In the evening of August 2nd, 1923, Salemites learned President Harding had died.
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| August 2nd, 1923, evening Extra |
The morning paper had scrambled to print an Extra evening edition with the news on the 2nd.
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| August 3rd, 1923 |
A few days earlier Harding had traveled down the valley and declined to give Salem any early morning whistle stop.
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| July 27th, 1923 |
The next day, the headline was "Salem Didn't See President - Train Barely Slowed Down as Harding's Special Came Through Here."
He may have already been ill. News suggested the possibility of illness on July 29th, and explicitly mentioned it on the 30th.
The morning paper eulogized him in its editorial on the morning of the 3rd, saying his "life was an open book" and his name "will shine among the great names..."
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| August 3rd, 1923 |
The assessment hasn't exactly turned out this way.
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| August 3rd, 1923 |
On the same editorial page, the morning paper moved on to an appreciation and preview of the new President.
See also:
- Previously here, "President Harding visited Oregon, told Apocryphal Story about Marcus Whitman."
- At the Smithsonian a couple days ago, "Why President Warren G. Harding’s Sudden Death Sparked Rumors of Murder and Suicide."
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