President Warren G. Harding Thanks an Author and Diplomat for His Sympathy on Mrs. Harding’s Severe Illness in 1922, Brought on Partly by Her Discovery of Harding’s Affair with Nan Britton

Florence Kling Harding’s discovery of her husband’s affair in 1922 with Nan Britton took its toll on her health. In early September 1922 she came down with a serious kidney ailment, and the public was alerted as to the severity of it on September 8 in a medical bulletin, and the eminent physician Charles Mayo was called in. By the time he arrived, she was suffering from sepsis and was falling in and out of consciousness. News of Florence’s illness sparked an outpouring of support throughout the country. It sparked many editorials in newspapers and a rumor that she had passed, which was dispelled. By September 11 her condition had worsened so that, as she later related, she had a near death experience seeing two figures at the end of her bed. Florence insisted she would not die because her husband needed her. As she fought back from what she called the “Valley of Death”, Florence spontaneously relieved an obstruction and required bed care from the nurses. Her condition gradually improved to the point that Dr. Mayo did not feel his service was necessary by October.

Typed letter signed as president, White Houser letterhead, Washington, September 20, 1922, to author and diplomat Charles Underwood Johnson. “I am more than grateful to you for your thoughtful and sympathetic letter of September 19th. I know Mrs. Harding will appreciate, as much as I do, the very great concern which was expressed In her behalf, and I shall be glad to tell her of your letter when she is able to appraise it properly.”