Editing Warren G. Harding (section)

===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}}