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Warren Gamaliel Harding was born Nov. 2, 1865 in Blooming Grove, Ohio to Dr. George Tryon Harding and Phoebe Dickerson Harding. The family moved to the village of Caledonia, where Warren spent his childhood.
While Warren attended Ohio Central College in Iberia, Ohio, his family moved to Marion. After graduation, Warren joined them there and tried to decide on a career. He considered being a lawyer, and tried teaching school and selling insurance before entering the newspaper business. At the age of 19, Harding purchased The Marion Daily Star, one of several newspapers in Marion, with two partners. The Star was losing money when Harding and his friends bought it, and his friends decided to leave the business. Warren steadily improved the newspaper, and it began to make money. He loved the newspaper business and wrote many opinion pieces backing Marion’s progress and growth. Through his writing, he urged the bricking of the town’s major streets and installation of street car and sewer systems. He “boomed” (as he put it) new business ventures and was an important voice as Marion grew in population and importance. Warren owned The Star for nearly 40 years.
Warren married Florence Kling DeWolfe on July 8, 1891 in their new home on Mount Vernon Avenue, the house now known as the Harding Home. The new Mrs. Harding had a 10-year-old son, Marshall, from a first marriage. The Hardings had no children together.
Warren entered politics in 1899, serving first in the Ohio Senate, then as lieutenant governor of Ohio. He then was elected a senator and represented Ohio in the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C. Soon, his supporters urged him to run for president in 1920. Warren belonged to the Republican Party, and the Republicans chose him to represent them in the 1920 presidential election. The Democratic Party chose James Cox, a Dayton newspaper owner who was Ohio governor.
America in 1920 had a lot of problems. The peace treaties to end World War I had not been settled. Thousands of former soldiers couldn’t find jobs. Farmers were in financial trouble. Prices for goods were too high. Supporters for Warren made posters, postcards and newspaper advertisements to attract voters. Mr. Cox’s supporters also went to work.
Warren decided to have a Front Porch Campaign, in which voters from across America would come to Marion and listen to him give speeches at his house. Former Presidents William McKinley and James Garfield also had had Ohio front porch campaigns. Warren’s campaign slogan – the main idea of all of his speeches -- was “A Return to Normalcy.” Warren explained to voters that Americans needed to use common sense to steadily solve the nation’s problems and enjoy a time of peace following a terrible war. He won the presidency easily on his birthday – November 2, 1920 -- with more than 60 percent of voters selecting him for president. Women played an important part in the election; they earned the right to vote (suffrage) for the first time in history.
Warren was a popular president. He believed that Americans should have the opportunity to meet their president, so he had “receiving days” at the White House. People would line up to go into the White House and shake Warren’s hand. Sometimes, the line of people would stretch around the block! He owned an Airedale terrier named Laddie Boy, who was a favorite of American children.
Warren died of a heart attack on Aug. 2, 1923 after serving just 2 ½ years of his four-year term as president. He accomplished many things as president. He started the Budget Bureau so the federal government would spend its money wisely. He also arranged the first world peace conference. The accomplishment he was most proud of was giving World War I soldiers, called veterans, medical care for the rest of their lives.
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