Warren G. Harding's Life

Warren Gamaliel Harding was born on November 2, 1865 in Corsica, Ohio. He was the twenty-ninth President. He helped his father on their farm and attended school. He was the oldest of eight of the Harding children and his father was a doctor for a living. At the age of 14, he enrolled in Ohio Central College in Iberia, Ohio. He graduated and took a job as a schoolteacher but quit after one year of teaching. He moved to Marion and studied law, but did not become a lawyer because he didn't like law. He borrowed some money from his dad and with two friends bought a newspaper, the Marion Star. His partners left the business and he ran it himself.  Warren Harding married a widow named Florence Kling de Wolfe in 1891 who helped him make his newspapers more successful. In 1899 the Grand Old Party (GOP) nominated Harding to the State Senate and won. In 1903 he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and kept that occupation for three years. He returned to Marion to work on the newspaper. In 1910, he ran for Governor of Ohio and lost unfortunately. In 1914 he was elected to the United States Senate and served for one full term. The GOP nominated Harding for President of the United States and in the 1920 election he won. During his administration the first nonstop transcontinental airplane flight was made and the first commercial radio broadcast took place. Harding established a budget system for the federal government but hsi administration was marred by the Tea Pot Dome scandal; federal oil reserves were illegally rented to private businesses. In June, 1923 President Harding and First Lady Florence Harding took a trip around the United States. He became ill from food poisoning. Soon he developed pneumonia and died on August 2, 1923. Note: Harding was President from 1921 through 1923 and the Vice President was Calvin Coolidge.