Today's blog post covers a museum in Ohio, USA that I visited at the start of September. One of my friends lives in central Ohio, so we met up in Marion and visited the home of the former president Warren G. Harding. Harding was one of the Ohio presidents and the 29th president of the USA, and he was born down the road but moved into this house with his wife Florence. He was a successful journalist and bought a local newspaper called "The Marion Daily Star", which he succeeded in running for many years. Harding was famous for his 1920 "Front Porch Campaign" in which he successfully campaigned for the presidency on his front porch. People came from all over to see him speak on his porch. He portrayed himself as an everyday man with slogans to "return to normalcy" and "America first" after the first World War. During his short time as president, he was well-liked, but he died half the way through his presidency during a US tour.
Visitors can explore the museum and the home of Harding, which also contains his personal possessions. The house has been fitted out to appear as it did in 1920 down to the original wallpaper (or an exact reproduction of it). The house is by guided tour only, and afterwards, visitors can explore the museum to read more about Harding, the campaign, and the short presidency, and see more of his and his wife's possessions. There is also a couple of videos to watch in the museum. One of them was about Harding and his presidency, and the other one was about the conservation and excavation work to the home. The former president and his wife's memorial can also be seen in Marion as you are driving into or out of the town. The site is also due to have a library constructed with work starting this year.
Harding was the Republican candidate and won against James Cox, who was another Ohioan running a newspaper for the other party. Harding easily won the election. Despite his short presidency, he accomplished some of his goals. His wife died not long after he did. A couple of members of Harding's administration had caused issues after his death, and he was not faithful to his wife. The museum explains the good and the bad, and because of these corruption issues and short presidency, Harding is today not considered to be a popular or well-liked president.
I completed the house tour first. The neighbouring houses on both sides and the back have since been demolished. Visitors can sit on the porch, and the original cracks on the porch can be seen as the "Front Porch Campaign" kicked off before the cement could dry. We were not allowed to take photographs inside the house. We got to explore the front hallway where Harding and his wife were married on the stairs. The hallway leads back to the dining room and the front room to the side. Between the dining room and front room is the library where Harding worked, and his chair can be seen here as well as cigar storage. At the back of the house is the kitchen, which is small and modest. Upstairs, we explored three bedrooms and a bathroom off the hallway.
After the house tour, we checked out the museum.
The museum showed many personal items and campaign items - including a lunch box and mining light. There was also a section on Harding's US tour by train. He died of a heart attack on the tour, and his body was sent back across the US, where he was mourned. A television showed the procession in Washington.
We drove past the memorial, but I did not see anywhere to easily park up. Overall, we probably spent close to three hours at the site; we spent an hour in the tour and almost two hours in the museum.
Harding was president during the Prohibition era from 1920 to 1923, and the vice president Calvin Coolidge took over the presidency. Woodrow Wilson, the president before Harding, had started the prohibition of alcohol to save grain for the war needs. Prohibition was one of America's big failures. It was backed by religious and women's groups as well, but it opened up a criminal underground.
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