Warren G. Harding was businessman, and he eventually went on to become Senator of Ohio. In 1921 Harding became the 29th President of the United States. Just like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and even Harry Truman, Harding was a self-made man, having started a newspaper/publishing business.
On this day, July 8th, President Harding becomes the first president in office to visit Alaska. Alaska is the largest state of the U.S. and also one of the least inhabited, as it is quite cold. Alaska had been purchased from the Russians right after the Civil War in 1867 for $7.2 million.
Harding’s reasoning for heading to Alaska was the advocate colonization and expansion. He wanted the railroad to be finished, and his hope was the veterans and others who were impoverished, could start a life here. On his way back home in August, he died in California.