21. Warren Harding and Caroline Fulton Phillips
Both Caroline – known as Carrie – and Warren G. Harding were married when they began their affair, which at first they were able to keep a secret from their respective spouses. The four were friends, socializing together and even traveling to Europe together. When Florence Harding, wife of Warren, learned of the affair, she exploded in fury, informing Carrie of other affairs her husband had pursued. The Phillips’ went on another European trip while the Harding’s remained at home in Marion, Ohio. Carrie decided to remain in Germany, her husband returned to the United States alone. Harding meanwhile won a seat in the United States Senate. Carrie returned to the United States as it became evident that war was imminent.
In 1920, Harding secured the Republican nomination for President. Aware that Carrie retained more than 200 letters which Harding had written, he informed the leading party officials of their existence. They approached Phillips with a request that the letters be kept private, to which Carrie responded with demands of her own. In order to obtain her discretion, Republican leaders agreed to pay for a lengthy journey to the Pacific and Asia for Carrie and her husband. They also agreed to continued annual payments for the rest of her life. What Harding had not told the party was that the affair had continued up to the time he stood for the nomination, a fact revealed when a trove of letters to Carrie written by Harding was discovered in 1964. All were written between 1910 and 1920.
