The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-11-21
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21 1924
LONG ILLNESS
/. AFTER BRAVE
FIGHT FATAL
Continued from page u

in the years preceding, the helpless
and the unfortunate received the first
and fullest measure of her devotion.
Children of every class had her un=
failing attentions Wounded vetcr
ans of the World War owed her
many a debt for hours gladdened .h!
her visits to their hospitals or by
flowers sent by her personal order
from the White House Conservatives.
Her unusual outgiving OF sympathy
extended to animals, many of whom
she befriended and protected.
Always Thoughtful
In her thoughtfulness for the inter
cstS of others and in her loyalty to
her friends, she was outspo,;en TO 4
degree that won for her recognition
as one Of the most vigorous minded
women who ever presided over the
household of Il president On the
night of election day III 1920 She AN
nounced her determination to send
away the policemen stationed at the
White House gates since the United
States entered the war-a purpose
which was fulfilled on the very day
Mr.. Harding took office. Before he
even had looked around his new Of
fices he issued an order throwing
the gates wide open, and hundreds
trooped in across the lawn and peep
ed in al the windows while the new
First Lady of the Land was prcsid-
ing at her first White House func
tion-an informal luncheon for old
friends and neighbors from Marion,
Ohio.
During the whole time she was
mistress Of the Executive Mansion,
Mrs. Harding combined with her So
cial duties an unwavering allegiance
to her convictions, and displayed in
doing so Il degree of tact which won
her universal esteem. The social
usages so long a part of official
Washington life were preserved by
her to the letter but without osten-
tation. And at the same time she
found opportunity to show in many
ways that she had lost none of her
interest for the class of home folks
from which she had come.
'Say that we are just folks she
told newspapermen when they asked
her for a message to the people at
the time of Mr.. Harding's Inaugural
ton. Owe are just folks, but when
| enter the White House | propose
to accept all of its social obligations
and become the First Lady of the
Land in truth as we'll as name
The full Significance of that
promise was known to but a few of
her intimate friends. For years she
had not seen Il well day and she had
reached a time of life when even
the plucky cheerfulness with which
she covered her almost continual
suffering was certain to be broken
by the cxactions of her position. 1t
would have been easy to surrender
to the advice of physicians and
friends, and. in half-retirement, to
sit down amid the comforts of the
White House and muse triumphuntly
over past years of struggle. Many
women would have done it; but for
her that was impossible. She de-
clarcd she never would be counted Il
"quittcr.' With her new station in
life, she said, went certain response
bilities,- and these responsibilities
she was determined not to shrk.
Nor did she interpret in any mar
row sense the obligations of mutual
helpfulness she had assumed when,
in 1891, she became the wife of Il
struggling newspaper editor back in
Marion. Even in those days she
CT no tln
partnership than Il woman usually
IS able to contribute, and grown men
in Marion today remember how she
used to count out newspapers to
them when they were newsboys.
When the future President entered
politics, she found new and unex-
pected ways Of helping him. AS the
wife of Il senator, she kept in touch
with hundreds in her state who want
ed help in Washington, besides main
tanning her place fittingly in the So
cia life of the capital.
Well Informed
OF those gathered round Mr.. Hard
ing when he entered the pre-conven-
ton campaign of 1920, there was
none who kept better informed of
what was done to further his candi-
dacy than Mrs. Harding. She had
opinions, and she was outspoken in
expressing them to the men entrust-
ed with management Of the cam
paign. After the primaries in Ohio,
Indiana, and Michigan, hen the out
look for success was darkest, there
were experienced politicians who add
vised the candidate to withdraw. But
she was not one who believed in Civ
ing up, once fight had been begun,
and some of the men who know most
of the inside story of those trying
weeks give to her the credit for
keeping Mr.. Harding in the race he
was eventually to win.
After the nomination Mrs. Hard
ing became, in spite of the growing
threat of physical collapse, an active
figure in the front porch campaign.
Not only did she appear always with
her husband when he faced a crowd,
but she remained beside him when
the lines formed to shake his hand,
and she gave a hand-clasp also to
every one of the many thousands WHO
filed past to acclaim his candidacy
Besides all of that, she visited his
headquarters almost daily and talk
ed political policies with his advis-
ers, and she entertained at her table
many of the distinguished visitors
who came to Marion and exchanged
opinions on national issues with
them over the teacups.
From the time Mr.. Harding became
interested in politics, she made Il
study of things political just as She
had familiarized herself previously
with the Marion STAR printing plant,
and when the results of the 1920 cleo