"ANNOUNCEMENT OF HARDING CANDIDACY FOR 1924"

RUMOR OF DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN PRESIDENT & AG CAUSES DISTRESS

St. Augustine, Florida (JFK+50) On March 29, 1923, the Evening Star reports "the entire presidential party was visibly upset...by the publication of a story that President (Warren G.) Harding...disapproved of" a statement given by Attorney General Harry Daugherty "announcing that the President would be a candidate for renomination in 1924."

David Lawrence writes...

"The President is said to have been distressed by the impression of disagreement between him and Mr. Daugherty."

Mr. Lawrence is of the opinion that had the President been consulted before the statement was made public, he would have "argued against" doing so.

The controversy coincided with the arrival of the Attorney General here in St. Augustine where the President and First Lady have been vacationing.

JFK+50 NOTE

This would be the last visit to St. Augustine for President Harding.  He and the First Lady arrived on the yacht Victoria, attended services at Ancient City Baptist Church* on Sunday and dined at the Hotel Ponce de Leon which was the First Couple's quarters during the visit.

*Ancient City Baptist Church, 27 Sevilla St., St. Augustine, FL was completed in 1895.  It is of Romanesque Revival architecture with a cone shaped turret atop a 3 story tower.

SOURCES

"Presidential Party Upset By Rumor," by David Lawrence, The Evening Star, March 29, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

"This Week In St. John's County History:  President spends day in St. Augustine," St. Augustine Record, March 25, 1923, www.staugustine.com/

Ancient City Baptist Church

St. Augustine, Florida

July 7 2016

Photo by DXR

"PRESIDENT HARDING IN FLORIDA TO AVOID BICKERING"

PRESIDENT UNHAPPY ABOUT PROPOSALS PUSHED ON HIM BY CONGRESS

St. Augustine, Florida (JFK+50) On March 11, 1922, the Evening Star reports that President Warren G. Harding is here in St. Augustine, not for a needed rest, but because "he is getting weary of the estimate which certain leaders* in Congress are placing upon his leadership."

David Lawrence writes that the President "does not like bluster and political fireworks," and thus "is not happy" about having proposals pushed on him by Congress.

The major issue confronting the President and Congress is the soldiers' bonus.

Mr. Lawrence says the President does not wish to be in Washington "while the bickering is going on if he can help it."

*The President is particularly unhappy with the persistence of Rep. Joseph W. Fordney (R-Michigan), Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee.  JWF served in the US House of Representatives 1899-1923.

JFK+50 NOTE

President Harding made the Ponce de Leon Hotel his headquarters while in St. Augustine.  He arrived via the Florida East Coast Railway and was known to frequent the links while in the city.  

Once a local cop gave the President's limo driver a ticket for exceeding the 5 m.p.h. city speed limit.  Mr. Harding may not have been happy about that either.

SOURCES

"President is Away to Avoid Bickering," by David Lawrence, The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., March 11, 1922, www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/  

"Winter White House-1921 Style," Augustine.com, www.visitstaugustine.com/ 

 

 

Ponce de Leon Hotel

Flagler College

St. Augustine, Florida

Photo by DVR (2016)