Exclusive Love Letters Reveal Warren Harding’s Hidden Romance 💌

(29 Jul 2014) VOICE-OVER:
UPSOUND with Karen Linn Femia, Senior Manuscript Archivist, Library of Congress: "this is the very first letter that we have. It was written Christmas 1910 and it's clearly a love letter. 'my darling, there are no words at my command sufficient to say the full extent of my love for you and it goes on."
A COLLECTION OF LETTERS WRITTEN BY THE 29TH PRESIDENT, WARREN HARDING TO HIS MISTRESS CARRIE FULTON PHILLIPS, ARE NOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, THROUGH THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WEBSITE.
THE LETTERS REVEAL THE LAST 10 YEARS OF A 15-YEAR-LONG AFFAIR THAT APPEARED TO END AS HARDING ASCENDED TO THE HIGHEST OFFICE IN THE LAND. HE SERVED AS PRESIDENT FOR JUST OVER TWO YEARS--FROM 1921 TO 1923.
Karen Linn Femia: "then it starts to feel like a bad marriage breaking up. 'It's been such a long, deep relationship and there's been such difficulties and arguments'
THE ARGUMENTS INCLUDE SHARP DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT WORLD WAR ONE, AND AN ADMONITION FROM HARDING TO PHILLIPS THAT SHE TONE DOWN HER PRO-GERMAN RHETORIC.
HE ALSO URGES HER TO DESTROY THE LETTERS.
Karen Linn Femia: "One of my samples is giving her the advice, 'You're not always careful with these letters and if you destroy them, you won't have to be careful. So why don't you do that?' So obviously she didn't."
PHILLIPS KEPT THEM IN A BOX IN HER CLOSET. AFTER YEARS OF LEGAL WRANGLING, THE HARDING FAMILY GOT THE LETTERS AND DONATED THEM TO THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WITH THE REQUEST THAT THEY BE KEPT UNDER WRAPS FOR 50 YEARS.
Karen Linn Femia: "the very last item is when he's talking about how they've made a mistake, they were both married, we shouldn't cause any blame. The last line is 'happily there's been no irreparable damage.' But if he saw us laying everything out here in 2014 maybe he'd change his mind."
HANNAH BUCHDAHL, ASSOCIATED PRESS

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