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.

8/10/2020

Wednesday, August 11, 1920 (WORTHINGTON, OHIO)

Senator Harding has a busy schedule in the morning, including a meeting with Frank B. Willis, former governor and now, one day after the primary election, the Republican candidate for Harding's seat in the senate.

In the afternoon, Senator Harding and Mrs. Harding travel to Columbus. Harding plays another round of golf at the Scioto Country Club, Mrs. Harding visits the Republican state headquarters, and both visit the "rural rest home" operated by Harding's brother in Worthington, a suburb north of the city.

Members of the Columbus Kiwanis Club and the Worthington Chamber of Commerce are in attendance, and Senator Harding speaks briefly, equating the rocky roads from Marion to Columbus to the "torn up condition of the world":

I beg to speak this afternoon seriously and solemnly, my countrymen. Let us hold fast to the firm foundations, certain that we can always go on safely and let us make certain, since we've been on a long detour, to get back on the right track and then go ahead.

Harding's speech inspires this editorial cartoon, which is published a week later in the Marion Star:

Harding, on the right, is holding his "Speech of Aug. 11th." President Wilson, in the passenger seat, instructs the chauffer, "Drive on James - he lacks vision."

Senator Harding almost has an opportunity to meet his opponent, who will kick off his campaign tomorrow at Camp Perry, Ohio: "Governor Cox had expected to drive past that famous front porch in Marion and even to stop, run in, shake hands, say a word and be on his way. But it will not be feasible if he goes by train."

And at Republican National Headquarters, campaign leaders announce that (the) Al Jolson has accepted the presidency of the Harding and Coolidge Theatrical League. (Keep this in mind in August.)

Sources:

  • "Al Jolson Heads Harding League." New York Times. 11 August 1920.
  • "Harding Tours Golf Links While Cox Prepares Speech." Cincinnati Enquirer. 12 August 1920.
  • "'You'll have to get back on the main road again,' says Harding." Marion Star. 20 August 1920.
Images:
  • "Warren G. Harding Public Address at Columbus Rural Rest Home photograph." Worthington Memory. The snippet above is from a much larger group shot posted at the Worthington Memory site; they mistakenly identify Harding's speech as his "first public address" as a presidential candidate. Perhaps they mean his first speech outside Marion.

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