Upon graduating , Harding had stints as a teacher and as an insurance man , and made a brief attempt at studying law . He then raised $ 300 ( ) in partnership with others to purchase a failing newspaper , '' The Marion Star '' , weakest of the growing city 's three papers , and 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 . 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
1884 Republican National Convention
1884 Republican National Convention
Warren G. Harding