Warren G. Harding Home

The Harding Home at 380 Mount Vernon Avenue is where Warren G. Harding — the 29th President of the United States — lived from 1891 until his election to the presidency in 1920. The Queen Anne-style house is preserved much as it was during his lifetime, with original furnishings, personal belongings, and an extensive collection of presidential memorabilia.

The house is the centrepiece of the Warren G. Harding Presidential Center. Guided tours explore the rooms where Harding and his wife Florence lived, and the front porch where the famous 1920 "Front Porch Campaign" was conducted. Harding died in office in 1923, before his presidency's association with the Teapot Dome scandal became fully public — the museum covers both the achievements and the controversies with reasonable evenhandedness. Tours run regularly; check the website for current hours.

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In 1920, Warren Harding ran his presidential campaign entirely from the front porch of this house, refusing to travel or make speeches elsewhere. Hundreds of thousands of people came to Marion by train to hear him speak from the steps. It was the last successful front-porch campaign in American history — Calvin Coolidge tried to repeat it in 1924 but gave up. Harding won by the largest popular vote margin (26 points) of any presidential election since uncontested races.

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