Warren G. Harding & the Marion Daily Star: How Newspapering Shaped a President by Sherry Hall

Author:Sherry Hall [Hall, Sherry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Presidents & Heads of State, Biography, Editors; Journalists; Publishers, United States, Midwest (IA; IL; IN; KS; MI; MN; MO; ND; NE; OH; SD; WI), Biography & Autobiography, State & Local, History
ISBN: 9781625849427
Google: 0QB3CQAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 22953716
Publisher: HISTORY Press
Published: 2014-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

Florence and her horse, Billy. The Hardings were both animal lovers and were greatly upset when Billy narrowly escaped a fire at the livery where he was stabled. The house appears as it did in the 1890s, with the original wooden front porch. The second, and considerably more famous, front porch replaced the wooden one in 1899. Courtesy of Ohio History Connection.

Speculation since has pointed to greed on Warren’s part as the main reason for the marriage. Warren, people surmised, must have had the Kling wealth and social status in mind. Yet anyone living in Marion in 1890 would have known that the theory was baseless; Amos Kling was not about to unclench the death grip on his pocketbook for Warren Harding’s benefit. Kling had no use for Harding since the young man had taken over the Star six years earlier. Harding knew that Kling despised him and did not care one bit. The feeling was mutual.

Kling never spelled out his objections to Harding, but several reasons are plausible. Kling, as an important Marion investor and businessman, was an old guard Republican. He thus supported Crawford of the Independent. He, like Crawford, did not understand Warren’s intent with the independent-but-Republican Star. All Kling could see was an attempt by the penniless Harding to undermine Republicanism in Marion County.

While appreciating the impact the older generation of businessmen had on Marion, Harding resented the patronizing attitude exhibited toward the “young crowd.” The Civil War generation of Kling and Crawford called the shots in Marion, as it did in Ohio politics in general. When Harding began to wriggle his way into local Republican politics, Kling was outraged. The older gent found Harding’s presence intimidating, although he admitted that to no one.

Many felt that the Crawford-Kling alliance was the poison. Either Kling had tipped off Crawford or Crawford had whispered to Kling about the “black blood” story that plagued the Hardings. Whoever was the source, Kling was known to spread the story loudly among the town’s businessmen. Kling’s temper likely flared, too, when he discovered that his two sons, Clifford and Vetallis, as well as his wife, Louisa, liked Harding.

The only thing he controlled was his wallet. In an attempt to cut ties between Warren and Florence, Kling told his daughter that the family money was forever lost to her if she proceeded with the marriage. He made sure that the marriage terms were leaked throughout the town. To his embarrassment, Florence merely shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the large, limestone house at the corner of Center and Mill streets without a backward glance. So Warren knew well ahead of the wedding day that the Kling money was off limits.

Warwick acknowledged Amos Kling’s role in Harding’s life:

Amos Kling was reputed to be the wealthiest man in Marion and as such was accustomed to having pretty much his own way, because most people let him have it. But Amos Kling did not have his way with his daughter, his only daughter, by the way.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.