December 7, 2004
Marion Regional Seminar - Harding's Front Porch; Republican Campaign Strategy in the 20th Century
The last Ohioan to live in the White House was Republican Warren G. Harding, elected President in 1920. Harding conducted his campaign from the front porch of his home in Marion, from which he gave speeches to various groups that came to call. Many of these visits were arranged by the campaign and included celebrities. The idea of the front porch may seem old-fashioned, but this was actually a modern, media based campaign. The Harding campaign got the message out through press releases and newspaper coverage. Some speeches were also recorded and distributed on phonograph records.
Ohio was crucial to the 2004 election in a way that the state had not been since the 1920 election when both Republican and Democratic Party presidential candidates hailed from the Buckeye state (the Democrat was Ohio governor James M. Cox).
Instructor: David Steigerwald, Department of History, Ohio State University, Marion Campus
Time: 9 AM-3 PM
Location: Ohio State University, Marion Campus
