NOVEMBER 3 — 1865 Happy Belated Birthday Warren Harding; 2016 Golden State Warrior Chef Curry serves record 3-pointers
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NOVEMBER 3
Because we couldn’t do it yesterday since it was James Polk’s birthday, 1
865 Happy belated Birthday, Warren G. Harding. He was born on a farm in present day Blooming field Grove in Ohio. He began attending Ohio Central College at age 14 and sent his mother flowers every Sunday. His mom wanted to call him Winfield instead of Warren, and he was nicknamed Winnie.
In 1884, with his father’s financial help, Warren and a college buddy purchased the Marion Star newspaper. In 1891 he married a divorcee, Florence Kling DeWolfe, who was raising a son from her previous marriage. Florence and Warren had no children together. She was a smart business woman and helped her husband achieve financial success with the Marion. In 1808 he got into politics as a Republican, where he became a senator in Ohio as then Lieutenant Governor, but lost the election for Governorship. He entered the national spotlight by delivering the nomination address in 1912In 1920 the Republican party deadlocked on a candidate, and they turned to Harding to run. for President Taft for Taft’s second term. World War I had just ended, and this, along with social changes in America, led to the Progressive Era, where harding vehemently and publicly opposed Woodrow Wilson’s League of nations.
He won the presidential election in a landslide victory, but after his death, history would show him to be one of the worst presidents in U.S. History. His term started off very well as he appointed the best minds to his cabinet, including Charles Evans Hughes as Secretary of State, Andrew Mellon as treasurer, Herbert Hoover as as Secretary of Commerce. As president his administration removed wartime controls, cut taxes for big business, created a Federal budget system, got rid of high protective tariffs, and limited immigration. Now that WWI was over, America saw a new surge of prosperity and the roaring 20s. He kept his campaign promise, stating Less government in business and more business in government. And it was all useless I in the end.
However he also aligned himself with corrupted politicians who took advantage of his kindness. The Director of Veterans Bureau Charles Forbes was illegally selling government medical supplies, and although Harding gave Forbes a big tongue lashing, he allowed Forbes to escape the country rather than face persecution. In the scandal, general council of the Bureau Charles Cranmer and Daugherty’s private secretary committed suicide. And then there was the Teapot Dome scandal, Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall, and appropriate last name for him, was in charge of protecting Oil Reserves. But instead of protecting them, Fall leased them out in exchange for gifts and money in the form of bribes.
Harding asked Hooverk, “If you knew of a great scandal in our administration,” he asked Hoover, “would you for the good of the country and the party expose it publicly or would you bury it?” Hoover suggested that he come forth with the truth, but Harding would not.
Although WG wasn’t directly implicated in the scandal, it hurt his reputation to the point to where he bailed Washington DC and took Florence to Alaska, becoming the first U.S. President to visit the land. Speaking of firsts, he was also the first president to broadcast over the radio, invented the word “normalcy”, and the first president to hire a speech writer. WG loved cigars, whiskey and poker, and once lost the entire set of White House china in one hand of poker.
Upon his return from Alaska, WG landed in San Francisco, where he died while his wife was reading an article from a magazine. Must’ve been one heck of a boring article, Florence! Just kidding. Actually there would be no autopsy to confirm the actual reason of death, though rumors circulated that Florence poisoned him so he wouldn’t live to see his scandals unravel. Or maybe she knew that he was having a ten year long love affair with Carrie Phillips, the wife of one of his best friends. Or maybe the fact that was the biological father of Elizabeth Britton, another scandal which came out when Elizabeth’s mom wrote about it in the book President’s Daughter. In either case, he most likely simply died of a heart attack, and the nation mourned for Warren Gamaliel Harding , with 9 million people lining up around the train tracks as his body was transferred by train to DC. Vice President Calvin Cooledge would take over as president.
Happy belated birthday, Warren!
1948 – The Chicago Tribune puts the wrong headline down. Dewey most definitely did NOT defeat Truman. Many thought he would though, especially the New York Times. So before the election, President Harry Truman made a 22,000 city tour and spoke to the masses directly, asking for their support. That’s where the phrase Give Em Hell Harry came from, which became his non-official campaign slogan. You’ve seen the picture. On the morning of the election, Truman proudly held up a copy of the Tribune incorrectly reporting that he was defeated. In other election news:
1896 – William McKinley defeats William Jennings Bryan, 1908, Bryan loses again to William Howard Taft.
1936 FDR wins landslide over Alfred Landon.
1964 DC residents cast first presidential votes, thanks to the 23rd amendment, and LBJ soundly defeats Barry Goldwater.
2016 Curry shoots a 3 pointer for the 157th game in a row.
The baby-faced assassin, Stephen Curry, three point field goal masters, began his streak for the Golden State Warriors on November 13 2014 and didn’t stop until two seasons later. His own mama inspires him to improve his game by fining her son $100 every time he turns the ball over. He’s considered the best shooter in NBA history by many players and analysts, His records don’t stop there; he also sank 32 3 pointers during the 2016 finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, another record 402 during the 2015-2016 season, he’s led the league in three pointers 4 seasons in a row; another record, and is the first player ever to win the MVP award unanimously. Thanks to Chef Curry, he and Splash Brother Klay Thompson would win the 2017 and 2018 NBA finals, making the Warriors back to back NBA champs.