WI: Warren G. Harding's Affairs Uncovered

What if during the first term of Warren G. Harding, his infidelities were discovered and made public by the press?
 
For the Press of this time to run with the story, it would have to be very messy and public. He'd need to get a mistress pregnant, probably. Maybe have her married to another man, and that man discovers that the baby isn't his, and goes and like, physically assaults Harding or something, and the accusations come out in a public trial, and the mistress confesses.
 
I question how things would go based on the politics of the time. I've heard stories that the press of the day wouldn't care about this sort of thing (for example, how they wouldn't care about JFK's affairs being exposed), but with such a high-profile case as this, I don't think it could simply be ignored.
 
Angry press?

I suppose that, if he'd seriously angered a newspaper, they might decide to get revenge--but as has been said, the papers generally didn't publish the truth about such matters. I don't understand WHY, but they didn't.
 
I suppose that, if he'd seriously angered a newspaper, they might decide to get revenge--but as has been said, the papers generally didn't publish the truth about such matters. I don't understand WHY, but they didn't.

Men will be men, don't you know? Certainly has nothing to do with the Presidency, and the last time an affair went public, 1884, nobody cared. It wasn't really until after Watergate and more women became political reporters that personal integrity became an open question.
 
Doesn't seem like there will be much more than noise. Recall that Cleveland, 35 years earlier, fathered a child out of wedlock. When questioned, he said bluntly "tell them the truth" and it didn't affect his White House run.
 

Zioneer

Banned
Doesn't seem like there will be much more than noise. Recall that Cleveland, 35 years earlier, fathered a child out of wedlock. When questioned, he said bluntly "tell them the truth" and it didn't affect his White House run.

In fact, it became a point of amusement for the Cleveland supporters: "Ma, ma, where's my pa?" "Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!"
 
Men will be men, don't you know? Certainly has nothing to do with the Presidency, and the last time an affair went public, 1884, nobody cared. It wasn't really until after Watergate and more women became political reporters that personal integrity became an open question.

It recalls a story about a Utah Senator who ran into opposition because he had once lived in polygamy. One colleague remarked that he preferred "a polygamist who doesn't polyg" to a "monogamist who doesn't monog". Evidently he knew some of his fellows who belonged in the latter category.
 

Zioneer

Banned
It recalls a story about a Utah Senator who ran into opposition because he had once lived in polygamy. One colleague remarked that he preferred "a polygamist who doesn't polyg" to a "monogamist who doesn't monog". Evidently he knew some of his fellows who belonged in the latter category.

That would be Reed Smoot, and hilariously enough, he wasn't even a polygamist, ever. Of course, the point of the Smoot trials wasn't Smoot himself, it was to prove that the Mormon Church was still doing polygamy.

And the Senator who made the remark was Boies Penrose, BTW.

Side note, Reed Smoot was third in line to become LDS prophet when he died, and a few years earlier, was President Pro Tempore before his defeat in 1932.

But to go back to the original point, I would say that if Harding both had an affair that couldn't be easily hidden, and had a worse relationship with the press, he would definitely get called out on it.
 
What 2nd term?

Please recall that the original poster was asking if Harding's infidelities would affect his chances of a 2nd term. This is moot because of his health issues and was replaced on the Republican ticket by Cal Coolidge. His infidelities didn't help but almost certainly ran well behind the corruption of his cabinet if not himself, remember Teapot Dome?
 
Please recall that the original poster was asking if Harding's infidelities would affect his chances of a 2nd term. This is moot because of his health issues and was replaced on the Republican ticket by Cal Coolidge. His infidelities didn't help but almost certainly ran well behind the corruption of his cabinet if not himself, remember Teapot Dome?


OTOH, the divisions in the Democratic Party meant that the risk of defeat was minimal, whoever the Republicans chose to nominate.

Harding might have to ditch certain members of his Cabinet, but in all likelihood he'd still win comfortably.
 
For the Press of this time to run with the story, it would have to be very messy and public. He'd need to get a mistress pregnant, probably. Maybe have her married to another man

Harding actually did a lot of that. He did get a mistress pregnant, although she wasn't married to anyone else. He also had an affair with the wife of a friend of his, although I don't recall the name off the top of my head. Maybe for the purposes of this POD, we combine the two events? That would meet your scenario...
 
It's the lying, more so than the original actions.

And once you start lying per Watergate, it all has a way of spiraling bigger and bigger.
 
I think that if Harding had a very messy affair which became public - and sense affairs didn't become public at this time, one becoming public would be huge - that the worst it could do would be to force him to resign or lead to the convention dumping him. I think whoever the Republicans nominated in 1924 would still probably be able to win the election, the Democrats were just so messed up at this time.
 
Top