Florence Harding

The First Lady, the Jazz Age, and the Death of America's Most Scandalous President

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by Carl Sferrazza Anthony

William Morrow & Co.

Due/Published May 1999, 645 pages, paper

ISBN 0688169759

A major new biography of the politically powerful forerunner of Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton

Deeply researched and richly told, Florence Harding reveals the never-before-told story of First Lady Florence Harding's phenomenal rise to power. The daughter of an abusive father in small-town Ohio, mother at a young age to an illegitimate child, Florence Harding saw her escape in Warren Harding, and became the driving force behind his ascent to one of the most scandal-ridden presidencies in United States history.

Preeminent First Ladies biographer Carl Sferrazza Anthony not only captures the drama of Florence Harding's personality, but he uses the White House to bring to life Jazz Age America — a world of speakeasies and Miss America, Babe Ruth, Al Jolson, and the rise of Hollywood. He shows how Florence's friendship with Evalyn McLean, the morphine-addicted owner of the Hope Diamond and The Washington Post was one of the defining bonds in her public life. With newly unsealed medical information, Florence Harding finally unfolds the mystery of whether the First Lady poisoned the President, whose death occurred seventy-five years ago. Florence Harding is a fascinating and informative look at a lost chapter in American history.

About the Auhtor:

Carl Sferrazza Anthony is the author of First Ladies, First Ladies, Volume JJ, and As We Remember Her: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the Words of Her Friends and Family. His work has appeared in George, American Heritage, Smithsonian, Vanity Fair and Town & County among many other publications. He is a popular lecturer and media commentator on First Ladies. He lives in the Washington, D.C., area.