Warren G. Harding

Warren Harding married Florence Kling, a divorcee five years his senior, in 1891. The couple had no children of their own though Florence’s son from her previous marriage lived with them sometimes.

Harding was known to be a womanizer and had been involved in several extramarital affairs. One of his well-known affairs was with Carrie Phillips, a friend of his wife. Another one of his mistresses was Nan Britton, a woman who publicly claimed that Harding was the father of her daughter. Considered scandalous during that time, this claim was verified by DNA testing in 2015.

Harding, along with his wife and a few others, undertook a trip to Alaska in June 1923. They returned home towards the end of July when Harding began to suffer from heath problems. He died on August 2, 1923, at the age of 57. The cause of his death was either a massive heart attack or cerebral hemorrhage.

Warren Gamaliel Harding was born on November 2, 1865, in Blooming Grove, Ohio. He was the eldest of eight children born to George Tryon Harding, Sr. and Phoebe Elizabeth. His father, originally a farmer and a teacher eventually went to medical school and became a doctor. His mother was a midwife.

He enrolled at Ohio Central College in Iberia in 1879 and graduated in 1882.

Harding was confused regarding his future after his graduation. He worked for a while as a teacher and as an insurance man. He also considered studying law. He then raised some money and purchased a near-defunct newspaper, ‘The Marion Star’.

He spent the next few years in promoting the newspaper and after struggling for a while, he was successful in establishing the newspaper as a profitable one. Married by now, he received great support from his wife in managing the newspaper. She also motivated him to join politics.

He entered politics and won a seat in the Ohio legislature in 1898 and served two terms. He was a conservative Republican, and with his charming demeanor and friendly nature, he soon became popular within the Republican circles.

In 1903, he was made the lieutenant governor and served in this post for two years. He ran for governorship in 1910 but was unsuccessful.

In 1914, he became a U.S. senator from Ohio. In this role he actively promoted business interests. Even though he held strong views on issues like prohibition and women’s suffrage, he was absent for many of the debates on these key issues and did not actively participate in the legislature procedures. However, he still remained popular as he was of affable nature and made no enemies, partly because he never took any stands.

This American president is often regarded as the “Worst President” in historical rankings of the U.S. presidents.