Editing Warren G. Harding (section)

==Extramarital affairs==
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?320478-1/discussion-president-warren-hardings-love-letters Panel discussion at the Library of Congress on the love letters of Warren G. Harding, July 22, 2014], [[C-SPAN]]}}

Harding had an extramarital affair with [[Carrie Fulton Phillips]] of Marion, which lasted about 15 years before ending in 1920. The affair was revealed when Harding biographer [[Francis Russell (author)|Francis Russell]], while researching his book in 1963, discovered letters from Harding to Phillips. The letters were donated to the [[Ohio Historical Society]], and some there wanted the letters destroyed to preserve what remained of Harding's reputation. A lawsuit ensued, with Harding's heirs claiming copyright over the letters. The case was ultimately settled in 1971, with the letters donated to the [[Library of Congress]]. They were sealed until 2014, but before their opening, historians used copies at the [[Western Reserve Historical Society]] (Kenneth W. Duckett Papers) and in Russell's papers at the [[University of Wyoming]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Kenneth W. Duckett Papers |publisher=Western Reserve Historical Society |url=http://catalog.wrhs.org/collections/view?docId=ead/MS4938.xml;chunk.id=dsc_1;brand=defaultj |access-date=May 28, 2022 }}</ref>{{sfn|Coffey|p=84}}{{sfn|Russell|pp=650–663}}{{sfn|Ferrell|loc=3207}} Russell concluded from the letters that Phillips was the love of Harding's life—"the enticements of his mind and body combined in one person,"{{sfn|Russell|p=167}} but historian Justin P. Coffey in his 2014 review of Harding biographies criticizes him for "obsess[ing] over Harding's sex life."{{sfn|Coffey|p=85}}

===Child===

Harding fathered Elizabeth Ann Blaesing out of wedlock with his mistress [[Nan Britton]]. In 2015, [[Genealogical DNA test|DNA testing]] proved Harding was Blaesing's father. Harding had vigorously denied paternity. According to family lore, Harding was infertile and could not have fathered a child, having suffered from [[mumps]] in childhood,<ref name=DNA/> and his siblings, nieces, and nephews maintained this position for 90 years.<ref name="DNA">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/us/dna-is-said-to-solve-a-mystery-of-warren-hardings-love-life.html |date=August 12, 2015|access-date=August 13, 2015|last=Baker|first=Peter|title=DNA Is Said to Solve a Mystery of Warren Harding's Love Life|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

In 1927, Britton, who was also from Marion, published ''[[The President's Daughter (1928 book)|The President's Daughter]]'', writing that Harding had fathered her child Elizabeth Ann Blaesing. The book, which was dedicated to "all unwedded mothers" and "their innocent children whose fathers are usually not known to the world", was sold, like pornography, door-to-door, wrapped in brown paper.<ref name="Robenalt13Aug">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/08/13/if-we-werent-so-obsessed-with-warren-g-hardings-sex-life-wed-realize-he-was-a-pretty-good-president/|title=If we weren't so obsessed with Warren G. Harding's sex life, we'd realize he was a pretty good president|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|last=Robenalt|first=James D.|date=August 13, 2015|access-date=August 13, 2015|author-link=James Robenalt}}</ref> Harding's reputation had deteriorated since his death in 1923, and many believed Britton.{{sfn|Coffey|p=80}} The public was tantalized by salacious details such as Britton's claim that the two had sex in a closet near the [[Oval Office]], with [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] agents posted to ward off intruders.{{sfn|Coffey|p=80}}

Despite being widely believed, Britton lost a libel lawsuit against a rebuttal of her book.{{sfn|Sinclair|p=293}} She said that Harding had provided child support of $500 per month for the daughter he never met,<ref name="Strochlic14Aug">{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/14/our-dirtiest-president-s-mistress-tells-all.html|title=Our Dirtiest President's Mistress Tells All|work=The Daily Beast|first=Nina|last=Strochlic|date=August 14, 2015|access-date=August 15, 2015}}</ref> but that she had destroyed romantic correspondence from him at his request.<ref name="DNA" /><ref name="Strochlic14Aug" /> Writing before Britton's claim was verified, Russell believed it unquestioningly,{{sfn|Coffey|p=85}} while Dean, having reviewed Britton's papers at [[UCLA]], regarded it as unproven.{{sfn|Dean|p=162}}

Sinclair suggested that a harsher standard was applied to Harding than to [[Grover Cleveland]], who was elected president in 1884, although it was known he had a mistress and may have fathered a son out of wedlock.{{sfn|Sinclair|p=293}}