Florence Kling Harding
Florence Kling Harding (August 15, 1860 - November 21, 1924), wife of Warren G. Harding, was First Lady of the United States from 1921 to 1923.
Daughter of the richest man in a small town--Amos Kling, a successful businessman--Florence Mabel Kling was born in Marion, Ohio, in 1860. Much like her strong-willed father in temperament, she developed a self-reliance rare in girls of that era. A music course at the Marion Daily Star (now the Marion Star). Florence pursued Mr. Harding, whose attentions were more apt to focus on young beauties of the day. However, Warren Harding was having difficulty with Amos Kling and his cronies and a marriage to the persistent Florence Kling would politically benefit him. The two were married in 1891 in the house that Warren had planned in Marion. The couple did not have children of their own; however, Florence?s son Marshall Eugene DeWolfe lived with them from time to time. The young man idolized his stepfather, and hoped to become a newspaperman himself one day.
Mrs. Harding soon took over the Star's circulation department, spanking newsboys when necessary. "No pennies escaped her," a friend recalled, and the paper prospered while its owner's political success increased. As he rose through Ohio politics and became a United States Senator, his wife directed all her acumen to his career. He became Republican nominee for President in 1920 and "the Duchess," as he called her, worked tirelessly for his election. In her own words: "I have only one real hobby--my husband."
She had never been a guest at the White House; and former President Taft, meeting the President-elect and Mrs. Harding, discussed its social customs with her and stressed the value of ceremony. Writing to Nellie, he concluded that the new First Lady was "a nice woman" and would "readily adapt herself."
When Mrs. Harding moved into the White House, she opened mansion and grounds to the public again--both had been closed through President Wilson's illness. She herself suffered from a chronic kidney ailment, but she threw herself into the job of First Lady with energy. Garden parties for veterans were regular events on a crowded social calendar. The President and his wife relaxed at poker parties in the White House library, where liquor was available although the Eighteenth Amendment made it illegal.
Mrs. Harding always liked to travel with her husband. She was with him in the summer of 1923 when he died unexpectedly in California, shortly before the public learned of the major scandals facing his administration.
Following the death of President Harding, the former First Lady set about making a new life for herself. Her intention was to remain in Washington, temporarily staying at Friendship, the estate of her best friend Evalyn Walsh Mclean, herself best known as the then owner of the
Hope Diamond. However a flare up of Mrs. Harding?s kidney ailment was made know to the former Surgeon General,
Edith Bolling Wilson
First Ladies of the United States |
Succeeded by:
Grace Coolidge |
