Warren G. Harding biography

Daugherty was finally forced to resign during the Coolidge Administration.

Privately, Warren G. Harding engaged in the good life emblematic of the 1920s. He and Florence had no children of their own, though Florence had an older son prior to her marriage with Harding. Their social life was made up primarily of elegant garden parties and state dinners. They privately entertained friends at the White House with ample supplies of liquor in violation of Prohibition. Twice a week,

Harding played poker with close friends and made the time to enjoy golf, yachting and fishing.

Though rumors circulated while he was in office, it wasn't until after Harding's death that news of his extra-marital affairs became public. One of his lovers, Nan Britton, published a book in 1927, claiming that Harding had fathered her daughter while he was a senator. In 1963, love letters between Harding and Carrie Phillips were discovered, and revealed that Phillips, a family friend, had engaged in a 15-year long affair with Harding.

By 1923, rumors of corruption in Harding's administration had begun to surface, and many of his friends were implicated, which greatly disappointed the president. He once commented, "They're the ones that keep me walking the floors at night." That summer, Harding and his wife traveled out west on a political trip to tell people personally about his policies, and to help salvage his reputation. On his return from Alaska, Harding fell ill. His train rushed him to San Francisco, California, where his condition worsened. On August 2, 1923, Harding suffered a massive heart attack and died immediately. In some circles, rumors spread that his wife had poisoned him to prevent him from facing charges of corruption. Her refusal to allow an autopsy only fed the rumors. After a state funeral, Harding's body was entombed at the Marion Cemetery in Marion, Ohio.

Legacy

Most historians consider Warren G. Harding to be one of America's worst presidents. He is believed to have seen the role of president as mainly ceremonial, leaving government work to subordinates. Revisionists have re-examined his role as an important transition between the Progressive Era and the years of prosperity in the 1920s. Harding is also credited for his broad-minded views on race and civil rights. Historians agree that his negative legacy is not so much attributed to his corrupt friends, but his own lack of vision and poor sense of where he wanted to take the country.

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