Warren G. Harding

Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1921 until his death. Although Harding died one of the most popular presidents in history, the subsequent exposure of scandals that took place under him, such as Teapot Dome, eroded his popular regard, as did revelations of an affair by Nan Britton, one of his mistresses. In historical rankings of the U.S. presidents, Harding is often rated among the worst.

Harding was born in Blooming Grove, Ohio. Except when political service took him elsewhere, he lived in rural Ohio all his life. When not yet 20 years old, he settled in Marion and bought The Marion Star, building it into a successful newspaper. In 1899, he was elected to the Ohio State Senate, and after four years there successfully ran for lieutenant governor. He was defeated for governor in 1910, but was elected to the Senate in 1914.

When Harding ran for the Republican nomination for president in 1920, he was considered an also-ran with little chance of success. The leading candidates, such as General Leonard Wood, could not gain a majority to secure the nomination, and the convention deadlocked. Harding's support gradually grew until he was nominated on the tenth ballot. He conducted a front porch campaign, remaining for the most part in Marion, and allowing the people to come to him. Running on a theme of return to normalcy, he won in a landslide over Democrat James M. Cox and Socialist Party candidate Eugene Debs, becoming the first sitting senator to be elected president.

Warren Harding (climber)

Warren Harding (June 18, 1924–February 27, 2002) was one of the most accomplished and influential American rock climbers of the 1950s to 1970s. He was the leader of the first team to climb El Capitan, Yosemite Valley, in 1958. The route they climbed, known as The Nose, ascends 2,900 feet (880 m) up the central buttress of what is one of the largest granite monoliths in the world. Harding climbed many other first ascents in Yosemite, some 28 in all, as well as making the first true big-wall ascents in the Sierra Nevada range of California.

He was nicknamed "Batso", a reference to his remarkable penchant for spending days living on vertical cliffs and his exuberant and iconoclastic character. Harding developed specialized equipment for climbing big walls, such as the "bat tent" for sleeping, and "bat hooks" used to hook precariously on small cut-out bits of granite—examples of his B.A.T. or 'Basically Absurd Technology' products. He was known for his doggedness, drinking, and farcing, as reflected in his motto: Semper Farcisimus!

Warren Harding (disambiguation)

Warren G. Harding was the 29th President of the United States

Warren Harding may also refer to: