#29. Harding, Warren Gamaliel

Linda Lou Burton posting from Little Rock, Arkansas –Warren Gamaliel Harding (1865-1923) was the 29th President of the United States, from 1921 until his death in 1923. He died as one of history’s most popular presidents just two years and 151 days into his term. Alas, like little mushrooms popping up in the sun, facts (and rumors that tend to go before and after facts) have greatly shifted opinion. Some facts are undeniable – like the Teapot Dome Scandal; two of his cabinet appointees were tried and convicted for corruption. And letters and public confrontations with more than a few women, well. Time spent being treated for various health problems is documented; business debts and failures too. So what does all of this mean when it comes to being the leader of a country of 106 million people? Perception is everything. And Warren (note this fact) was a newspaperman. Yep. Warren owned a newspaper, in a time when newspapers were THE form of communication; the first president ever to claim that for a background. He knew how to shape and mold opinion. He knew how to stack up favors. And to top it off, he married a woman who was even more clever than he was. Yep. Florence Kling, five years his senior. He called her The Boss; she called him Sonny.

It’s easy to get judgmental and snub-nosey about what other people do and how they behave; certainly each of us is responsible for our own actions. But, I wondered, DOES the apple fall very far from the tree? What was “growing up” like for Warren, and Florence? You’ll need to don your hipboots for this.

Warren First

Warren was born November 2, 1865 in Blooming Grove, Ohio, the eldest of eight children born to George Tryon and Phoebe Dickerson Harding. Phoebe was a midwife, and Tryon, according to one biographer, was “a shiftless, impractical, lazy, catnapping fellow whose eye was always on the main chance.” Tryon was a farmer, teacher, doctor, salesman; quickly tiring of each attempt; moving frequently, and borrowing money. In 1870, after a move to Caledonia, Ohio, he acquired The Argus, a local weekly newspaper, and that’s where Warren learned the basics of the newspaper business. At 15 Warren enrolled at Ohio Central College; he and a friend put out a small newspaper that served both the college and the town. After graduation in 1882, he settled in Marion, Ohio. And from there, well, watch what happened.

Warren borrowed some money and bought a failing newspaper, The Marion Star, the weakest of three local papers, and the only daily. He went to Chicago for the 1884 Republican Convention, taking notes and hanging out with the press (he was 19). When he got home he found that the sheriff had reclaimed the paper! Eventually he regained ownership of the Star, and, in a county that was Democratic in a state that was Republican, kept the daily edition nonpartisan and the weekly moderately Republican. This attracted advertisers and put the other Republican paper out of business. Biographer Andrew Sinclair describes it this way: “He started with nothing, and through working, stalling, bluffing, withholding payments, borrowing back wages, boasting, and manipulating, he turned a dying rag into a powerful small-town newspaper. Much of his success had to do with his good looks, …but he was also lucky.”

Florence Next

Florence Mabel Kling was born August 15, 1860, the eldest of three children of Amos and Louisa Bouton Kling. Amos was prosperous; during the Civil War his primary business was bulk sales of nails to the Union Army. He made money; he was on the boards of the Marion Telephone Company, the Marion National Bank, the Columbus and Toledo Railroad. And when Florence was born, he was disappointed. He wanted a boy. His next two children were sons, but he raised Florence like a boy too, determined to make her “more masculine than feminine.” He trained her in business skills; banking, real estate. Florence wanted to be a concert pianist, and headed for the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music after high school. Whenever she came home, she and Amos clashed, till finally, at the age of 19, she eloped with Pete DeWolfe and had a baby. Yep. A son, Marshall Eugene DeWolfe, September 22, 1880. Amos was enraged, and Pete turned out to be a no good alcoholic; the couple divorced. History is a bit garbled as to who really raised Marshall; I’ll leave that be.

It is known that Florence Kling and Warren Harding began dating and decided to get married. Now, if you want to see a row, stay tuned. Amos has been described as “ruthlessly harsh in his view of the world” and “driven only by work and money.” How do you think Amos (and the Klings) felt about Warren (and the Hardings)?

Hatfields and McCoys in Ohio

When Amos learned his daughter was dating the young newspaper publisher, he was furious. For one thing, Warren had been critical of Amos’ dealings with the government. But the big issue was the rumor that Warren had partial black ancestry. Amos threatened to disinherit Florence. Warren threatened to beat up Amos. Amos threatened to shoot Warren and ruin his newspaper. But Warren and Florence quietly married July 8, 1891 at their new home in Marion (her mother secretly sneaked in). Florence was 30, Warren was 25.

Florence’s mother died the next year, but Amos continued his rant; he pressured Marion businessmen not to invest in anything that involved Warren. He financed another newspaper to compete with Warren’s Marion Star. In January 1894, when Warren entered Battle Creek Sanitarium for depression, Florence became the informal manager of the Marion Star.

All that business training Amos pushed on Florence paid off. She organized a circulation department and improved distribution. She got good prices for new equipment; she knew the machinery of the newspaper plant, and how to fix it. Florence was instrumental in developing the first wire report. She hired the first woman reporter, Jane Dixon. Under her leadership, the Star prospered; revenue increased. When Warren returned in December, Florence nursed him at home. Florence wrote of her husband, “he does well when he listens to me and poorly when he does not.”

Politics and Bedfellows

Let’s follow the trail to the White House and see if Florence’s statement proved true.

• 1899: Florence encouraged Warren in his first political run for the state senate. She managed the finances and fended off objections from Amos. Warren was elected. Florence observed the legislature from the balcony in Columbus and made trips to newspaper offices to make sure her husband got good coverage. She also began consulting with an astrologer.
• 1901: Encouraged by Florence to “be pragmatic and not to alienate anyone,” Warren was reelected.
• 1903: Warren was elected lieutenant governor of Ohio.
• 1905: Florence needed emergency surgery and was confined to a hospital for weeks. Warren began an affair with her close friend Carrie Phillips.
• 1906: Florence’s father Amos married a widow 38 years his junior (younger than Florence).
• 1910: Warren’s mother died.
• 1911: Warren’s father Tryon married a 43-year-old widow (younger than Warren).
• 1911: Florence intercepted a letter between Warren and Carrie Phillips. She considered divorce but decided she’d invested too much time. She tried to keep Warren in sight and gave him political advice. She continued treatments for various ailments and continued her study of astrology.
• 1912: Warren wanted to run for governor. Florence kept her eye on Washington. Warren supported Taft at the Republican Convention. When Taft lost, Warren sought solace by writing poetry to Carrie Phillips.
• 1913: Amos died, leaving Florence $35,000 and valuable real estate. Florence had a serious kidney attack and went to White Oaks Sanitarium. She encouraged Warren to run for US Senate.
• 1914: Warren was elected US Senator from Ohio.
• 1915: Florence’s son Marshall died of tuberculosis, age 35. Warren (reputedly) began an affair with Nan Britton (possibly a German spy).
• 1916: Warren’s father Tryon divorced his second wife.
• 1918: Florence and Carrie Phillips had an altercation at the train station. Warren wrote to Carrie of his devotion to her, saying he considered a divorce from Florence unwise.
• 1920: Florence actively lobbied for Warren at the Republican Convention. Warren was selected. Florence organized a Front Porch campaign and controlled Warren’s appointments. Florence’s newspaper experience helped control Carrie Phillips threats, allegations of Warren’s black ancestry, and talk of Florence’s divorce. The consulting clairvoyant predicted Warren would become President, but would die in office.

How far from their trees have these apples landed? Next, the 1920 election.

The New United States President

Warren was in, with 60% of the Popular Vote and 76% of the Electoral. And Florence asked: “Well, Warren Harding, I have got you the Presidency. What are you going to do with it?” First thing: he opened the gates. Florence wanted the White House open to the public and by golly, she got that. The public loved her, flocking to the White House for Florence-led tours. She hosted elegant parties with a thousand guests; visitors with every claim to fame from Al Jolson to Albert Einstein came to the White House to be with the Hardings. There hadn’t been a First Lady since Frances Cleveland with such a recognizable face; she was seen everywhere, visiting Veterans in the hospital, unveiling statues, going to baseball games, being filmed with her signature wave, driving her car. Fast. She even sold pictures of Laddie Boy, the White House dog. The public ate it up though “high society” shunned her, favoring Second Lady Grace Coolidge. And Warren, just as the clairvoyant had predicted, died before their four years was up.

It happened on their 15,000-mile promotional tour of the West Coast labeled “The Voyage of Understanding”; re-election was in mind. Both Warren and Florence were ill from the start, but they kept slogging; their doctor was traveling with them. Warren made speeches in Alaska, and Seattle; cutting things short each time to get to his hotel and rest. By the time they reached the presidential suite in San Francisco’s Palace Hotel, 58-year-old Warren was exhausted. He died at 7:20 PM August. 2, 1923 as Florence was reading to him from the Saturday Evening Post. The article “A Calm Review of a Calm Man” was about Warren; his last words were “That’s good, go on.”

Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as President by the light of a kerosene lamp in the family parlor at 2:47 AM on August 3; his father, a Vermont justice of the peace, administered the oath of office. President Coolidge then went back to bed. Florence stayed with Warren through the long train ride to Washington, the state funeral at the Capitol, and the last service and burial in Marion. She died in Marion November 21, 1924, just over a year later, at the age of 64. Tryon Harding outlived them both. He attended his son’s inauguration, and his funeral, dying at the age of 85. Funds eventually were raised for a magnificent memorial in Marion where Florence and Warren rest today, as rumor and fact continue to mix and overlap and delight and sadden, depending on the teller, and the listener.

Would I invite Warren, or Florence, to my party? No, but if I had lived in Washington when Florence was leading those White House tours, I would have been there with the rest of the public.

I’m as gullible as anybody. Yep.