Warren G. Harding's Front Porch Campaign Crowd Photograph

These three images, which measure 6.5" by 5.5" (17 by 11 cm), show crowds of people who traveled to Marion to hear to Warren G. Harding's speeches during his 1920 "front porch" campaign for the presidency. The first image shows a large crowd gathering in front of his house. One listener has a sign upon which was written "you tell 'em Harding." The second image shows the crowd gathering, with two people trying to get a better view of Harding by climbing up trees. The final image shows individuals bearing signs with slogans including: "Harding's Porch is a friendly, neighborly front porch" and "Harding will listen to the people: The White House isolation will end" a reference to President Woodrow Wilson's perceived isolation from the will of the people at the end of his term. Warren Gamaliel Harding (1865-1923) was born in Corsica (now called Blooming Grove), a small town in Morrow County, Ohio. Harding graduated from Ohio Central College in Iberia at the age of sixteen. His family moved to Marion, where Harding taught school and briefly studied law. He worked occasionally as a reporter for a local paper before buying the Marion Star in 1884. Within five years, the Star was one of the most successful small-town newspapers in the state. Harding became popular as the leader of the Citizen's Coronet Band, which played at political rallies, and for his skill as an orator. Willing to follow the lead of political bosses, Harding advanced rapidly in Ohio politics, serving as state senator and lieutenant governor. In 1914 Harding was elected to the U. S. Senate. He won the presidency with sixty percent of the popular vote, promising a "return to normalcy" following the wave of reforms begun during Theodore Roosevelt's administration. As president, Harding appointed several friends to federal office who proved untrustworthy. His administration was tainted by corruption, and the infamous "Teapot Dome" scandal (in which Harding's Secretary of the Interior leased a U.S. petroleum reserve to a private oil company) nearly destroyed his presidency. After he died in office in August 1923, other scandals were uncovered, further tarnishing Harding's reputation.