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In the New York Times for today, August 13, 2015, in the first section (p. A10) was an article that DNA proved that President Warren G. Harding (1865 - 1923; 1921-1923) was the grandfather of a gentleman living in Oregon, the grandson of Nan Britton, the young woman who wrote the book "The President's Daughter" in the late 1920s, and met with a chorus of catcalls for bringing additional disgrace on the late President.
Harding had, for many decades, languished at the bottom of the list of Presidents in terms of reputation - and was widely considered the worst - due to the "Teapot Dome/Elk Hill" Naval Reserve Oil Scandals, the "Veteran's Bureau Hospital Scandal", and the "Alien Property Scandal" which all broke out while he was President. However, in recent years Harding's standing went up because he was an outspoken supporter of African-American rights, and he had supported naval disarmament under his Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes. Harding was also responsible for forcing the steel industry to end the use of the 12-hour day, thus becoming the last major industry to do so.
Moreover Harding looked better after the Nixon - Watergate Scandal, as well as the questionable moves of the George W. Bush administration in expanding the Mideast wars, and even in the wake of the Lewinsky Scandal and Presidential impeachment trial of President Clinton.
Harding had been married to Florence Kling, whose father was the richest man in Marion, Ohio. He was the second husband to Florence, who had two children by her first husband. The Hardings had no children of their own, and it was said this was due to a case of mumps in Harding's adolescence which left him impotent. This was an argument used to denounce Nan Britton's claims as false.
However, a grand niece of Warren gave the DNA sample to compare to Nan's grandson, and the two match very well. Most Harding family members accept the paternity as being established (meaning Warren has descendants now).
Amos Kling, the father of Florence, had opposed the marriage to Harding, and actually confronted him in Marion, claiming that he was of non-white birth. In the late 19th century this was a really nasty insult (one most of us would not be too upset about at all today). The chief reason (aside from Mr. Kling's deep distrust and dislike of Harding) was that Harding had been born in Blooming Grove, a small town near Marion with a large African-American population. It was easy to make an accusation like that Kling made toward Harding.
During the 1920 election for the Presidency a Professor William E. Chancellor of the University of Wooster in Ohio, spread the rumor of Harding's ancestry around the country. Later he would publish a questionable pamphlet to document his claims about Harding (Chancellor was not a teacher of biology or genetics, but of elocution). The rumor never left Harding's reputation.
In examining the DNA sample it turned out that the Hardings don't have any gentic material that shows a sub-Saharan line of descent. Aparently Chancellor was wrong about this.
Jeff
Harding had, for many decades, languished at the bottom of the list of Presidents in terms of reputation - and was widely considered the worst - due to the "Teapot Dome/Elk Hill" Naval Reserve Oil Scandals, the "Veteran's Bureau Hospital Scandal", and the "Alien Property Scandal" which all broke out while he was President. However, in recent years Harding's standing went up because he was an outspoken supporter of African-American rights, and he had supported naval disarmament under his Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes. Harding was also responsible for forcing the steel industry to end the use of the 12-hour day, thus becoming the last major industry to do so.
Moreover Harding looked better after the Nixon - Watergate Scandal, as well as the questionable moves of the George W. Bush administration in expanding the Mideast wars, and even in the wake of the Lewinsky Scandal and Presidential impeachment trial of President Clinton.
Harding had been married to Florence Kling, whose father was the richest man in Marion, Ohio. He was the second husband to Florence, who had two children by her first husband. The Hardings had no children of their own, and it was said this was due to a case of mumps in Harding's adolescence which left him impotent. This was an argument used to denounce Nan Britton's claims as false.
However, a grand niece of Warren gave the DNA sample to compare to Nan's grandson, and the two match very well. Most Harding family members accept the paternity as being established (meaning Warren has descendants now).
Amos Kling, the father of Florence, had opposed the marriage to Harding, and actually confronted him in Marion, claiming that he was of non-white birth. In the late 19th century this was a really nasty insult (one most of us would not be too upset about at all today). The chief reason (aside from Mr. Kling's deep distrust and dislike of Harding) was that Harding had been born in Blooming Grove, a small town near Marion with a large African-American population. It was easy to make an accusation like that Kling made toward Harding.
During the 1920 election for the Presidency a Professor William E. Chancellor of the University of Wooster in Ohio, spread the rumor of Harding's ancestry around the country. Later he would publish a questionable pamphlet to document his claims about Harding (Chancellor was not a teacher of biology or genetics, but of elocution). The rumor never left Harding's reputation.
In examining the DNA sample it turned out that the Hardings don't have any gentic material that shows a sub-Saharan line of descent. Aparently Chancellor was wrong about this.
Jeff
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