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96 Years Ago Today; Warren G Harding dies suddenly - Calvin Coolidge becomes President
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_G._Harding
Warren G Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular U.S. presidents to that point. After his death a number of scandals, such as Teapot Dome, came to light, as did his extramarital affair with Nan Britton; each eroded his popular regard. He is often rated as one of the worst presidents in historical rankings.
Harding lived in rural Ohio all his life, except when political service took him elsewhere. As a young man, he bought The Marion Star and built it into a successful newspaper. In 1899, he was elected to the Ohio State Senate; he spent four years there, then was elected lieutenant governor. He was defeated for governor in 1910, but was elected to the United States Senate in 1914. He ran for the Republican nomination for president in 1920, and he was considered a long shot until after the convention began. The leading candidates could not gain the needed majority, and the convention deadlocked. Harding's support gradually grew until he was nominated on the tenth ballot. He conducted a front porch campaign, remaining for the most part in Marion and allowing the people to come to him, and running on a theme of a return to normalcy of the pre-World War I period. He won in a landslide over Democrat James M. Cox and the then imprisoned Socialist Party candidate Eugene Debs and became the first sitting senator to be elected president.
Harding appointed a number of well-regarded figures to his cabinet, including Andrew Mellon at Treasury, Herbert Hoover at the Department of Commerce, and Charles Evans Hughes at the State Department. A major foreign policy achievement came with the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–1922, in which the world's major naval powers agreed on a naval limitations program that lasted a decade. Harding released political prisoners that had been arrested for their opposition to World War I. His cabinet members Albert B. Fall (Interior Secretary) and Harry Daugherty (Attorney General) were each later tried for corruption in office; these and other scandals greatly damaged Harding's posthumous reputation. Harding died of a heart attack in San Francisco while on a western tour, succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge.
<snip>
Death and funeral
Harding's funeral procession passing the White House
Harding went to bed early on the evening of July 27, 1923, a few hours after giving a speech at the University of Washington. Later that night, he called for his physician Charles E. Sawyer, complaining of pain in the upper abdomen. Sawyer thought that it was a recurrence of a dietary upset, but Dr. Joel T. Boone suspected a heart problem. Harding felt better the next day, as the train rushed to San Francisco; they arrived on the morning of July 29 and he insisted on walking from the train to the car, which rushed him to the Palace Hotel where he suffered a relapse. Doctors found that his heart was causing problems, but he also had pneumonia, and he was confined to bed rest in his hotel room. Doctors treated him with caffeine and digitalis, and he seemed to improve. Hoover released Harding's foreign policy address advocating membership in the World Court, and the president was pleased that it was favorably received. By the afternoon of August 2, doctors allowed him to sit up in bed. Florence was reading him "A Calm Review of a Calm Man" at 7:30 that evening, a flattering article from The Saturday Evening Post; she paused to fluff his pillows and he told her, "That's good. Go on, read some more." She resumed reading when Harding suddenly twisted convulsively and collapsed back in the bed; doctors were unable to revive him with stimulants. His death was initially attributed to a cerebral hemorrhage, as doctors at the time did not generally understand the symptoms of cardiac arrest.
The Harding Tomb in Marion
Harding's death came as a great shock to the nation. He was liked and admired, and the press and public had followed his illness closely and been reassured by his apparent recovery. His body was carried to his train in a casket for a journey across the nation followed closely in the newspapers. Nine million people lined the tracks as his body was taken from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., where he lay in state at the United States Capitol rotunda. After funeral services there, the body was transported to Marion, Ohio for burial.
In Marion, Harding's body was placed on a horse-drawn hearse, which was followed by President Coolidge and Chief Justice Taft, then by Harding's widow and his father. They followed it through the city, past the Star building, and finally to the Marion Cemetery where the casket was placed in the cemetery's receiving vault. Funeral guests included inventor Thomas Edison and industrialist businessmen Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. Warren and Florence Harding rest in the Harding Tomb, which was dedicated in 1931 by President Hoover.
</snip>
Warren G Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular U.S. presidents to that point. After his death a number of scandals, such as Teapot Dome, came to light, as did his extramarital affair with Nan Britton; each eroded his popular regard. He is often rated as one of the worst presidents in historical rankings.
Harding lived in rural Ohio all his life, except when political service took him elsewhere. As a young man, he bought The Marion Star and built it into a successful newspaper. In 1899, he was elected to the Ohio State Senate; he spent four years there, then was elected lieutenant governor. He was defeated for governor in 1910, but was elected to the United States Senate in 1914. He ran for the Republican nomination for president in 1920, and he was considered a long shot until after the convention began. The leading candidates could not gain the needed majority, and the convention deadlocked. Harding's support gradually grew until he was nominated on the tenth ballot. He conducted a front porch campaign, remaining for the most part in Marion and allowing the people to come to him, and running on a theme of a return to normalcy of the pre-World War I period. He won in a landslide over Democrat James M. Cox and the then imprisoned Socialist Party candidate Eugene Debs and became the first sitting senator to be elected president.
Harding appointed a number of well-regarded figures to his cabinet, including Andrew Mellon at Treasury, Herbert Hoover at the Department of Commerce, and Charles Evans Hughes at the State Department. A major foreign policy achievement came with the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–1922, in which the world's major naval powers agreed on a naval limitations program that lasted a decade. Harding released political prisoners that had been arrested for their opposition to World War I. His cabinet members Albert B. Fall (Interior Secretary) and Harry Daugherty (Attorney General) were each later tried for corruption in office; these and other scandals greatly damaged Harding's posthumous reputation. Harding died of a heart attack in San Francisco while on a western tour, succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge.
<snip>
Death and funeral
Harding's funeral procession passing the White House
Harding went to bed early on the evening of July 27, 1923, a few hours after giving a speech at the University of Washington. Later that night, he called for his physician Charles E. Sawyer, complaining of pain in the upper abdomen. Sawyer thought that it was a recurrence of a dietary upset, but Dr. Joel T. Boone suspected a heart problem. Harding felt better the next day, as the train rushed to San Francisco; they arrived on the morning of July 29 and he insisted on walking from the train to the car, which rushed him to the Palace Hotel where he suffered a relapse. Doctors found that his heart was causing problems, but he also had pneumonia, and he was confined to bed rest in his hotel room. Doctors treated him with caffeine and digitalis, and he seemed to improve. Hoover released Harding's foreign policy address advocating membership in the World Court, and the president was pleased that it was favorably received. By the afternoon of August 2, doctors allowed him to sit up in bed. Florence was reading him "A Calm Review of a Calm Man" at 7:30 that evening, a flattering article from The Saturday Evening Post; she paused to fluff his pillows and he told her, "That's good. Go on, read some more." She resumed reading when Harding suddenly twisted convulsively and collapsed back in the bed; doctors were unable to revive him with stimulants. His death was initially attributed to a cerebral hemorrhage, as doctors at the time did not generally understand the symptoms of cardiac arrest.
The Harding Tomb in Marion
Harding's death came as a great shock to the nation. He was liked and admired, and the press and public had followed his illness closely and been reassured by his apparent recovery. His body was carried to his train in a casket for a journey across the nation followed closely in the newspapers. Nine million people lined the tracks as his body was taken from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., where he lay in state at the United States Capitol rotunda. After funeral services there, the body was transported to Marion, Ohio for burial.
In Marion, Harding's body was placed on a horse-drawn hearse, which was followed by President Coolidge and Chief Justice Taft, then by Harding's widow and his father. They followed it through the city, past the Star building, and finally to the Marion Cemetery where the casket was placed in the cemetery's receiving vault. Funeral guests included inventor Thomas Edison and industrialist businessmen Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. Warren and Florence Harding rest in the Harding Tomb, which was dedicated in 1931 by President Hoover.
</snip>
FWIW, conspiracy theorists have, over the years, contended that First Lady Florence Harding *murdered* her husband. This proves that conspiracy theorists have been plugging away at their craziness for a lot longer than 1963.
12 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
would repeat itself tonight 
You win the internets today, my friend!
Unless it happens twice tonight.
