[Presidential] Harding, Warren G. Group of 6 Typed Letters, signed, and 8 Related DocumentsPresident Warren G. Harding Considers Selling His Hometown NewspaperWashington, (D.C.), etc., September 22-November 6, 1922. Group of six typed letters on White House stationery, signed by Warren G. Harding as President of the United States, to John Griffiths, a dealer in newspaper publishing equipment based in Poughkeepsie, New York, regarding the sale of Harding's Ohio newspaper, The Marion Star. Each letter one sheet and measuring 8 7/8 x 7 in. (225 x 178 mm), each with original White House mailing envelope. Lot includes four carbon copies of Griffiths' letters to Harding, as well as two of Griffiths' autograph draft letters to Harding, one Western Union telegram from Griffiths to Ernest L. Owen, an interested purchaser of the paper, and one typed Western Union telegram from Owen to Griffiths. Condition varies, generally well preserved, scattered soiling to Harding letters, carbon copies of Griffith letters with scattered chipping and loss along edges.Harding purchased the Ohio newspaper The Marion Star in 1884 when he was 19-years-old for $300. Over the following three decades he was intimately involved with the newspaper's operations, and grew it from a semi-defunct paper with low reader to one of the most successful in the state. During his steward it became a favorite of Ohio's political class for his neutral reporting standards on statewide politics, and he was respected by his employees for his fairness and tendency to sharepany profits. Harding successfully wielded this esteem and power to gain entry into state and, eventually, national politics, and quickly rose from the Ohio political scene to the presidency in under 20 years.At the time of these letters, Harding was considering selling his majority share in the newspaper. He was approached by newspaper equipment dealer John Griffiths, who was acting as intermediary for potential buyer, Ernest L. Owen, a fellow Marion, Ohio resident whom Harding knew from his early newspaper days. In response to Griffiths' September 22 offer to buy the paper for $350,000 (over $6 million in today's money), Harding replied the same day that he was not, "in a position to make an immediate and definite reply," since a quarter of the newspaper was owned by "young men who are now making it a greater business success than I was able to do when I was actively in charge," and, "would not think of pursuing any course which did not meet with their cordial approval." Eight days later, on September 30, Harding wrote to Griffiths asking if Owen would be available toe to Washington for an interview with him concerning stipulations Harding had before an agreement for the paper's sale could be made. Harding writes that the minority shareholders, "are makers of the paper and I would not want to enter upon an arrangement that did not show bing concern for their loyalty and their contribution to the pap