#nan britton

Yeah..well...Harding wasn't exactly a paragon of virtue, though. He may not have been as corrupt as some of the people in his Administration, but a lot of those guys were longtime connections of his from back in Ohio, so there are some questions that never got answered because Harding conveniently died in office as the scandals started gaining traction.

It's also worth remembering that Harding not only would have regularly finished in last place in America's Husband of the Year contests, but he couldn't even be faithful to his mistresses. He had a 15-year-long affair with Carrie Phillips, the wife of his best friend, despite the fact that Harding and his wife often traveled and took vacations with that couple. (Oh, and his mistress/best friend's wife also might have been a German spy during World War I). And while he was cheating on his own wife with his best friend's wife, he was cheating on his mistress (Carrie) with an uncomfortably young woman from his hometown named Nan Britton (she allegedly had a crush on Harding and his campaign posters on her wall when she was a freshman in high school) who he regularly introduced as his "niece" when they checked into hotels together. When he ran for President in 1920, the Republican National Committee paid hush money to Harding's mistress/best friend's wife, Carrie Phillips, and her husband, and sent them on a very long trip around the world. And Harding fathered a child with his "niece" that he apparently never met, although he quietly paid child support and kept the sexual part of the affair going until a few months before he died in office.

Nan Britton (9 Nov 1896 - 21 Mar 1991)

Mistress of: Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States. Tenure: c. 1914 - 1923?. Bastards: One. Fall From Power: The President died.

In celebration of the Fourth of July, how about a few presidential mistresses? Let’s begin with Nanna “Nan” Popham Britton, who was born in Marion, Ohio on November 9th, 1896. Her father, Dr. Samuel H. Britton, was a friend and neigbor of one Warren G. Harding. For whatever reason, Nan developed an intense obsession with the future president, who was some thirty years her senior. She covered her bedroom walls with pictures she cut out from local papers and magazines and, as a young teenager, Nan would hang around his office, hoping to see him walk home from work, or walk past his house, hoping to see him on the porch.

Her father may have been a little concerned about his daughter’s fascination with Warren, and mentioned it to him one day. Warren, who was already embroiled in an affair, decided to meet Nan, and told her that “some day she would find the man of her dreams.” Clearly, Nan thought she already had and, after graduating from high school, packed her bags and moved to New York City where she began a career as both Warren’s secretary and mistress. In 1919, Nan told Warren he was going to be a father, which probably surprised him, since he was now in his fifties and had long believed himself sterile. According to Nan, Warren was genuinely pleased with the situation, generously providing for her care during the pregnancy. Warren’s wife was a seriously sick woman whose death was always considered likely, and Nan may well have believed she would be the next Mrs. Harding. On October 22nd, 1919, Nan gave birth to a little girl named Elizabeth Ann Britton. Of course, Warren never acknowledged the child, nor even saw her (despite Nan’s pleas), though he did make secret child support payments until his death: he certianly didn't want Nan or Elizabeth to become front-page news during his time in office. Although Warren is generally considered one of the worst presidents, he was popular in his time, managing to keep his personal life hidden from the public. He had a knack for affairs; however, claiming that he had difficulty controlling “Jerry” - his penis. Warren’s private life was full of “cheap sex episodes” and he was a crude womanizer.

In 1927, Nan published what is considered the first “kiss-and-tell” book, titled The President’s Daughter. In it, she describes how she lost her virginity to Warren in a New York hotel room and how he always found them classy locations for illicit sexual encounters, including a closet in the White House where she went “...many times in the course of [her] visits.” Warren, having died unexpectedly three years prior, had left her without his financial support - she claimed his wife refused to honor her dead husband’s promise to support Elizabeth (no surprise there, of course). For the most part, her claims were not taken seriously. Nan was called a “degenerate” and a “pervert” and many beleived she simply published the book because she was greedy for both money and attention.

Nan and her daughter lived a quite life; both would eventually refuse to speak of the affair and Warren's possible paternity; however. Nan died in 1991 in Sandy, Oregon, insisting until her death that her daughter was fathered by Warren and that she still loved him. In 2015, her claim was finally proved by DNA evidence: Elizabeth was Warren’s daughter.

Sources

”Nan Britton” by unknown, c. 1917 (left image) and ”Nan Britton and daughter Elizabeth” by unknown, c. 1930 (right image).

Ferrell, Robert H. The Strange Death of President Harding. University of Missouri Press (1996). ISBN: 0-8262-1202-6.

“She was an American woman who gained notoriety as a mistress of Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States. In 1927, Britton revealed that her daughter, Elizabeth, had been fathered by Harding while he was serving in the United States Senate, one year before his election to the presidency. Britton's claim was open to question during her lifetime, but in 2015, Harding's paternity was finally confirmed by DNA testing.”

Warren G. Harding and the scandals of a presidency

Warren G. Harding, a president whose administration would be haunted by scandals even after his death.   Editor’s note: This is the twenty-ninth entry in the writer’s year-long project to read one book about each of the U.S. Presidents in the year prior to Election Day 2016. You can also follow Marcus’ progress at the @44in52 Twitter account and with this 44 in 52 Spreadsheet. In America,…