its only daily. The 18-year-old Harding used the railroad pass that came with the paper to attend the 1884 Republican National Convention, where he hobnobbed with better-known journalists and supported the presidential nominee, former Secretary of State James G. Blaine. Harding returned from Chicago to find that the paper had been reclaimed by the sheriff for outstanding debts. During the election campaign, Harding worked for the Marion Democratic Mirror and was annoyed at having to praise the Democratic presidential nominee, New York Governor Grover Cleveland, who won the election. Afterward, with the financial aid of his father, the budding newspaperman redeemed the paper. Through the late 1880s, Harding built the Star. Although the city of Marion tended to vote Republican (as did Ohio), Marion County was Democratic. Harding therefore adopted a tempered editorial stance, declaring the daily Star nonpartisan and circulating a weekly edition that was moderate Republican. This policy attracted advertisers and put the town's Republican weekly out of business. According to his biographer, Andrew Sinclair: The population of Marion grew from 4,000 in 1880 to twice that in 1890, increasing to 12,000 by 1900. This growth helped the Star, and Harding did his best to promote the city, purchasing stock in many local enterprises. Although a few of these turned out badly, he was a successful investor, with an estate of $850,000 in 1923 (equivalent to $ million in ). According to biographer John Dean, Harding's "civic influence was that of an activist who used his editorial page to effectively keep his nose—and a prodding voice—in all the town's public business". He became an ardent supporter of Republican Governor Joseph B. Foraker. He is the only U.S. president to have had full-time journalism experience. Marriage Harding first came to know Florence Kling as the daughter of Amos Kling, a local banker and developer. He was a man accustomed to getting his way, but Harding attacked him relentlessly in the paper. Amos involved Florence in all his affairs, taking her to work from the time she could walk. As hard-headed as her father, Florence Kling came into conflict with her father after returning from music college. She eloped with Pete deWolfe, and returned to Marion without deWolfe, but with an infant, Marshall, Amos agreed to raise the boy, but would not support Florence, who made a living as a piano teacher; one of her students was Harding's sister Charity.