Florence Harding - The First Lady

The First Lady

Harding became United States Republican Party 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."

Florence 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 his wife Helen Taft, he opined that the new First Lady was "a nice woman" and would "readily adapt herself." As First Lady, Mrs. Harding hosted elegant garden parties and mixed readily with guests.

In Washington, Mrs. Harding became deeply interested in astrology. Early in 1920, when Harding was still a dark-horse contender for the Republican presidential nomination, she visited Madame Marcia (Marcia Champrey), a noted clairvoyant in the capital, who predicted that her husband was a shoo-in, but added that he would die suddenly in office. Mrs. Harding embarked with her husband on his nationwide "Voyage of Understanding" in the summer of 1923. She was at his side when the President died in San Francisco, California on August 2,1923.

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, best known as the owner of the Hope Diamond. However, when Mrs Harding's long-standing kidney ailment flared up, her friend and the former Surgeon General, Dr. Charles E. Sawyer, insisted that she return to Marion for treatment and recovery. She died there of renal failure less than 16 months later, and was buried next to her husband.