Warren G. Harding playing baseball photograph

This photograph shows Republican presidential candidate Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) pitching during an exhibition game between the Chicago Cubs and the Kerrigan Tailors, a semi-professional team from Marion, Ohio (his hometown). Date of the game was Sept. 2, 1920. Wearing light-colored slacks and shoes and a darker sport jacket, Harding is positioned to the left of two unidentified Cubs players, one of whom is holding a boater hat and a baseball glove. A blurry line of spectators is visible in the background.Organized by supporters of Harding's campaign, the game was intended to create a favorable impression of the candidate as a man who enjoyed the national pastime. Harding threw three pitches for the Kerrigan Tailors. The Cubs defeated the local team.Warren G. Harding was born November 2, 1865, near Marion, Ohio. When he was 19 he and a partner purchased the "Marion Daily Star" newspaper, of which he became the editor. His political career began at age 21 when he became a member of the Marion, Ohio, Republican County Committee. In 1888 he went to his first national convention and campaigned for Benjamin Harrison. Harding gained a reputation as an effective orator. In 1902 he gave the eulogy for his fellow Ohioan and friend President William McKinley. In 1912 Harding delivered the speech at the Republican Convention nominating William Howard Taft as the Republican candidate for President.Harding was elected to the United States Senate in 1914. In 1920 Harding was nominated for the U.S. presidency. He won and took office in early 1921. Though he was president for a short time, he eliminated wartime controls, cut taxes, created the federal budget system, restored high tariffs, and imposed immigration limitations. In July 1923 he gave his last speech. On August 2, 1923, Harding suffered a heart attack while trip touring the western United States. He died in San Francisco, California.