On his day in 1920, Warren G. Harding, nobody's favorite President, was nominated for that position by the Republican Party. The nomination would propel him to the Oval Office, which he'd occupy only briefly, dying of a heart attack in 1923.
Harding had started off as a newspaper owner and writer who entered politics contemporaneously with purchasing a newspaper. He had done well as an Ohio politician and had a slow start in the 1920 campaign until his return to normalcy speech in May. The Republican "Old Guard" supported him as he wasn't one of the more radical Republicans who were running that year.
Harding was ably supported in his political aspirations by his wife, Florence, but his personal life was complicated and had already become an issue for the Republican Party, which was being taken care of in back rooms with the application of cash. A long running affair with Carrie Fulton Phillips had just ended when she blackmailed him during his run for the Presidency. The blackmail attempt, in fact, is the second one she'd attempted.
The Hardings and the Phillips had been close and had traveled to Europe together prior to World War One while the affair was ongoing. It broke there and Florence Harding was furious, and claimed it wasn't the first time Warren had so strayed. The Hardings returned to the US but Carrie remained in Germany with her children and threatened to blackmail Warren the first time when he was set to vote on a declaration of war against Germany. She had returned to the US prior to the war and the affair had recommenced.
In 1920 the affair ended and she threatened to expose it. The GOP paid her off by paying for an extended Asian tour and annual stipend. This was occuring just at this point in the campaign.
That wouldn't stop Harding from commencing an affair with the much younger Nan Britton, who like Carrie was from Marion, Ohio. In fact, not only had it commenced, he already had an unacknowledged child by Britton.
Britton would become pregnant by Harding in 1919, something kept secret during his lifetime and only proved through DNA in much later years. The affair with Britton ran until Harding's untimely 1923 death, although he was much more careful about his instructions with Britton regarding their correspondence than he had been with Phillips. He also was providing child support to Britton during his lifetime, but his widow Florence cut it off after his death.
The President and the First Lady, who was protective of his legacy, in 1922.
Britton attempted to reveal the affair and the child through the publican of a book upon Harding's death, but the claim was contested and capable of being contested at that time given the state of science at the time and the fact that Harding, who had mumps as a child, had not produced any children with Florence. Britton never wavered in her claim and DNA testing revealed in the 1990s that Elizabeth Ann Harding Blaesing wsa in fact the daughter of the late President.
Britton never married.
The grade school I went to as a kid had originally been named in honor of President Harding, who had only recently died at the time it was built. The School District originally ran "Harding School" as a school for mentally disabled children and the stigma associated caused the district to rename it when it was converted in the 50s into a much larger conventional grade school which was named after James Garfield, another President that isn't usually subject to huge admiration. The old name remained on the concrete entryway of the old part of the school, however.
Launch of concrete ship, Cuyamaca, which had a home port of San Diego. June 12, 1922.
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