased greatly after his marriage. Florence Harding practiced strict economy and wrote of Harding, "he does well when he listens to me and poorly when he does not." In 1892, Harding traveled to Washington, where he met Democratic Nebraska Congressman William Jennings Bryan , and listened to

2320-465: The Star reversed course and declared for Taft, deeming Foraker defeated. According to Sinclair, Harding's change to Taft "was not ... because he saw the light but because he felt the heat". Jumping on the Taft bandwagon allowed Harding to survive his patron's disaster—Foraker failed to gain the presidential nomination, and was defeated for a third term as senator. Also helpful in saving Harding's career

2400-508: The "Boy Orator of the Platte" speak on the floor of the House of Representatives . Harding traveled to Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893. Both visits were without Florence. Democrats generally won Marion County's offices; when Harding ran for auditor in 1895, he lost, but did better than expected. The following year, Harding was one of many orators who spoke across Ohio as part of the campaign of

2480-402: The 125 men originally indicted after the massacre, only five were tried before their release; a pro-union jury found these five men not guilty of murder. The riot and trial brought national attention to the county, leading President Warren Harding to refer to the massacre as "shocking", "shameful", and "butchery". A grand jury later indicted 214 defendants, eight of whom were held without bail at

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2560-687: The Democratic candidate, New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson , to be elected. Congressman Theodore Burton had been elected as senator by the state legislature in Foraker's place in 1909, and announced that he would seek a second term in the 1914 elections. By this time, the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution had been ratified, giving the people the right to elect senators, and Ohio had instituted primary elections for

2640-414: The Democratic presidential nominee, New York Governor Grover Cleveland , who won the election . Afterward, with his father's financial help, Harding gained ownership of the paper. Through the later years of the 1880s, Harding built the Star . The city of Marion tended to vote Republican (as did Ohio), but Marion County was Democratic. Accordingly, Harding adopted a tempered editorial stance, declaring

2720-679: The Klan War. Warren Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States , serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party , he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents while in office. After his death, a number of scandals were exposed, including Teapot Dome , as well as an extramarital affair with Nan Britton , which tarnished his reputation. Harding lived in rural Ohio all his life, except when political service took him elsewhere. As

2800-470: The Ohio Senate, Harding came to be widely liked. On two issues, women's suffrage , and the prohibition of alcohol , where picking the wrong side would have damaged his presidential prospects in 1920, he prospered by taking nuanced positions. As senator-elect, he indicated that he could not support votes for women until Ohio did. Increased support for suffrage there and among Senate Republicans meant that by

2880-470: The Republican nomination. These plans ended when Roosevelt suddenly died on January 6, 1919. A number of candidates quickly emerged, including General Leonard Wood , Illinois Governor Frank Lowden , California Senator Hiram Johnson , and a host of relatively minor possibilities such as Herbert Hoover (renowned for his World War I relief work), Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge , and General John J. Pershing . Harding, while he wanted to be president,

2960-475: The Republican presidential candidate, that state's former governor, William McKinley . According to Dean, "while working for McKinley [Harding] began making a name for himself through Ohio". Harding wished to try again for elective office. Though a longtime admirer of Foraker (by then a U.S. senator), he had been careful to maintain good relations with the party faction led by the state's other U.S. senator, Mark Hanna , McKinley's political manager and chairman of

3040-504: The Senate, but Florence Harding grabbed the phone from his hand, "Warren Harding, what are you doing? Give up? Not until the convention is over. Think of your friends in Ohio!" On learning that Daugherty had left the phone line, the future First Lady retorted, "Well, you tell Harry Daugherty for me that we're in this fight until Hell freezes over." After he recovered from the shock of the poor results, Harding traveled to Boston, where he delivered

3120-547: The Trinity Baptist Church from 1912. In Harding's youth, most of the U.S. population still lived on farms and in small towns. Harding spent much of his life in Marion, a small city in rural central Ohio, and became closely associated with it. When he rose to high office, he made clear his love of Marion and its way of life, telling of the many young Marionites who had left and enjoyed success elsewhere, while suggesting that

3200-463: The amendment, assuring the support of the Anti-Saloon League . Harding, as a politician respected by both Republicans and Progressives , was asked to be temporary chairman of the 1916 Republican National Convention and to deliver the keynote address . He urged delegates to stand as a united party. The convention nominated Justice Charles Evans Hughes . Harding reached out to Roosevelt once

3280-447: The candidate went on to the next state, Indiana, before the April 27 Ohio primary. Harding carried Ohio by only 15,000 votes over Wood, taking less than half the total vote, and won only 39 of 48 delegates. In Indiana, Harding finished fourth, with less than ten percent of the vote, and failed to win a single delegate. He was willing to give up and have Daugherty file his re-election papers for

Williamson County Jail - Misplaced Pages Continue

3360-445: The city, purchasing stock in many local enterprises. A few of these turned out badly, but he was generally successful as an investor, leaving an estate of $ 850,000 in 1923 (equivalent to $ 15.2 million in 2023). According to Harding biographer John Dean , Harding's "civic influence was that of an activist who used his editorial page to effectively keep his nose—and a prodding voice—in all the town's public business". To date, Harding

3440-471: The convention dealt with other matters, the nominations for president opened on the morning of Friday, June 11. Harding had asked Willis to place his name in nomination, and the former governor responded with a speech popular among the delegates, both for its folksiness and for its brevity in the intense Chicago heat. Reporter Mark Sullivan, who was present, called it a splendid combination of "oratory, grand opera, and hog calling ." Willis confided, leaning over

3520-464: The daily Star nonpartisan and circulating a weekly edition that was moderately Republican. This policy attracted advertisers and put the town's Republican weekly out of business. According to his biographer, Andrew Sinclair: The success of Harding with the Star was certainly in the model of Horatio Alger . He started with nothing, and through working, stalling, bluffing, withholding payments, borrowing back wages, boasting, and manipulating, he turned

3600-408: The defeated candidate did not hold the loss against him. Despite the growing rift between them, both President Taft and former president Roosevelt came to Ohio to campaign for Harding, but their quarrels split the Republican Party and helped assure Harding's defeat. The party split grew, and in 1912, Taft and Roosevelt were rivals for the Republican nomination. The 1912 Republican National Convention

3680-610: The former president declined the 1916 Progressive nomination , a refusal that effectively scuttled that party. In the November 1916 presidential election , despite increasing Republican unity, Hughes was narrowly defeated by Wilson. Harding spoke and voted in favor of the resolution of war requested by Wilson in April 1917 that plunged the United States into World War I. In August, Harding argued for giving Wilson almost dictatorial powers, stating that democracy had little place in time of war. Harding voted for most war legislation, including

3760-426: The front entrance, all characteristic Prairie School elements. The jail was capable of housing 87 inmates, including 81 men and 6 women. The building also included the county sheriff's residence, which was separated from the jail by 13 inches (330 mm) of concrete and two steel doors. A verandah over the jail's front porch was accessible from the sheriff's residence; the verandah was also used by armed guards during

3840-632: The jail on two other occasions as well. The jail closed in 1971, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 30, 2007. The building is now owned by the Williamson County Illinois Historical Society and operated as the Williamson County Museum . Several rooms have been restored to a Victorian-era period, and other rooms feature historic small businesses, military and clothing displays,

3920-535: The jail; these men were provided with meals and entertainment by union supporters during their time at the jail. Later in the 1920s, the jail became part of another conflict when the Ku Klux Klan assumed control of the Marion Law Enforcement League and hired S. Glenn Young to conduct violent raids on bootleggers . Young's actions were divisive and sparked violence among Williamson County residents in

4000-472: The man, once the "pride of the school", who had remained behind and become a janitor, was "the happiest one of the lot". Upon graduating, Harding had stints as a teacher and as an insurance man, and made a brief attempt at studying law. He then raised $ 300 (equivalent to $ 9,800 in 2023) in partnership with others to purchase a failing newspaper, The Marion Star , the weakest of the growing city's three papers and its only daily. The 18-year-old Harding used

4080-591: The members of both gangs spent time in the Williamson County Jail; fourteen members of the Shelton Brothers received life sentences for murder, and Rado Millich of Birger's gang became the last man to be hanged in Williamson County in 1927. Birger only spent a single night in the jail; after being arrested for murder, he was released after claiming he acted in self-defense, a claim which kept him out of

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4160-472: The most crucial to Harding was Ohio. Harding had to have some loyalists at the convention to have any chance of nomination, and the Wood campaign hoped to knock Harding out of the race by taking Ohio. Wood campaigned in the state, and his supporter, Procter, spent large sums; Harding spoke in the non-confrontational style he had adopted in 1914. Harding and Daugherty were so confident of sweeping Ohio's 48 delegates that

4240-432: The nativist hatred for his opponent. Harding's conciliatory campaigning style aided him; one Harding friend deemed the candidate's stump speech during the 1914 fall campaign as "a rambling, high-sounding mixture of platitudes, patriotism, and pure nonsense". Dean notes, "Harding used his oratory to good effect; it got him elected, making as few enemies as possible in the process." Harding won by over 100,000 votes in

4320-409: The nomination." America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality. There were only 16 presidential primary states in 1920, of which

4400-469: The normal reward for party service in the days of Hanna." Soon after Harding's initial election as senator, he met Harry M. Daugherty , who would take a major role in his political career. A perennial candidate for office who served two terms in the state House of Representatives in the early 1890s, Daugherty had become a political fixer and lobbyist in the state capital of Columbus. After first meeting and talking with Harding, Daugherty commented, "Gee, what

4480-444: The office. Foraker and former congressman Ralph D. Cole also entered the Republican primary. When Burton withdrew, Foraker became the favorite, but his Old Guard Republicanism was deemed outdated, and Harding was urged to enter the race. Daugherty claimed credit for persuading Harding to run: "I found him like a turtle sunning himself on a log, and I pushed him into the water." According to Harding biographer Randolph Downes, "he put on

4560-432: The podium railing, "Say, boys—and girls too—why not name Warren Harding?" The laughter and applause that followed created a warm feeling for Harding. I don't expect Senator Harding to be nominated on the first, second, or third ballots, but I think we can well afford to take chances that about eleven minutes after two o'clock on Friday morning at the convention, when fifteen or twenty men, somewhat weary, are sitting around

4640-411: The progressive faction of the party, and Lowden, who had an independent streak, was deemed little better. Harding was far more acceptable to the "Old Guard" leaders of the party. Daugherty, who became Harding's campaign manager, was sure none of the other candidates could garner a majority. His strategy was to make Harding an acceptable choice to delegates once the leaders faltered. Daugherty established

4720-495: The railroad pass that came with the paper to attend the 1884 Republican National Convention , where he hobnobbed with better-known journalists and supported the presidential nominee, former Secretary of State James G. Blaine . Harding returned from Chicago to find that the sheriff had reclaimed the paper. During the election campaign, Harding worked for the Marion Democratic Mirror and was annoyed at having to praise

4800-427: The results of a Senate investigation into campaign spending, which had just been released. That report found that Wood had spent $ 1.8 million (equivalent to $ 27.38 million in 2023), lending substance to Johnson's claims that Wood was trying to buy the presidency. Some of the $ 600,000 that Lowden had spent had wound up in the pockets of two convention delegates. Johnson had spent $ 194,000, and Harding $ 113,000. Johnson

4880-455: The start of World War I and the prospect of a Catholic senator from Ohio increased nativist sentiment. Propaganda sheets with names like The Menace and The Defender contained warnings that Hogan was the vanguard in a plot led by Pope Benedict XV through the Knights of Columbus to control Ohio. Harding did not attack Hogan (an old friend) on this or most other issues, but he did not denounce

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4960-477: The state Senate allowed him to increase his growing network of political contacts. Harding and others envisioned a successful gubernatorial run in 1905, but Herrick refused to stand aside. In early 1905, Harding announced he would accept nomination as governor if offered, but faced with the anger of leaders such as Cox, Foraker and Dick (Hanna's replacement in the Senate), announced he would seek no office in 1905. Herrick

5040-536: The time Congress voted on the issue, Harding was a firm supporter. Harding, who drank, initially voted against banning alcohol. He voted for the Eighteenth Amendment , which imposed prohibition, after successfully moving to modify it by placing a time limit on ratification, which was expected to kill it. Once it was ratified anyway, Harding voted to override Wilson's veto of the Volstead Bill , which implemented

5120-428: The time she could walk. As hard-headed as her father, Florence came into conflict with him after returning from music college. After she eloped with Pete deWolfe, and returned to Marion without deWolfe and with an infant called Marshall , Amos agreed to raise the boy, but would not support Florence, who made a living as a piano teacher. One of her students was Harding's sister Charity. By 1886, Florence Kling had obtained

5200-561: The town. During his final year, the Harding family moved to Marion , about 6 miles (10 km) from Caledonia, and when he graduated in 1882, he joined them there. On May 6, 1883, he joined the Free Baptist Church in Marion, where he later served as a trustee for 25 years and of which he remained a member until his death. The congregation would merge with the Northern Baptist Convention in 1911 and become known as

5280-413: The way to the White House. Soon after purchasing the Star , Harding turned his attention to politics, supporting Foraker in his first successful bid for governor in 1885 . Foraker was part of the war generation that challenged older Ohio Republicans, such as Senator John Sherman , for control of state politics. Harding, always a party loyalist, supported Foraker in the complex internecine warfare that

5360-426: Was Ohio Republican politics. Harding was willing to tolerate Democrats as necessary to a two-party system , but had only contempt for those who bolted the Republican Party to join third-party movements. He was a delegate to the Republican state convention in 1888, at the age of 22, representing Marion County, and would be elected a delegate in most years until becoming president. Harding's success as an editor took

5440-461: Was Richard Harding, who arrived from England to Massachusetts Bay around 1624. Harding also had ancestors from Wales and Scotland, and some of his maternal ancestors were Dutch, including the wealthy Van Kirk family. It was rumored by a political opponent in Blooming Grove that one of Harding's great-grandmothers was African American . His great-great-grandfather Amos Harding claimed that

5520-478: Was as much motivated in entering the race by his desire to keep control of Ohio Republican politics, enabling his re-election to the Senate in 1920. Among those coveting Harding's seat were former governor Willis (he had been defeated by James M. Cox in 1916) and Colonel William Cooper Procter (head of Procter & Gamble ). On December 17, 1919, Harding made a low-key announcement of his presidential candidacy. Leading Republicans disliked Wood and Johnson, both of

5600-603: Was attacked, seeing it as forcing the United States to war without the assent of Congress. Harding was one of 39 senators who signed a round-robin letter opposing the League. When Wilson invited the Foreign Relations Committee to the White House to informally discuss the treaty, Harding ably questioned Wilson about Article X; the president evaded his inquiries. The Senate debated Versailles in September 1919, and Harding made

5680-481: Was bitterly divided. At Taft's request, Harding gave a speech nominating the president, but the angry delegates were not receptive to Harding's oratory. Taft was renominated, but Roosevelt supporters bolted the party. Harding, as a loyal Republican, supported Taft. The Republican vote was split between Taft, the party's official candidate, and Roosevelt, running under the label of the Progressive Party . This allowed

5760-434: Was considered a long shot before the convention . When the leading candidates could not garner a majority, and the convention deadlocked, support for Harding increased, and he was nominated on the tenth ballot. He conducted a front porch campaign , remaining mostly in Marion and allowing people to come to him. He promised a return to normalcy of the pre– World War I period, and defeated Democratic nominee James M. Cox in

5840-518: Was convicted while Daugherty was not, and these trials greatly damaged Harding's posthumous reputation. In historical rankings of U.S. presidents during the decades after his term in office, Harding was often rated among the worst. In the subsequent decades, some historians have begun to reassess the conventional views of Harding's historical record in office. Warren Harding was born on November 2, 1865, in Blooming Grove, Ohio . Nicknamed "Winnie" as

5920-559: Was deemed to be behind the inquiry, and the rage of the Lowden and Wood factions put an end to any possible compromise among the frontrunners. Of the almost 1,000 delegates, 27 were women—the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , guaranteeing women the vote, was within one state of ratification, and would pass before the end of August. The convention had no boss, most uninstructed delegates voted as they pleased, and with

6000-480: Was defeated, but his new running mate, Andrew L. Harris , was elected, and succeeded as governor after five months in office on the death of Democrat John M. Pattison . One Republican official wrote to Harding, "Aren't you sorry Dick wouldn't let you run for Lieutenant Governor?" In addition to helping pick a president, Ohio voters in 1908 were to choose the legislators who would decide whether to re-elect Foraker. The senator had quarreled with President Roosevelt over

6080-507: Was doing, he warned Kling "that he would beat the tar out of the little man if he didn't cease." The Hardings married on July 8, 1891, at their new home on Mount Vernon Avenue in Marion, which they had designed together in the Queen Anne style . The marriage produced no children. Harding affectionately called his wife "the Duchess" for a character in a serial from The New York Sun who kept

6160-471: Was dubbed the Four-H ticket. Herrick and Harding won by overwhelming margins. Once he and Harding were inaugurated, Herrick made ill-advised decisions that turned crucial Republican constituencies against him, alienating farmers by opposing the establishment of an agricultural college. On the other hand, according to Sinclair, "Harding had little to do, and he did it very well". His responsibility to preside over

6240-528: Was legally blind) to be appointed as a teacher at the Ohio School for the Blind , although there were better-qualified candidates. In another trade, he offered publicity in his newspaper in exchange for free railroad passes for himself and his family. According to Sinclair, "it is doubtful that Harding ever thought there was anything dishonest in accepting the perquisites of position or office. Patronage and favors seemed

6320-434: Was that he was popular with, and had done favors for, the more progressive forces that now controlled the Ohio Republican Party. Harding sought and gained the 1910 Republican gubernatorial nomination. At that time, the party was deeply divided between progressive and conservative wings, and could not defeat the united Democrats; he lost the election to incumbent Judson Harmon . Harry Daugherty managed Harding's campaign, but

6400-543: Was usual at that time for state senators in Ohio to serve only one term, but Harding gained renomination in 1901. After the assassination of McKinley in September (he was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt ), much of the appetite for politics was temporarily lost in Ohio. In November, Harding won a second term, more than doubling his margin of victory to 3,563 votes. Like most politicians of his time, Harding accepted that patronage and graft would be used to repay political favors. He arranged for his sister Mary (who

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