Political rise
As an influential newspaper publisher with a flair for public speaking, Harding was elected to the Ohio State Senate in 1899. He served four years before being elected Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, a post he occupied from 1903 to 1905. His leanings were conservative, his record in both offices relatively undistinguished. At the conclusion of his term as Lieutenant Governor, Harding returned to private life.

Senator
Re-entering politics five years later, Harding lost a race for governor in 1910, but won election to the United States Senate in 1914, serving from 1915 until his inauguration as President on March 4, 1921, having earned the distinction of becoming the first sitting Senator to be elected President of the United States.

As with his first term as Senator, Harding had a relatively undistinguished record, missing over two-thirds of the roll-call votes. Harding missed more sessions than he attended, being absent for key debates on prohibition and the vote to send the 19th Amendment (granting Women's Suffrage) to the states for ratification, a measure he had supported. Taking no stands meant making no enemies, and his fellow Republicans awarded Harding the 1920 presidential nomination, sensing the nation's fatigue with the reform agenda of Woodrow Wilson. Running with the slogan, "A Return to Normalcy," Harding beat progressive Democrat James M. Cox in a massive landslide.

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