THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF WARREN HARDING


cheer him up by reading "A Calm View of a Calm Man," which was a very flattering article about Harding in the Saturday Evening Post. Harding supposedly said, "That's good. Go on; read some more." Those were his last words. Mrs. Harding left him when she finished reading the article, with his eyes closed, assuming him asleep. Later, Burse Ruth Powderly came in, saw his face twitch, his mouth drop open, and his head roll to the side. Doctors concluded that he had suffered a stroke. This is where the mystery started.

Mrs. Harding refused to allow an autopsy. Conveniently, California, where Harding's death took place, did not yet have a mandatory autopsy law. Several rumors started. One said that Harding, already depressed and facing impeachment, committed suicide. Another said that Mrs. Harding poisoned him, to prevent him from suffering the humiliation of impeachment and removal from office, or possibly as revenge for his cheating on her.

This last rumor gained attention with the publication of a book by Gaston Means, a convicted swindler, entitled The Strange Death of President Harding. Means, an erstwhile private detective, had been employed by Mrs. Harding for a number of projects, including breaking into Nan Britton's apartment to recover President Harding's love letters to her. Means claimed to have become a confidant of Mrs. Harding, and that she described to him the President's final moments after she had given him the poison without his knowledge.

Although the rumors are periodically renewed and reviewed, we will never know the truth about the death of President Harding. Certainly, had he lived, it is almost certain that he would have been impeached and removed from office. The lack of an autopsy prevented any definite answer, so important to the American people when a President dies suddenly. With newer and more dramatic mysteries and scandals, the importance of Warren Harding's death has faded over time. His death, like his entire administration, left little mark on our history.

The copyright of the article THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF WARREN HARDING in American Presidents is owned by John S. Cooper. Permission to republish THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF WARREN HARDING in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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