A. R. Johnson letter to Warren G. Harding, March 31, 1920

In this letter dated March 31, 1920, A. R. Johnson, a lawyer in Ironton, Ohio, writes to Senator Warren G. Harding about actively campaigning in Ohio. Johnson states that Harding cannot lose Ohio and win the election, and was disappointed in the lack of political work being done at Harding headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. Fellow Republican presidential candidate General Leonard Wood is coming to Ohio, and Johnson claims Wood and his supporters are working hard in Ohio, posing a threat to Harding's nomination. This letter is part of the Warren G. Harding Papers (MSS 345). This collection includes correspondence, business records, and other materials documenting Harding’s business career as owner and editor-in-chief of The Daily Marion Star, as well as the various stages of his political career. A significant portion of the collection, and what’s available on Ohio Memory, highlights his 1920 presidential campaign, spanning just before publicly announcing his candidacy to handily defeating Ohio Governor James M. Cox in the election. Correspondents include both Ohio and national businessmen, political figures, and ordinary citizens writing with questions, support, congratulatory notes, and campaign advice. Some of the most interesting insights into the tumultuous political climate in the U.S., the extreme factionalism within the Republican Party in Ohio, and Harding’s campaign strategies are described in letters between Harding and his campaign manager, Harry M. Daugherty. Some of the topics addressed include women’s suffrage, Prohibition, the League of Nations, African American representation and issues, and lingering peace negotiations following World War I.A.R.JOHNSON DAN C.JONES A.R.JOHNSON,JR. JOHNSON&JONES ATTORNEYS & COUNSELORS AT LAW IRONTON,OHIO Mch. 31, 1920. Senator Warren G. Harding. Senate Building, Washington, D.C. My Dear Senator: I want you to do something. I know you are overwhelmed, but under no circumstances in the world must you lose Ohio. Was in Columbus for just a little bit the other day and went to your headquarters, and I am saying to you that there is nothing [underlined]political being done. The people either don't know how to do it, or they are carried away thinking that everything is smiles. Absolutely, thereis nothing being done for you in Ohio, and I am saying it this positive because I know it is true, and my experience for thirty years last past tells me it is true, if I did not see the situation. Let me make one suggestion, and for goodness sake, and the sake of your good wife, yourself and your friends, do it. Cut loose and take the road in Ohio to yourself, and you'll find that you'll have eight votes to where you will have one now. The Wood workers have been persistent in peddling everything through the hills, and you cannot meet up and explain to every man the situation. They control so many of the papers that not a good word hardly in some of the Districts, is being said for you in print. Now Daugherty will say that Johnson simply doesn't know what he is talking about, but I insist that I do, and if you don't take the stump in Ohio actively, the thing has gone to the bow-wows. Now this general letter is for one purpose, to being you to Ohio and confine you here, because without your aid and personal presence I know that we're going to lose in our District. Wood is coming here, so we learn from, the other side, somewhere about the 20th or so of April. You know there has been no meaner fight that could be carried on anywhere that has been carried on against you here. If you lose every delegation in the United States except Ohio, and you have Ohio solid, you are the biggest man before the convention. If you don't have the Ohio delegation solid and you have a hundred delegates outside, you haven't got the backing that you are entitled to, and won't have the weight. There is another District I can tell you, you are going to lose unless you get into it. Nothing will save it unless you yourself, and that's the Sixth. I know that I am right in this and you must shake loose from Washington and come over here and defend yourself. Yours sincerely, [written signature]AR Johnson B/AR