Thursday, July 22, 2010

Warren G. Harding Tomb, Marion, Ohio

Two photos taken in August 1988.  The Harding tomb was designed to have one column for every state in the Union, but by the time construction began the Teapot Dome scandal and others had hit the newspapers and donations dried up, resulting in it falling two short, 46 instead of 48.  Given Warren G. Harding's current reputation historically, it can be a little hard to believe the country was devastated when he died in office.   
Some historians believe that Harding, who was personally honest (his weakness was women, not lining his pockets) was beginning to realize just how corrupt some of his friends and cronies were and that the stress of worrying about impending scandal contributed to his untimely death.  There's also been speculation that his jealous wife had him poisoned, but it's most likely he died from complications of a food-borne infection.  No one knows for sure because the doctors who had been treating him just prior to his death all gave different descriptions of his illness, and his wife had him embalmed in record time.