PRESIDENT WILL BE RUSHED BACK TO WASHINGTON AS SOON AS HE RECOVERS FROM PRESENT ILLNESS
San Francisco, California (JFK+50) On July 30, 1923, The Evening Star reports that President Warren G. Harding "will be rushed back to Washington by special train as soon as he recovers from his present illness."
According to the Associated Press, the "real cause" of the President's condition is that he ate some crabs "tainted with copper." Mr. Harding consumed the crabs aboard the Henderson just before reaching Vancouver.
The decision to get the President back to Washington as quickly as possible was made by Dr. Charles Sawyer in consultation with some of the best physicians in California.
It is expected that it will take at least two weeks before President Harding is well enough to make the long train journey back to the Nation's Capital.
JFK+50 NOTE
President Harding died on the evening of August 2, 1923 at the age of 57. First reports indicated a stroke was the cause of death, but it is now said that he died from a heart attack brought on by heart issues aggravated by eating tainted crab meat along with a strenuous schedule and hot weather.
There was no autopsy performed because the First Lady did not want one and the body was embalmed one hour after death.
SOURCES
"Generations later, President Warren Harding's sudden death is recalled," National Constitution Center, August 2, 2022, www.constitutioncenter.org/
"President Is Worse; To Be Rushed Home As Soon As Possible," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., July 30, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
