Harding then believed his early view of the presidency—that it should propose policies, but leave their adoption to Congress—was no longer enough, and he lobbied Congress, although in vain, to get his ship subsidy bill through.[176] Once Congress left town in early March 1923, Harding's popularity began to recover. The economy was improving, and the programs of Harding's more able Cabinet members, such as Hughes, Mellon and Hoover, were showing results. Most Republicans realized that there was no practical alternative to supporting Harding in 1924 for his re-election campaign.[177]
In the first half of 1923, Harding did two things that were later said to indicate foreknowledge of death: he sold the Star (though undertaking to remain as a contributing editor for ten years after his presidency), and he made a new will.[178] Harding had long suffered occasional health problems, but when he was not experiencing symptoms, he tended to eat, drink and smoke too much. By 1919, he was aware he had a heart condition. Stress caused by the presidency and by Florence Harding's own chronic kidney condition debilitated him, and he never fully recovered from an episode of influenza in January 1923. 