ELECTION (1920)

Harding's Political Party:	               Republican Party

Harding's Opponent(s):
James M. Cox-                              Democratic Party
Eugene V. Debs-                               Socialist Party

Election Facts:
The Republicans
        The leading contenders for the presidential nomination were Leonard Wood, Hiram Johnson, and Frank Lowden.  (Wood was a former U.S. Army chief of staff.  Johnson was a U.S. senator from California.  Lowden was the governor of Illinois.)  The convention deadlocked.

        Harding was not thought to be a serious contender for the nomination.  Harry Daugherty was his campaign manager.  Daugherty had anticipated the deadlock.  After the 4th ballot, party leaders met in a "smoke-filled room" in a Chicago hotel.  Daugherty joined the meeting.  He persuaded most of the bosses to back Harding.

        Harding was nominated on the 5th ballot.  He won 692 1/5 votes.  CALVIN COOLIDGE was nominated for vice president.

The Democrats
        Regular Democrats had two candidates for the nomination.  Their support was divided between William McAdoo and A. Mitchell Palmer.  (Both had been cabinet officials in WOODROW WILSON's administration.  McAdoo was Treasury secretary.  Palmer was attorney general).  James Cox was the governor of Ohio.  He was supported mostly by liberal Democrats.

        Cox was nominated on the 44th ballot.  FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT was nominated for vice president.

The Socialists
        The Socialists nominated Eugene Debs for president.  (See THEODORE ROOSEVELT.)

The General Election Campaign
        During the fall campaign, Harding was the perfect candidate.  He was a handsome, likable man.  Almost everyone said he looked "presidential."  Harding spent most of the campaign at his home in Marion, Ohio.  The famous entertainer Al Jolson campaigned on his behalf.  At campaign rallies, Jolson performed a song he had written.  It compared Harding to ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

        Over the course of the campaign, Cox traveled thousands of miles.  He delivered more than 300 speeches.  Prohibition and the League of Nations were the most important issues in the campaign.  Harding let his Senate record speak for itself.  He had supported Prohibition.  He opposed the League of Nations.  Cox opposed Prohibition.  He supported the League of Nations.

The Election Results
        Harding defeated Cox by more than 7 million popular votes.  He won 404 electoral votes and carried 37 states.  (To that time, Harding's 61 percent popular vote victory was the largest in U.S. history.)  Cox won 127 electoral votes and carried 11 states.  Debs won 915,490 popular votes (or about 3 percent of the total).

WARREN HARDING'S VICE PRESIDENT(S)

FIRST ADMINISTRATION (1921-1923):

CALVIN COOLIDGE, Massachusetts
Vice President (1921-1923)