At the time of Warren Hardings death, he was being compared to Abraham Lincoln, but the comparisons soon stopped when members of administration became embroiled in political scandal that, while he was in office, was unaware. Regardless, his administration and himself were forever tarnished, no matter his innocence.
In 1891 Warren Harding married Florence Kling, an older woman, a divorcee, and mother of a young son. She had pursued Warren persistently, until he reluctantly surrendered and proposed. Florence's father, Amos Hall Kling, was Harding's nemesis. Upon hearing that his only daughter intended to marry Harding, Kling disowned her and even forbade his wife to attend her wedding. He opposed the marriage vigorously and would not speak to his daughter or son-in-law for 8 years. Just a year or so later, the Hardings began building there home on Mt. Vernon Avenue in Marion Ohio.
The house is surrounded by an expansive, elaborately detailed porch that would become a focal point during his presidential campaign. Entry to the house is through a reception hall, with a parlor on the left. A dining room and Harding's office are also in the first floor. There are four bedrooms on the second floor and a bathroom. Built-in closets are an unusual feature for the time.
Rumors and innuendos surrounded Harding's sudden death in 1923 that suggested he may have been murdered or poisoned. In fact, Harding had congestive heart failure and died from a heart attack while on a trip in the west.
The restored house on Mt. Vernon Avenue contains over 5000 original furnishings and items owned by President Harding and his wife Florence. The Hardings occupied the home continuously from 1891 to 1921 and has been a museum since 1926 and the current configuration of the home depicts the way it would have looked in 1900 with the correct furnishings, wallpaper, . President Harding died while in office in 1923 and Florence died just over a year later.
The library was renovated in 2005. Adjacent to the Harding Home is a press house used during the 1920 campaign which now serves as a museum dedicated to President and Mrs. Harding's lives.
When Warren Harding launched his presidential campaign in the summer of 1920, he did so from the front porch of his home here in Marion. He followed a long tradition of Ohio presidential candidates to do so. Although he did give speeches in other locations (especially in the last month of that campaign) Harding gave more than 100 official speeches from his front porch as well as hundreds more off-the-cuff speeches. The Harding home attracted more than 600,000 people from across the country to listen to the future president speak.
As the campaign progressed, Harding paid $1000 for a Sears catalog house to be built behind the home for newspaper reporters to use in preparing their stories for press. Warren's next door neighbhor was George Christian and his Press Secretary. During the campaign, Mr. Christian allowed his house to be used as the Republican Headquarters. Next to the press-pool house, is a restored Mobile Voting Booth that was used in Columbus between 1880 and 1940.
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