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Harding Facts at a Glance
Warren Gamalial Harding was born in Blooming Grove, Ohio on November 2, 1865.
Warren was the oldest of eight children born to Dr. George Tryon and Phoebe Dickerson Harding.
Warren spent his boyhood in Caledonia, Ohio, then followed his family to Marion, Ohio when he completed college.
Mr. Harding graduated from Ohio Central College, a land grant college, in Iberia, Ohio, with a teacher certificate.
Mr. Harding spent a brief time teaching, then selling insurance before working as a newspaper reporter with the Marion Democratic Mirror.
At the age of 19, he and two partners purchased a bankrupt newspaper, The Marion Daily Star. His partners soon left ownership of the newspaper to him.
At age 25, Warren married 30-year-old Florence Kling DeWolfe, a divorcee with a 10-year-old son.
Mr. Harding served two terms as an Ohio State Senator, beginning in 1899.
Mr. Harding served one term as Ohio lieutenant governor, starting in 1904.
In 1910, Mr. Harding unsuccessfully ran for Ohio governor.
In 1914, Mr. Harding won election to the United States Congress, serving until December of 1920.
In June 1920, Mr. Harding was selected as the Republican Party’s candidate for President. He was chosen on the 10th ballot of delegate voting during the GOP Convention in Chicago. Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge was selected by delegates as the vice presidential nominee. The Democrats chose Ohio Governor James Cox as their presidential nominee, with Franklin Delano Roosevelt as his running mate.
In August 1920, women won the right to vote, making the November election the first in which women helped to decide the presidency.
Mr. Harding easily won the election on Nov. 2, 1920, his 55th birthday, tallying 60.3 percent of the popular vote and 404 electoral votes.
Mr. Harding was inaugurated the 29th president on March 4, 1921. He served 29 months, dying in office of a heart attack on Aug. 2, 1923 in San Francisco, California. He was 57 years old.
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