Warren G. Harding died suddenly at 7:30 p.m. in a San Francisco hotel. As readers here know, he had been ill for several days prior. His probable cause of death was a heart attack.
Harding had been traveling the US, including Alaska, in his Voyage of Understanding. He was well liked during his period in office, and he was deeply mourned in the U.S., and around the globe, following his death at age 57.
Following his death, his reputation has declined. He had not really wanted to be President in the first place, and it turned out that while he was personally not involved in them, his administration was scandal ridden. Harding was not free from scandal himself, however, as he'd had at least two affairs during his marriage, the first of which was to a woman who may have been a German spy. The second would lead to the birth of an illegitimate daughter, his only child, a fact which was hidden during his lifetime and contested by his widow thereafter.
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Harding was seemingly unprepared for death and indeed, while he looked much older, at 57 he wasn't all that old. His medical care while ill has been criticized as hastening his death, but at the time little could be done for strokes (which was what his death was attributed to at the time) and heart attacks were frequently fatal. Given the history of his illness, there's reason to suspect that he may in fact have suffered a heart attack several days prior, or at least was suffering from heart problems several days prior.
Florence Harding, his widow, was fiercely protective of his legacy and reputation. In photographs, she rarely appears to be happy while they were in the White House. Very unusually for the age, she did not wear a wedding ring. Harding was her second marriage, and she was slightly older than he was. She'd die the following November at age 64. Blaesing, who lived a quiet life and avoided commenting on her parentage, died at age 86 in 1995.
Most Americans would not learn of the Presidents' death until the following day, when newspapers hit their doorsteps.
As an aside, Harding's death remains relevant to the present age, and actually shows us how things have improved and not. Medically, physicians may well have detected Harding's heart condition before it proved fatal, if they had our current abilities in that arena. This is not necessarily so, however, which points out that our two top contenders for the Oval Office today are literally on death's doorstep.
Also of interest, in the era it was obviously easier to keep personal secrets, as Harding had done for many years. Keeping an illegitimate child of a President unknown is almost unimaginable today. But also of interest is that it would have been a devastating scandal had the news broken. As recently as President Clinton's term in office, an affair was scandalous, but now there's real reason to wonder if it would be. Indeed, a certain section of former President Trump's support comes from Evangelical Christians (although not all support him), which undoubtedly would not have occurred had Trump lived in the 1920s.
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