Description: This photograph shows rubber manufacturer Harvey Firestone, automobile manufacturer Henry Ford, and inventor Thomas Edison in Marion, Ohio for the funeral of President Warren G. Harding in 1923. Edison (1847-1931) was born in Milan, Ohio and is known for his many inventions, including the phonograph and the light bulb. Firestone (1868-1938) was born in Columbiana County, Ohio and began to manufacture rubber tires in 1896. He founded the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in 1900 and moved it to Akron, Ohio. Ford (1863-1947) was born in Greenfield, Michigan and worked with the Edison Company from 1890 to 1899, when he founded the Detroit Automobile Company in Detroit, Michigan.
Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States (1921-1923), was born in Blooming Grove, Ohio, in 1865. At age 14, Harding attended Ohio Central College in Iberia, Ohio, where he edited the campus newspaper and became an accomplished public speaker. He married Florence Kling de Wolfe in 1891, and embarked on his political career in 1900 by winning a seat in the Ohio legislature. After serving two terms as an Ohio Senator, Harding served as Lieutenant Governor in 1904 for two years before returning to the newspaper business. Although he lost the 1910 gubernatorial race, Harding was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1914. Political insider Harry Daugherty promoted Harding for the Republican presidential nomination in 1920. His front porch campaign was centered on speeches given from his home in Marion, Ohio, pledging to return the country to “normalcy” in this post World War I era. Harding easily won the election, gaining 61 percent of the popular vote. On August 2, 1923, Harding unexpectedly died from a massive heart attack while touring the western United States, and is entombed in the Marion Cemetery.
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Image ID: Om1525_1505702_001
Subjects: Presidents and Politics; Funeral rites & ceremonies; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931; Harding, Warren G. (Warren Gamaliel), 1865-1923; Firestone, Harvey Samuel, 1868-1938; Ford, Henry, 1863-1947
Places: Marion (Ohio); Marion County (Ohio)