As an Ohio Republican party boss in 1920 , Daugherty engineered Harding 's ascendancy as the Republican Party presidential nominee at that year 's Republican National Convention in Chicago . The decision to propel Harding forward , if the nomination was n't decided on the first ballot , was made in what became known in American politics as the smoke-filled room in the Blackstone Hotel
Republican National Convention
1920 Republican National Convention
Harry M. Daugherty