Which president was poisoned by his wife

College of Wooster professor William Estabrook Chancellor collected unsubstantiated statements from residents of his boyhood home in Blooming Grove that stated Harding had black ancestors. The rumor would continue to be in Harding lore for decades with authors arguing that Harding had mixed heritage.

The affair was off and on, with the pair often having long lapses between meetings. However, they communicated with long letters, as was the fashion in pre-email and cell phone days. Harding did not acknowledge a child in his will, which he updated in just two months prior to his death and left no instructions with anyone about providing financially for the child. Nan sued the Harding estate for money, but lost in court. Gossip about trysts with other women remains just that.

For more information on this topic, visit our Youtube channel and select The Harding Letters Revisited video. Howard Markel writes a monthly column for the PBS NewsHour, highlighting momentous historical events that continue to shape modern medicine.

Support Provided By: Learn more. Thursday, Nov The Latest. World Agents for Change. Health Long-Term Care. For Teachers. NewsHour Shop. About Feedback Funders Support Jobs. Close Menu. Telephone and telegraph lines were soon rushing the news eastward. Vice-president Calvin Coolidge was awakened while on vacation in Vermont and quickly sworn in.

Americans awoke to stunning headlines. A team of doctors first said a blood vessel in his brain burst. Then they said it was a stroke. Then a heart attack. Or pneumonia. Maybe his gallbladder contributed. She ordered that the president be embalmed immediately. His body was soon aboard a train to Washington and then his burial place in Ohio. He was a private detective once hired by Florence Harding to do surveillance of her husband and his mistress. The book, largely based on conjecture and conspiracy theories, made the case Harding was poisoned.

When Palace staff were approached for a story, questions were referred to Sharon, a retired chef, who often visits the hotel.

Senator William Sharon, a Nevada Republican. Florence Harding had sent for Johnston. The scandals involving Harding kept coming after his death, including claims he had fathered an illegitimate daughter in the White House with his alleged mistress, Nan Britton. The Teapot Dome scandal also consumed much of the early days of the administration of Calvin Coolidge, the vice president who succeeded Harding.

Under the Tyler precedent , Coolidge assumed office with the full powers of the President. The 25th Amendment later made it clear that the vice president became President when the office became vacant under three circumstances: death, resignation, and removal from office. There were also scandals involving other government agencies that followed after Harding's death.