A Note on My Harding Research

The information I posted during 2020 mostly covered Warren Harding's front-porch campaign from his home on Mt. Vernon Avenue in Marion, Ohio. The campaign officially started on July 31, 1920, and ended on September 25. The plan was to post daily on events that occurred exactly 100 years ago that day, but I shared other information as well. You'll have to read bottom-to-top if you want to follow the campaign from Day 1.

I used the open web for some of my research but also information accessible by using my library card or my subscription to www.newspapers.com. The most useful resource was the Marion Star, which was owned by the Hardings at the time of the campaign. I also browsed online copies of other newspapers like the New York Times, the Washington Star, and the Dayton Daily News, which, in 1920, was owned by Harding's Democratic opponent, Governor James M. Cox. I also posted information from other newspapers that covered Harding's trips away from Marion during the campaign.

Another great resource I used was Dale E. Cottrill's The Conciliator, a 1969 biography of the president that expanded an earlier bibliography of Harding's speeches. An online version is available at the Internet Archive, but I used a hard copy borrowed from the State Library of Ohio.

Readers should not construe anything posted here as a political statement on my part. I just like Harding as a historical topic.

8/23/2020

Monday, August 23, 1920

Senator Harding will hold four events this week, one of which on Friday will take him to Galion, Ohio. Today, he travels, once again, to Mansfield for a round of golf.

Campaign staffers announce that Charles Evan Hughes, the Republican nominee in 1916, will be in Marion tomorrow for his first conference with Senator Harding since the nomination.

And, in case you forgot, the New York Evening World finally announces the winners of its campaign slogan contest. Here are the four Harding winners from 40,000 entries:

  • Government, Like Charity, Begins at Home; Harding Will First Solve America's Problems. ($25)
  • Make America Safe for Americans First, Then the World Safe for Democracy. ($10)
  • See That Harding Hangs His Hat on the Peg Where Wilson's At. ($10)
  • I'll Tell the World That Harding's Bold; Never Bartered, Bought or Sold. ($10)

The four Cox winners are just as underwhelming. And, it should be noted, the Harding campaign has yet to announce the slogan that inspired this contest (and others across the country).

Tomorrow's a big day!

Sources:

  • "Eight Prize Winners in Contest for Best Campaign Slogan." New York Evening World. 23 August 1920.
  • "Judge Hughes Here Tuesday." Marion Star. 23 August 1920.
  • "National Committeeman from South Dakota Calls on Nominee--Visitors for the Week." Marion Star. 24 August 1920.
  • "Schedule of Engagements Up to and Including September 17 Is Announced." Marion Star. 23 August 1920.

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