Editing Warren G. Harding (section)

==Early life and career==

===Childhood and education===
[[File:Home of Warren G. Harding 2011.jpg|thumb|left|Harding's home in [[Marion, Ohio]]]]
{{Warren G. Harding series}}

Warren Harding was born on November 2, 1865, in [[Blooming Grove, Ohio]].{{sfn|Russell|p=33}} Nicknamed "Winnie" as a small child, he was the eldest of eight children born to [[George Tryon Harding]] (usually known as Tryon) and Phoebe Elizabeth (née Dickerson) Harding.{{sfn|Russell|p=33}} Phoebe was a state-licensed [[midwife]]. Tryon farmed and taught school near [[Mount Gilead, Ohio|Mount Gilead]]. Through apprenticeship, study, and a year of medical school, Tryon became a doctor and started a small practice.{{sfn|Russell|p=35}} Harding's first ancestor in the Americas was Richard Harding, who arrived from [[England]] to [[Massachusetts Bay]] around 1624.<ref>{{cite book|title=The New England Historical and Genealogical Register|publisher=New England Historic Genealogical Society|year=1922}}</ref> Harding also had ancestors from Wales and Scotland,<ref>The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volumes 76–77. October 1923, p. 244</ref> and some of his maternal ancestors were Dutch, including the wealthy Van Kirk family.<ref>{{cite book |title=The illustrious life and work of Warren G. Harding, twenty-ninth President of the United States |last=Russell |first=Thomas |page=51 |year=1923 |publisher=the University of Wisconsin–Madison}}</ref>

It was rumored by a political opponent in Blooming Grove that one of Harding's great-grandmothers was [[African American]].<ref name = "first black president">{{cite news|last=Gage|first=Beverly|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/magazine/06wwln-essay-t.html?ref=warrengharding|title=Our First Black President?|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 6, 2008|access-date=June 15, 2015}}</ref> His great-great-grandfather Amos Harding claimed that a thief, who had been caught in the act by the family, started the rumor in an attempt at extortion or revenge.{{sfn|Russell|p=26}} In 2015, [[genetic testing]] of Harding's descendants determined, with more than a 95% chance of accuracy, that he lacked sub-Saharan African forebears within four generations.<ref name="DNA" /><ref name=Baker18Aug>{{cite news|work=The New York Times|first=Peter|last=Baker|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/us/politics/dna-that-confirmed-one-warren-harding-rumor-refutes-another.html|title=DNA Shows Warren Harding Wasn't America's First Black President|date=August 18, 2015|access-date=August 18, 2015}}</ref>

In 1870, the Harding family, who were [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionists]],<ref name=Baker18Aug/> moved to [[Caledonia, Ohio|Caledonia]], where Tryon acquired ''The Argus'', a local weekly newspaper. At ''The Argus'', Harding, from the age of 11, learned the basics of the newspaper business.{{sfn|Dean|p=6}} In late 1879, at age 14, he enrolled at his father's ''alma mater''—[[Ohio Central College]] in [[Iberia, Ohio|Iberia]]—where he proved an adept student. He and a friend put out a small newspaper, the ''Iberia Spectator'', during their final year at Ohio Central, intended to appeal to both the college and the town. During his final year, the Harding family moved to [[Marion, Ohio|Marion]], about {{convert|6|mi|0}} from Caledonia, and when he graduated in 1882, he joined them there.{{sfn|Dean|pp=7–9}}

On May 6, 1883, Harding joined the [[Free Will Baptist|Free Baptist Church]] in Marion, where he later served as a trustee for 25 years and of which he remained a member until his death.<ref name="TBC">{{citation |title=Trinity Baptist Church — Marion, Ohio: History and Development |publisher=Trinity Baptist Church, Marion, Ohio |url=http://www.tbcmarion.org/pdf/trinity%20baptist%20church.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218001234if_/http://www.tbcmarion.org/pdf/trinity%20baptist%20church.pdf |archive-date=18 February 2008}}</ref>{{rp|6}} The congregation merged with the [[American Baptist Churches USA#Northern Baptist Convention|Northern Baptist Convention]] in 1911<ref name="TBC" />{{rp|4}} and became known as the Trinity Baptist Church in 1912.<ref name="TBC" />{{rp|7}}

===Editor===
In Harding's youth, most of the U.S. population still lived on farms and in small towns. Harding spent much of his life in Marion, a small city in rural central Ohio, and became closely associated with it. When he rose to high office, he made clear his love of Marion and its way of life, telling of the many young Marionites who had left and enjoyed success elsewhere, while suggesting that the man, once the "pride of the school", who had remained behind and become a janitor, was "the happiest one of the lot".{{sfn|Sinclair|pp=6–9}}

Upon graduating, Harding had stints as a teacher and as an insurance man, and made a brief attempt at studying law. He then raised $300 ({{Inflation|US|300|1883|fmt=eq|r=-2}}) in partnership with others to purchase a failing newspaper, ''[[The Marion Star]]'', the weakest of the growing city's three papers and its only daily. The 18-year-old Harding used the railroad pass that came with the paper to attend the [[1884 Republican National Convention]], where he hobnobbed with better-known journalists and supported the presidential nominee, former [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[James G. Blaine]]. Harding returned from Chicago to find that the sheriff had reclaimed the paper.{{sfn|Dean|pp=9–13}} During the election campaign, Harding worked for the Marion ''Democratic Mirror'' and was annoyed at having to praise the Democratic presidential nominee, New York Governor [[Grover Cleveland]], who won [[1884 United States presidential election|the election]].{{sfn|Nevins|p=252}} Afterward, with his father's financial help, Harding gained ownership of the paper.{{sfn|Dean|pp=9–13}}

Through the later years of the 1880s, Harding built the ''Star''. The city of Marion tended to vote Republican (as did Ohio), but [[Marion County, Ohio|Marion County]] was Democratic. Accordingly, Harding adopted a tempered editorial stance, declaring the daily ''Star'' nonpartisan and circulating a weekly edition that was moderately Republican. This policy attracted advertisers and put the town's Republican weekly out of business. According to his biographer, Andrew Sinclair:

{{blockquote|
The success of Harding with the ''Star'' was certainly in the model of [[Horatio Alger]]. He started with nothing, and through working, stalling, bluffing, withholding payments, borrowing back wages, boasting, and manipulating, he turned a dying rag into a powerful small-town newspaper. Much of his success had to do with his good looks, affability, enthusiasm, and persistence, but he was also lucky. As [[Machiavelli]] once pointed out, cleverness will take a man far, but he cannot do without good fortune.{{sfn|Sinclair|pp=12–13}}}}

The population of Marion grew from 4,000 in 1880 to twice that in 1890, and to 12,000 by 1900. This growth helped the ''Star'', and Harding did his best to promote the city, purchasing stock in many local enterprises. A few of these turned out badly, but he was generally successful as an investor, leaving an estate of $850,000 in 1923 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|.85|1923|r=2}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation-year|US}}).{{sfn|Sinclair|pp=14–15}} According to Harding biographer [[John Dean]], Harding's "civic influence was that of an activist who used his editorial page to effectively keep his nose—and a prodding voice—in all the town's public business".{{sfn|Dean|pp = 13–14}} To date, Harding is the only U.S. president to have had full-time journalism experience.{{sfn|Dean|pp=9–13}} He became an ardent supporter of Governor [[Joseph B. Foraker]], a Republican.{{sfn|Russell|pp = 56–68}}

Harding first came to know [[Florence Harding|Florence Kling]], five years older than he, as the daughter of a local banker and developer. [[Amos Kling]] was a man accustomed to getting his way, but Harding attacked him relentlessly in the paper. Amos involved Florence in all his affairs, taking her to work from the time she could walk. As hard-headed as her father, Florence came into conflict with him after returning from music college.{{efn|Kling was determined that his daughter be able to make a living if it became necessary, and so sent her to the [[Cincinnati Conservatory of Music]]. After their estrangement, it became necessary. See {{harvnb|Dean|p=15}}.}} After she eloped with Pete deWolfe, and returned to Marion without deWolfe and with an infant called [[Marshall Eugene DeWolfe|Marshall]], Amos agreed to raise the boy, but would not support Florence, who made a living as a piano teacher. One of her students was Harding's sister Charity. By 1886, Florence Kling had obtained a divorce, and she and Harding were courting, though who was pursuing whom is uncertain.<ref name = "floranb" />{{sfn|Dean|pp=14–19}}

The budding match snuffed out a truce between the Klings. Amos believed that the Hardings had [[Multiracial Americans|African American blood]], and was also offended by Harding's editorial stances. He started to spread rumors of Harding's supposed black heritage, and encouraged local businessmen to boycott Harding's business interests.<ref name=Baker18Aug/> When Harding found out what Kling was doing, he warned Kling "that he would beat the tar out of the little man if he didn't cease."{{efn|Harding apparently never knew with certainty whether he had any black ancestry, telling a reporter, "One of my ancestors may have jumped the fence."<ref name=Baker18Aug/>}}{{sfn|Dean|pp=18–19}}

The Hardings married on July 8, 1891,{{sfn|Russell|p=81}} at their new home on Mount Vernon Avenue in Marion, which they had designed together in the [[Queen Anne style architecture in the United States|Queen Anne style]].<ref name=MarionHome>{{cite news|url=http://www.marionstar.com/story/news/local/2015/08/13/genetic-testing-confirms-hardings-daughter/31639995/|title=Genetic testing confirms Harding's daughter|work=The Marion Star|author=Marion Star staff report|date=August 13, 2015|access-date=August 13, 2015}}</ref> The marriage produced no children.<ref name = "anb">{{cite web|title=Harding, Warren Gamaliel|work=American National Biography Online|last=Hawley|first=Ellis W.|url=http://www.anb.org/articles/06/06-00253.html?a=1&n=Warren%20G.%20Harding&d=10&ss=0&q=1}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Harding affectionately called his wife "the Duchess" for a character in a serial from ''[[The New York Sun]]'' who kept a close eye on "the Duke" and their money.{{sfn|Dean|pp=20–21}}

Florence Harding became deeply involved in her husband's career, both at the ''Star'' and after he entered politics.<ref name = "floranb">{{cite web|title=Harding, Florence Kling deWolfe|work=American National Biography Online|last=Gutin|first=Myra G.|url=http://www.anb.org/articles/06/06-00764.html?from=../06/06-00253.html&from_nm=Harding%2C%20Warren%20Gamaliel}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Exhibiting her father's determination and business sense, she helped turn the ''Star'' into a profitable enterprise through her tight management of the paper's circulation department.{{sfn|Russell|p=90}} She has been credited with helping Harding achieve more than he might have alone; some have suggested that she pushed him all the way to the White House.{{sfn|Schlesinger|p=50}}

===Start in politics===

Soon after purchasing the ''Star'', Harding turned his attention to politics, supporting Foraker in his first successful bid for governor in [[1885 Ohio gubernatorial election|1885]]. Foraker was part of the [[Ohio in the American Civil War|war generation]] that challenged older Ohio Republicans, such as Senator [[John Sherman]], for control of state politics. Harding, always a party loyalist, supported Foraker in the complex internecine warfare that was Ohio Republican politics. Harding was willing to tolerate Democrats as necessary to a [[two-party system]], but had only contempt for those who bolted the Republican Party to join third-party movements.{{sfn|Russell|pp=68–70}} He was a delegate to the Republican [[political convention|state convention]] in 1888, at the age of 22, representing Marion County, and would be elected a delegate in most years until becoming president.{{sfn|Sinclair|p=35}}

Harding's success as an editor took a toll on his health. Five times between 1889 (when he was 23) and 1901, he spent time at the [[Battle Creek Sanitorium]] for reasons Sinclair described as "fatigue, overstrain, and nervous illnesses".{{sfn|Sinclair|p=286}} Dean ties these visits to early occurrences of the heart ailment that would kill Harding in 1923. During one such absence from Marion, in 1894, the ''Star'''s business manager quit. Florence Harding took his place. She became her husband's top assistant at the ''Star'' on the business side, maintaining her role until the Hardings moved to Washington in 1915. Her competence allowed Harding to travel to make speeches—his use of the free railroad pass increased greatly after his marriage.{{sfn|Dean|pp=21–23}} Florence Harding practiced strict economy{{sfn|Russell|p=90}} and wrote of Harding, "he does well when he listens to me and poorly when he does not."{{sfn|Sibley|p=20}}

In 1892, Harding traveled to Washington, where he met Democratic Nebraska Congressman [[William Jennings Bryan]], and listened to the "Boy Orator of the Platte" speak on the floor of the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]. Harding traveled to Chicago's [[Columbian Exposition]] in 1893. Both visits were without Florence. Democrats generally won Marion County's offices; when Harding ran for [[county auditor|auditor]] in 1895, he lost, but did better than expected. The following year, Harding was one of many orators who spoke across Ohio as part of [[William McKinley presidential campaign, 1896|the campaign]] of the Republican presidential candidate, that state's former governor, [[William McKinley]]. According to Dean, "while working for McKinley [Harding] began making a name for himself through Ohio".{{sfn|Dean|pp=21–23}}