NEW FIRST LADY WANTS GATES OPEN ALL THE TIME
Marion, Ohio (JFK+50) On November 6, 1920, the Washington Herald published a brief front page story about the President-elect's wife. The Herald stated...
"Mrs. Warren G. Harding** is already laying her plans for running the White House."
The First Lady to be was quoted as telling a group of newsmen in the front yard of her home here in Marion...
"There are two things I'm going to insist on. I won't have any policemen at the White House gates and they'll be no sheep on the White House lawn."
She also insisted that during her stewardship as First Lady, the gates to the Executive Mansion would be open "all the time to anybody who wants to come in."
The Herald cautioned readers that Mrs. Harding's remarks were made "in a humorous vein."
*According to the White House Historical Association, during WWI sheep grazed on the White House lawn to save manpower required to mow the lawns.
**Florence Mabel Harding (1860-1924) was born in Marion, Ohio to a prominent accountant & businessman. She studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music & married at age 19. Florence divorced her 1st husband in 1886 & married Warren Harding, owner of the Marion Star, in 1891. FMH was 1st Lady 1921-1923.
SOURCE
"White House Gates Open When She's '1st Lady'", The Washington Herald, November 6, 1920, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
