“I know what’s best for the President. I put him in the White House. He does well when he listens to me and poorly when he does not.”
Florence Harding
Florence Mabel Kling DeWolfe Harding
Years of service: 1921-1923
Born: 1860
Years of service: 1921-1923
Born: 1860
Before marriage to Warren Harding in 1891, Florence was a divorcée and single mother who supported herself as a piano teacher. She assisted with the operations of the lucrative Ohio-based newspaper, The Marion Star, for fourteen years and encouraged her husband to venture into politics. Florence ran every aspect of his political career and considered the 1920 campaign the best time of her life. A women’s suffrage advocate, she was the first woman to vote for her husband for president. Florence consciously used her platform as First Lady to influence national change. She championed women’s education and advancement, inviting women’s organizations to the White House and posing with them for media exposure.
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