31: 7. Harding's Landslide Victory and the Role of Radio David Pietrusza 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents Eugene Debs, the Socialist candidate, ran while imprisoned in Atlanta Penitentiary for speaking against the draft; Wilson refused him clemency. The 1
Update: 2025-10-27
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7. Harding's Landslide Victory and the Role of Radio
David Pietrusza
1920: The Year of the Six Presidents
Eugene Debs, the Socialist candidate, ran while imprisoned in Atlanta Penitentiary for speaking against the draft; Wilson refused him clemency. The 1920 election resulted in an overwhelming Republican sweep. Harding's "front porch campaign" was a professional event organized by Albert Lasker, attracting hundreds of thousands of people, including show business figures like Al Jolson. Election results were broadcast via early radio from a Pittsburgh department store roof and by projection onto buildings. Harding won decisively with 15 million votes (60%) and 404 electoral votes. Though deeply mourned when he died in 1923 from a heart attack, Harding had focused on debt reduction and resisted manipulation from advisors. Calvin Coolidge was sworn in by his father in remote Plymouth Notch, Vermont.
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