The Presidential Visit that never happened

 

or,  How Warren G. Harding backed out and blamed his wife.

Detail of commemorative medal, St. John's Lodge No. 3.

By John B. Green III

New Bern has had a surprising number of Presidential visits for a town of its size.  Four Presidents have stopped in New Bern during their time in office.  The first was George Washington in 1791, followed by James Monroe in 1819, Harry Truman in 1948, and Donald Trump in 2018.  We have written about Washington's and Truman's visits and have a blog post in the works concerning Monroe's stay in town.  Today, however, we will examine the presidential visit that was planned but never came to pass.

Invitation to 150th Anniversary of the founding of St. John's Lodge No. 3

New Bern's St. John's Lodge No. 3, Ancient, Free, and Accepted Masons, was organized in January 1772.  In the fall of 1920, the members of the lodge began to plan for their 150th anniversary which would occur in 1922.  As the 150th anniversary of the lodge would roughly coincide with the 130th anniversary of the visit of George Washington to New Bern in 1791, it was decided to combine the two events into one elaborate celebration to take place on January 19, 1922.   The anniversary would include costumed reenactments of the founding of St. John's Lodge and Washington's meeting with its members, as well as dinners, concerts, and historical presentations.  Numerous guests would be invited from both the world of Freemasonry as well as local, state, and national dignitaries.  The list of political figures to be invited was headed by President of the United States Warren G. Harding, who was himself a Freemason.

Commemorative medal, 150th Anniversary of the founding of St. John's Lodge No. 3.

President Harding tentatively accepted the invitation in June 1921, whereupon a souvenir medal was commissioned for the grand event.  The medal featured the Masonic square and compasses overlaid with a bust of George Washington on its obverse and a similar bust of Harding on its reverse. 

Sun-Journal (New Bern), 20 Dec 1921.

Planning for the event proceeded well through the fall of 1921 until December 20th, when New Bernians opened their newspapers to find the disappointing announcement that President Harding would not be coming to town after all.  Under the headline "Business of State Will Not Permit President To Come" it was explained that the press of business would keep the president in Washington.  Warren Gamaliel Harding had turned down New Bern's invitation!  Then, in a tradition dating back to Adam, Harding blamed his wife.   Apparently, he had no idea that Mrs. Harding had planned an "Important Event" on the same day as the New Bern celebration.

New Bernians are a hardy lot who are not deterred by a "no-show" guest of honor.  The event would go on as planned - costumes, speeches, dinners, and all, and would prove to be a day long remembered in St. John's Lodge and New Bern. 

As for Harding?  Well, his image was on the back side of that medal.  Problem solved.

Reverse of commemorative medal featuring bust of Warren G. Harding