WEBVTT - President Harding's Smutty Letters 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:13.925 School of Humans. Hello, American filth listeners, how are you 0:00:13.965 --> 0:00:14.685 guys doing? 0:00:15.285 --> 0:00:19.005 Ugh? Today's episode is more of a personal one because 0:00:19.045 --> 0:00:23.725 it's for my mom specifically. Okay, my mom has recently 0:00:23.765 --> 0:00:28.805 started writing books. She's written a memoir, a novel, some 0:00:28.845 --> 0:00:34.005 short stories, and she recently asked me to see if 0:00:34.045 --> 0:00:37.925 I could somehow use my comedy to make her famous 0:00:38.205 --> 0:00:43.085 so that she can get a publishing deal. Now, unfortunately, 0:00:43.165 --> 0:00:45.765 I haven't even been able to use my comedy to 0:00:45.845 --> 0:00:49.245 make myself famous, so I don't know exactly what she 0:00:49.325 --> 0:00:51.725 wants from me, but I'm going to give it a 0:00:51.765 --> 0:00:55.645 shot for mom. And what I wanted to focus on 0:00:55.725 --> 0:00:59.445 for today was one thing about my mom's writing. 0:01:00.765 --> 0:01:02.485 Apparently, my mom. 0:01:02.405 --> 0:01:05.405 She's gotten really great feedback from her friends and fellow 0:01:05.565 --> 0:01:09.645 writing colleagues about her work, and they've apparently given her 0:01:10.165 --> 0:01:15.965 a lot of compliments, specifically about her sex scenes and 0:01:16.005 --> 0:01:18.445 so filth listeners, if you're wondering where I get all 0:01:18.445 --> 0:01:22.765 my perversion from is actually from my dad. But it's 0:01:22.845 --> 0:01:24.765 nice to know that my mom and dad still have 0:01:24.885 --> 0:01:26.645 something in common despite being. 0:01:26.485 --> 0:01:27.845 Divorced for three decades. 0:01:29.165 --> 0:01:31.325 So anyway, it seems my mom has a great knack 0:01:31.405 --> 0:01:35.445 for writing a hint of smut. Maybe even we could 0:01:35.485 --> 0:01:38.165 call it erotica, maybe just porn. 0:01:38.285 --> 0:01:38.765 I don't know. 0:01:39.845 --> 0:01:42.285 But there is someone in American history who I think 0:01:42.325 --> 0:01:45.245 my mom could learn from, and that person is the 0:01:45.285 --> 0:01:51.005 twenty ninth President of the United States, Warren Harding. 0:01:52.005 --> 0:01:53.485 Now, Warren Harding had a wife. 0:01:53.485 --> 0:01:56.525 Her name was Florence, but she was very sickly. She 0:01:56.565 --> 0:01:59.765 had a lot of kidney issues, and so their relationship 0:01:59.845 --> 0:02:04.125 lacked a lot of sexuality. Mister Harding, though, he wanted 0:02:04.125 --> 0:02:06.685 to bang, and he found a great bang companion in 0:02:06.765 --> 0:02:13.605 this woman named Carrie Fulton Phillips. Warren and Carrie had 0:02:13.605 --> 0:02:17.085 an affair for about fifteen years, probably started in nineteen. 0:02:16.805 --> 0:02:18.525 Oh five and Mary in Ohio. 0:02:20.005 --> 0:02:23.805 And you know how did Warren meet Carrie, Well, they 0:02:23.805 --> 0:02:28.805 were neighbors. And also Warren was quite close with Carrie's husband, James, 0:02:28.845 --> 0:02:31.445 who owned a dry goods store. In fact, they might 0:02:31.445 --> 0:02:34.005 have even been best friends. And what a way to 0:02:34.045 --> 0:02:36.125 treat your best friend is to fuck his wife? 0:02:36.245 --> 0:02:36.885 Aha. 0:02:37.405 --> 0:02:40.285 And then Carrie was also close with Florence, Warren's wife. 0:02:40.765 --> 0:02:43.125 The two couples were actually so close that sometimes they 0:02:43.165 --> 0:02:47.125 would go on tours to Europe together. But it seems 0:02:47.125 --> 0:02:51.245 that the affair started when Warren's wife, Florence, was sick, 0:02:51.805 --> 0:02:54.925 and then Carrie's husband was also sick. He was actually 0:02:54.965 --> 0:02:59.525 away at a sanitarium suffering from probably depression. He and 0:02:59.605 --> 0:03:02.485 Carrie's two year old son had recently died, so there 0:03:02.525 --> 0:03:05.285 was just a lot of emotions going on. And sometimes 0:03:05.285 --> 0:03:10.205 when there's high emotion, there's high horniness by accident, and 0:03:10.245 --> 0:03:14.005 then you bang your husband's best friend and your friend's husband, and. 0:03:14.005 --> 0:03:15.845 Ha ha ha ha. That's how it started. 0:03:17.605 --> 0:03:21.405 But anyway, in twenty fourteen, the Library of Congress unsealed 0:03:21.445 --> 0:03:24.885 a bunch of letters that Warren wrote to carry over 0:03:24.925 --> 0:03:27.925 the course of their relationship. It is more than a 0:03:28.085 --> 0:03:33.445 thousand pages, and oh boy are they filled with longing, desire, tension, 0:03:34.125 --> 0:03:36.765 everything that my mom needs to make her books shine 0:03:36.925 --> 0:03:40.645 even brighter. So today on American Filth, we're going to 0:03:40.725 --> 0:03:42.845 take a look at these letters to. 0:03:42.885 --> 0:03:46.525 Get some literary inspiration. Cue the theme song. 0:03:54.445 --> 0:03:56.765 This is American Filth and I'm Gabby Watts. Every week 0:03:56.765 --> 0:03:59.765 I tell you a filthy story from American history. This 0:03:59.845 --> 0:04:14.645 week's episode hard hearting sex Letters. 0:04:15.365 --> 0:04:16.325 So let's dive in. 0:04:16.445 --> 0:04:20.005 Shall we just how Warren liked to dive into Carrie's 0:04:20.405 --> 0:04:21.125 under Murken. 0:04:24.885 --> 0:04:26.845 So this first letter we're going to look at. 0:04:26.965 --> 0:04:30.205 It's from January twenty eighth, nineteen twelve, about seven years 0:04:30.205 --> 0:04:36.285 into their illicit relationship. Earlier, in nineteen eleven, Warren's wife Florence. 0:04:36.685 --> 0:04:40.445 It seems that she discovered their relationship, and so Carrie 0:04:40.485 --> 0:04:42.485 and her daughter left Ohio. 0:04:42.125 --> 0:04:44.245 For a bit, traveling around Europe. 0:04:44.525 --> 0:04:47.085 They spent a lot of time in Germany, but then 0:04:47.125 --> 0:04:49.725 at the end of nineteen eleven, Carrie got back to 0:04:49.765 --> 0:04:51.645 Ohio spent Christmas. 0:04:51.285 --> 0:04:52.005 With her family. 0:04:52.405 --> 0:04:55.045 But then she and Warren spent New Year's Eve together 0:04:55.405 --> 0:05:01.445 in Montreal, and apparently when the clock struck midnight, taking 0:05:01.525 --> 0:05:05.485 us from nineteen eleven to nineteen twelve, the two of them, 0:05:05.565 --> 0:05:10.925 we're pounding it out. Now, did they climax at the 0:05:10.925 --> 0:05:14.445 stroke of midnight? That would have been maybe too much coordination. 0:05:15.045 --> 0:05:18.325 Besides fact, then men hadn't found the glitterists yet, so 0:05:18.365 --> 0:05:20.285 I don't even know if women were really reaching the 0:05:20.365 --> 0:05:22.285 end of the train line, if you know what I'm saying. 0:05:25.245 --> 0:05:29.205 But anyway, that night together inspired Warren to write carry 0:05:29.325 --> 0:05:32.445 a poem in that January nineteen twelve letter. 0:05:33.125 --> 0:05:33.925 Here is what he. 0:05:33.965 --> 0:05:40.005 Wrote, I love your poise of perfect thighs when they 0:05:40.045 --> 0:05:44.445 hold me in paradise. I love the rose your garden grows, 0:05:45.045 --> 0:05:48.845 love seashell pink that over it glows. I love to 0:05:48.965 --> 0:05:52.245 suck your breath away. I love to cling their long 0:05:52.325 --> 0:05:56.165 to stay. I love you garbed but naked more love 0:05:56.205 --> 0:05:58.045 your beauty to thus adore. 0:05:58.525 --> 0:05:59.165 I love you. 0:05:59.165 --> 0:06:08.325 When you open eyes and mouth and arms and cradling thighs. Wow. 0:06:08.445 --> 0:06:12.925 What an amazing poem that Warren Harding sent to Carrie Phillips. 0:06:13.765 --> 0:06:15.685 It seems he really enjoyed her thighs. 0:06:16.405 --> 0:06:19.005 But that wasn't the only time that Carrie Phillips inspired 0:06:19.045 --> 0:06:22.805 poetry within Warren Harding. Another poem he wrote to her 0:06:22.925 --> 0:06:26.045 was in December nineteen twelve. Carrie had spent most of 0:06:26.045 --> 0:06:28.925 that year in Berlin again, so Warren had spent much 0:06:28.965 --> 0:06:30.365 of the year pining for her. 0:06:31.245 --> 0:06:32.805 So, Mom, maybe in your. 0:06:32.685 --> 0:06:35.805 Book you should include some sexually explicit poems like this, 0:06:39.605 --> 0:06:43.085 Who cares not what was wrought today of the medley 0:06:43.125 --> 0:06:46.085 that fate has whorled. I hold you in my arms 0:06:46.125 --> 0:06:48.765 to say I love you more than all the world 0:06:49.405 --> 0:06:52.765 we love today. Let's dream tonight so we may thus 0:06:52.885 --> 0:06:56.125 repeat that bliss, then hale in arms, a new day 0:06:56.165 --> 0:07:01.445 bright with exquisite and loving kiss, possessed, possessing our love's 0:07:01.525 --> 0:07:05.885 true night is heaven and day is life. So I repeat, dear, 0:07:05.965 --> 0:07:09.205 I love you, I'll be your lover, you my wife. 0:07:11.445 --> 0:07:12.445 Is it good poetry? 0:07:13.125 --> 0:07:19.645 Not really, but he certainly wrote it, So that's enough 0:07:19.685 --> 0:07:23.205 of his letters in verse. On January fifth, nineteen thirteen, 0:07:23.405 --> 0:07:25.885 Warren wrote about a sexual encounter he and Carrie had 0:07:25.925 --> 0:07:27.685 a few weeks earlier, and. 0:07:27.565 --> 0:07:29.885 Then he described how he was daydreaming about her. 0:07:30.085 --> 0:07:33.325 He said, I like to dream in loose, flowing garb 0:07:33.565 --> 0:07:35.325 because I can dream more intently. 0:07:35.685 --> 0:07:39.645 And I did, to alarming release. I called your name a. 0:07:39.605 --> 0:07:42.965 Loud thrice, begging you to come, and a voice from 0:07:43.045 --> 0:07:46.525 upstairs responded, wanting to know what I wanted. I was 0:07:46.605 --> 0:07:52.165 alarmed and sobered. Oh yes, what vivid daydreaming he was doing. 0:07:55.285 --> 0:07:58.045 But Warren's pining for Carrie was so great that he 0:07:58.085 --> 0:07:59.845 even said in a letter one time that he would 0:07:59.925 --> 0:08:02.965 leave his wife. He was like, pretty please, Carrie, let's 0:08:02.965 --> 0:08:06.325 be together. But then she suggested that, well, maybe the 0:08:06.365 --> 0:08:09.245 only reason the relationship is so spicy is because it 0:08:09.365 --> 0:08:10.005 is illicit. 0:08:10.205 --> 0:08:12.605 So maybe they should just stay with their spouses. 0:08:13.605 --> 0:08:16.685 Florence had discovered their affair, but it doesn't seem like 0:08:16.725 --> 0:08:19.805 Carrie's husband, James either minded the fact that they were 0:08:19.805 --> 0:08:22.685 banging or he just didn't know what was going on. 0:08:23.525 --> 0:08:25.605 James had also gone to Europe with Carrie on one 0:08:25.605 --> 0:08:29.125 of her trips and send letters back to Warren being like, hey, buddy, 0:08:29.165 --> 0:08:29.885 how are you doing. 0:08:30.125 --> 0:08:33.885 Hope you're doing well. Meanwhile, Warren's like, I want to 0:08:33.885 --> 0:08:34.725 freak your wife. 0:08:36.685 --> 0:08:39.205 But Warren even got jealous within the confines of his 0:08:39.285 --> 0:08:42.085 relationship with Carrie because Carrie in the letters at some 0:08:42.165 --> 0:08:44.965 point brought up that she was attracted to other men 0:08:45.365 --> 0:08:49.645 besides him, and definitely besides her husband. This news seemed 0:08:49.645 --> 0:08:52.605 to drive him a bit crazy, and on September fifteenth, 0:08:52.725 --> 0:08:58.925 nineteen thirteen, he wrote another letter filled with longing. Honestly, 0:08:59.005 --> 0:09:02.285 I heard with insatiate longing until I feel that there 0:09:02.285 --> 0:09:04.885 will never be any relief until I take a long, 0:09:05.045 --> 0:09:07.925 deep and wild drafts on your lips and then bury 0:09:08.005 --> 0:09:12.165 my face on your pillowing breasts. Oh Carrie, I want 0:09:12.205 --> 0:09:15.125 the solace you can only give. It is awful to 0:09:15.245 --> 0:09:19.205 hunger so and be so holy denied, wouldn't you like 0:09:19.285 --> 0:09:22.245 to hear me ask if we only dared, and answer 0:09:22.805 --> 0:09:27.045 we dare, while souls rejoicing saying the sweetest of choruses 0:09:27.125 --> 0:09:30.645 in the music room. Wouldn't you like to get sopping 0:09:30.685 --> 0:09:34.685 wet out on Superior, not the lake, for the joy 0:09:34.765 --> 0:09:38.925 of fevered fondling and melting kisses. Wouldn't you like to 0:09:38.965 --> 0:09:42.445 make the suspected occupant of the next room jealous of 0:09:42.485 --> 0:09:45.565 the joys you could not know, as we did in the. 0:09:45.445 --> 0:09:51.885 Morning communion at Richmond sopping wet, not like the lake. Lol. 0:09:57.685 --> 0:10:01.205 Now, another element of Warren's writing that perhaps my mom 0:10:01.245 --> 0:10:04.645 could include in her smut is that Harding had a 0:10:04.765 --> 0:10:08.285 nickname for him, Wiener. So yes, Mom, whenever you have 0:10:08.325 --> 0:10:11.965 a character with a Wiener, give it a nickname. Now 0:10:11.965 --> 0:10:14.725 what did Warren call his? Of course he called it 0:10:14.765 --> 0:10:17.205 the most obvious nickname, Jerry. 0:10:18.845 --> 0:10:23.885 My penis Jerry. So let's hear some. 0:10:23.765 --> 0:10:29.805 Passages from Warren's letters where he included Jerry. Jerry came 0:10:29.845 --> 0:10:33.125 and will not go, says he loves you, that you 0:10:33.245 --> 0:10:36.605 are the only only love worthwhile in all the world, 0:10:37.045 --> 0:10:39.285 and I must tell you so in a score and 0:10:39.365 --> 0:10:43.565 more of other fond things he suggests, But I spare you. 0:10:43.565 --> 0:10:46.845 You must not be annoyed. He is so utterly devoted 0:10:47.045 --> 0:10:50.125 that he only exists to give you all. I fear 0:10:50.165 --> 0:10:55.845 you would find a fierce enthusiast today. Is anyone else 0:10:55.885 --> 0:10:58.645 here uncomfortable with the personification of his wiener? 0:10:59.525 --> 0:11:01.005 But whatever, here's some other ones. 0:11:03.085 --> 0:11:05.605 Jerry came in while I was pondering your notes in 0:11:05.685 --> 0:11:09.005 glad reflection, and we talked about it. He was strongly 0:11:09.085 --> 0:11:12.605 interested and elated and clung to discussion. He told me 0:11:12.645 --> 0:11:15.005 to say that you are the best and darlingest in 0:11:15.045 --> 0:11:17.605 the world, and if he could have but one wish, 0:11:17.885 --> 0:11:20.325 it would be to be held in your darling embrace 0:11:20.765 --> 0:11:23.605 and be thrilled by your pink lips that convey the 0:11:23.645 --> 0:11:27.445 surpassing rapture of human touch and the unspeakable joy of 0:11:27.525 --> 0:11:29.005 love surpassing embrace. 0:11:29.725 --> 0:11:31.605 I cordily agree with all he said. 0:11:31.965 --> 0:11:34.925 Perhaps it is not important, maybe it's even not interesting, 0:11:35.325 --> 0:11:41.045 but he is devotedly, exclusively for you. It sounds like 0:11:41.165 --> 0:11:43.485 Jerry wants Carrie to give him a blowjob. 0:11:46.005 --> 0:11:46.925 And here's another one. 0:11:47.245 --> 0:11:52.165 Jerry sends Christmas greetings and finally, wish I could take 0:11:52.205 --> 0:11:53.445 you to Mount Jerry. 0:11:54.885 --> 0:11:56.805 Wow. Jerry is a Mountain now too. 0:11:59.845 --> 0:12:03.445 The unfortunate thing about Warren Harding and Carrie Phillips correspondence 0:12:04.085 --> 0:12:08.085 is that of her letters are gone, and much of 0:12:08.085 --> 0:12:11.005 what she said is inferred from what Warren wrote to her. 0:12:12.005 --> 0:12:14.525 And Meanwhile, during the relationship, while. 0:12:14.325 --> 0:12:17.965 Carrie was traveling about Europe, Warren Harding was getting more 0:12:17.965 --> 0:12:22.725 into politics and Marion. He'd gotten His career started as 0:12:22.725 --> 0:12:27.005 a newspaper man. He ran the very successful Marion Star newspaper. 0:12:27.805 --> 0:12:30.285 Then he want to see in the Ohio State Senate. 0:12:30.445 --> 0:12:33.445 He was the lieutenant governor of Ohio, but then he 0:12:33.485 --> 0:12:37.805 lost his governor run in nineteen ten. But four years later, 0:12:38.245 --> 0:12:41.165 in nineteen fourteen, he was elected to the United States Senate, 0:12:41.605 --> 0:12:44.285 and at that point his relationship with Carrie started to 0:12:44.325 --> 0:12:50.645 take a turn. First, he realized that their steamy letters 0:12:50.645 --> 0:12:54.005 could get his political career in trouble. He had written 0:12:54.005 --> 0:12:56.885 to her previously, I have been thinking about all those 0:12:56.965 --> 0:12:59.205 letters you have. I think you should have a fire 0:12:59.445 --> 0:13:05.125 chuck em. They are too flammable to keep. But also, 0:13:05.645 --> 0:13:08.405 as Carrie's traveling around Europe, you might have noticed that 0:13:08.445 --> 0:13:10.325 she is spending a lot of time in Germany. 0:13:10.805 --> 0:13:12.365 And the thing about Germany. 0:13:12.525 --> 0:13:15.445 Is there's about to be a big war, a world war, 0:13:15.565 --> 0:13:17.685 you might say, as that is what it is called, 0:13:18.805 --> 0:13:22.445 and that's going to rip these two apart. Be right 0:13:22.485 --> 0:13:26.805 back after these soothing advertisements. Okay, mom, So the rest 0:13:26.805 --> 0:13:28.405 of this isn't going to really help you with your 0:13:28.445 --> 0:13:31.445 smut writing, but I suppose I should give the filth 0:13:31.485 --> 0:13:34.565 listeners some context for the history of what happened between 0:13:34.565 --> 0:13:36.685 these two. So we're just going to dive into that. 0:13:38.165 --> 0:13:38.605 Anyway. 0:13:38.925 --> 0:13:42.085 Having spent so much time in Germany, Carrie Phillips was 0:13:42.405 --> 0:13:43.725 very pro German. 0:13:43.885 --> 0:13:44.885 She loved the culture. 0:13:45.005 --> 0:13:48.765 She's like yas Germany, and as World War One escalated, 0:13:49.325 --> 0:13:53.165 Carrie just kept being vocal about Germany. Like in nineteen fifteen, 0:13:53.245 --> 0:13:55.725 she's like, Ah, sure the Germans take a bout that 0:13:55.845 --> 0:13:58.485 killed twelve hundred Americans, but. 0:13:58.565 --> 0:14:01.285 Still they're great guys. Yay Germany, Boo Britain. 0:14:03.085 --> 0:14:06.125 But then when the US did enter the war inteen seventeen, 0:14:06.645 --> 0:14:10.565 the Espionage Act was passed, which was basically like, Hey, Americans, 0:14:10.605 --> 0:14:14.565 you're not allowed to publicly be for America's enemies. America 0:14:14.605 --> 0:14:17.605 is number one. You can't be pro German. Shut up 0:14:17.605 --> 0:14:19.805 about freedom of speech. You were certainly free to say 0:14:19.885 --> 0:14:25.245 yay America, and Carrie's pro German sentiments was really putting 0:14:25.245 --> 0:14:28.165 Warren in a bind because he was a senator and 0:14:28.245 --> 0:14:30.485 he knew that the FBI had put Carrie on a 0:14:30.565 --> 0:14:33.685 list she was under surveillance because she was always like 0:14:33.765 --> 0:14:37.605 yay Germany. And Carrie was also doubly suss because her 0:14:37.725 --> 0:14:40.325 daughter was courting a German who was the cousin of 0:14:40.365 --> 0:14:43.965 a known German spy and in their letters. 0:14:44.005 --> 0:14:45.525 At this point, Warren. 0:14:45.285 --> 0:14:49.325 Got really pissy with Carrie because he's like, you're being careless. 0:14:49.845 --> 0:14:51.445 And he was also like, I can't hang out all 0:14:51.485 --> 0:14:54.285 the time if you're gonna be pro German, because everybody 0:14:54.325 --> 0:14:56.125 in the Senate is going to be like, wow, Warren, 0:14:56.205 --> 0:14:56.805 you're being. 0:14:56.645 --> 0:14:58.565 Influenced by a pro German person. 0:14:59.445 --> 0:15:01.645 Like yeah, in the Senate, they don't technically know we're 0:15:01.685 --> 0:15:03.965 having an affair, but they know that like we're friendly, 0:15:04.405 --> 0:15:06.765 you know, like whenever we got to dinner, it's noted 0:15:06.805 --> 0:15:10.485 in a file and it's embarrassing, So like, stop being 0:15:10.845 --> 0:15:12.765 pro German and just like watch your mouth. 0:15:14.805 --> 0:15:15.605 So they had all this. 0:15:15.645 --> 0:15:18.525 Tension building up in their relationship, and then once the 0:15:18.565 --> 0:15:21.405 war was over, the two of them still seemed to 0:15:21.445 --> 0:15:24.925 be slightly involved, but Carrie kind of fell into a 0:15:24.965 --> 0:15:29.085 deep depression because Germany didn't win Boo. But then the 0:15:29.165 --> 0:15:36.925 relationship continued to deteriorate once Warren decided to run for president. Carrie, 0:15:36.965 --> 0:15:39.925 whether you know she was bitter about World War One 0:15:40.605 --> 0:15:44.285 or because she was kind of in a difficult financial spot, 0:15:45.005 --> 0:15:46.805 she was like, well, Warren, if you're going to run 0:15:46.805 --> 0:15:49.525 for president, I'm going to tell everyone about our affair 0:15:49.645 --> 0:15:52.965 unless you give me money. Waha, haha, I'm blackmailing you. 0:15:53.925 --> 0:15:56.965 At first she was like, give me specifically ten thousand dollars. 0:15:57.885 --> 0:16:00.605 And then Warren, he still seemed to care for Carrie. 0:16:01.085 --> 0:16:03.885 He was still simping for her a bit. He was like, Okay, 0:16:03.885 --> 0:16:05.965 I'll give you ten thousand dollars as long as you 0:16:06.005 --> 0:16:07.685 give me all the letters that I wrote to you 0:16:07.965 --> 0:16:12.245 destroy them please. But then Carrie changed her mind and 0:16:12.365 --> 0:16:14.565 was not satisfied with the original amount of money she 0:16:14.605 --> 0:16:19.765 had insisted on and demanded more. At that point, Warren 0:16:20.205 --> 0:16:24.285 was like, girl, you're going insane. On February second, nineteen twenty, 0:16:24.325 --> 0:16:26.885 he said, your proposal to destroy me and yourself in 0:16:26.965 --> 0:16:28.245 doing so, will. 0:16:28.045 --> 0:16:30.565 Only add to the ill we have already done. 0:16:31.125 --> 0:16:32.965 It doesn't seem like you to think of such a 0:16:33.005 --> 0:16:36.405 fatal course. I can't believe your purpose is to destroy me. 0:16:38.685 --> 0:16:41.125 Warren was like, I've been so nice to you for 0:16:41.205 --> 0:16:42.725 so many years, and now this. 0:16:42.605 --> 0:16:44.885 Is how you repay me. That's so rude of you. 0:16:45.685 --> 0:16:48.005 And he was also like, hey, this new amount of 0:16:48.005 --> 0:16:50.165 money that you asked for, I actually don't have that 0:16:50.285 --> 0:16:52.125 much money to give you. But what I could do 0:16:52.205 --> 0:16:55.205 instead is give you five thousand dollars a year for 0:16:55.325 --> 0:16:59.125 every year that I'm in the public service. And also, 0:16:59.165 --> 0:17:01.765 if you don't take that deal and you do expose 0:17:01.805 --> 0:17:04.725 the affair, I'll lose my job and then I won't 0:17:04.765 --> 0:17:06.765 have any money to give you. So you might as 0:17:06.765 --> 0:17:08.325 well just accept this offer. 0:17:08.405 --> 0:17:09.765 It will make you comfortable. 0:17:13.125 --> 0:17:16.165 So it does seem that Carrie ended up accepting this 0:17:16.285 --> 0:17:20.525 deal from him. But then Warren confided in some people 0:17:20.525 --> 0:17:24.045 in the Republican Party about the affair, and they gave 0:17:24.125 --> 0:17:27.485 Carrie another probably twenty five K and hush money to 0:17:27.485 --> 0:17:28.005 get her and. 0:17:27.925 --> 0:17:30.685 Her family out of town for the presidential election. And 0:17:30.885 --> 0:17:31.685 while you might not. 0:17:31.685 --> 0:17:34.245 Think of this as a pioneering moment, apparently this was 0:17:34.285 --> 0:17:38.085 the first time a woman successfully blackmailed an American president, 0:17:38.205 --> 0:17:46.725 So girl power. But anyway, the blackmailing got settled. Warren 0:17:46.765 --> 0:17:50.085 Harding won the presidency. He became the twenty ninth president, 0:17:50.525 --> 0:17:54.605 and at this point Carrie and Warren essentially broke up 0:17:55.205 --> 0:17:58.885 because apparently, once you blackmail someone, it's kind of hard 0:17:58.925 --> 0:18:01.925 to continue a sexual and romantic relationship. 0:18:02.605 --> 0:18:04.005 So ladies, keep that in mind. 0:18:04.005 --> 0:18:07.965 If you're ever concerned about a man off, I suggest 0:18:08.045 --> 0:18:09.085 don't blackmail. 0:18:09.325 --> 0:18:09.685 Okay. 0:18:10.445 --> 0:18:14.325 Also, maybe don't root for Germany during World War One. 0:18:14.445 --> 0:18:17.005 That's another thing to keep in mind if you're trying 0:18:17.005 --> 0:18:24.725 to keep a man, keep that in mind. But Carrie, though, 0:18:24.805 --> 0:18:27.485 she never did destroy those letters, and when she died 0:18:27.485 --> 0:18:30.925 in nineteen sixty a few years after that, the letters 0:18:31.645 --> 0:18:35.885 were found. Basically, there was this historian who wanted to 0:18:35.965 --> 0:18:38.605 use the letters in a book he was writing, but 0:18:38.605 --> 0:18:42.445 then the Phillips family and the Harding family was like, no, 0:18:42.725 --> 0:18:44.965 thank you, We do not want the public to see 0:18:45.005 --> 0:18:47.525 these letters. So what they did is they took the 0:18:47.605 --> 0:18:51.365 letters and then transferred them to all these different estates, 0:18:51.725 --> 0:18:53.965 and then eventually they went to the Library of Congress 0:18:53.965 --> 0:18:55.525 and they got a judge to be like, hey, we're 0:18:55.525 --> 0:18:57.525 going to seal them for fifty years so no one 0:18:57.605 --> 0:19:01.245 can see them by then, in twenty fourteen, ten years ago, 0:19:01.325 --> 0:19:03.085 they were unsealed and it was. 0:19:03.045 --> 0:19:03.725 A big to do. 0:19:04.685 --> 0:19:08.005 Caused a big his historical hubbub. I suppose there's a 0:19:08.005 --> 0:19:10.565 big celebration the letters. There are still family members who 0:19:10.565 --> 0:19:12.005 were like, I don't want to be able to see these, 0:19:12.605 --> 0:19:17.605 but too bad we seen them. But yeah, So Carrie 0:19:17.605 --> 0:19:21.165 passed away in nineteen sixty. She died mostly in poverty. 0:19:21.205 --> 0:19:24.245 Apparently she had two German shepherds that were being neglected. 0:19:24.365 --> 0:19:28.285 I know, sorry, dog people. Warren Harding, however, didn't live 0:19:28.285 --> 0:19:31.125 as long. He actually died during his presidency in nineteen 0:19:31.125 --> 0:19:31.765 twenty three. 0:19:32.405 --> 0:19:34.125 How did he die well. 0:19:34.205 --> 0:19:36.725 Some people like to suggest he was poisoned, but that 0:19:36.765 --> 0:19:37.845 doesn't seem to be the case. 0:19:37.885 --> 0:19:40.045 It was more likely that he died of heart disease. 0:19:41.365 --> 0:19:43.445 You know, we could say poetically he died of a 0:19:43.485 --> 0:19:48.085 broken heart, but that's not true at all. Because Warren Harding, 0:19:48.245 --> 0:19:51.245 along with having his affair with Carrie Phillips, he also 0:19:51.285 --> 0:19:54.205 had other affairs. Was a nasty man, and he had 0:19:54.245 --> 0:19:58.085 one affair with this lady named Nan Britton, whose virginity 0:19:58.125 --> 0:20:00.085 he took when he was fifty and she was twenty 0:20:00.365 --> 0:20:01.125 and with whom he. 0:20:01.085 --> 0:20:04.405 Had a child. Ah. What a great guy. 0:20:04.565 --> 0:20:07.245 He also, in his two years as president, rolled back 0:20:07.285 --> 0:20:10.845 a lot of progressive era reforms and helped pass racist 0:20:10.965 --> 0:20:12.285 immigration laws. 0:20:12.445 --> 0:20:19.285 So boo Warren Harding. But anyway, isn't it. 0:20:19.205 --> 0:20:21.325 Funny when people in the past talk about having sex? 0:20:21.365 --> 0:20:23.805 He he it's so silly that those people had sex 0:20:23.805 --> 0:20:24.285 in the past. 0:20:24.485 --> 0:20:25.045 Gross. 0:20:25.605 --> 0:20:28.365 But Warren Harding, throughout the letters to Carrie, he didn't 0:20:28.405 --> 0:20:29.725 just write about lust. 0:20:29.805 --> 0:20:30.965 He also spoke of love. 0:20:32.085 --> 0:20:34.045 So maybe this is one last note from my mom 0:20:34.605 --> 0:20:37.325 that you should just make sure, amongst the smut that 0:20:37.365 --> 0:20:40.125 you were writing, make sure that you also have some 0:20:40.165 --> 0:20:44.205 big dramatic moments where someone's declaring their love, because I 0:20:44.245 --> 0:20:45.805 think that's the thing that's going to get the TV 0:20:45.925 --> 0:20:46.485 show made. 0:20:47.205 --> 0:20:48.965 Like, for example, if you guys watch. 0:20:48.805 --> 0:20:52.405 Bridgerton in every season, there's always the dude at some 0:20:52.445 --> 0:20:53.485 point saying something. 0:20:53.285 --> 0:20:55.525 Really dramatic about how he loves the lady. 0:20:56.165 --> 0:20:58.645 And Warren Harding he had his own version of the 0:20:58.685 --> 0:21:01.085 Bridgerton quote, and I think this is the quote that 0:21:01.125 --> 0:21:03.405 should be used for that big dramatic moment if he 0:21:03.445 --> 0:21:07.005 and Carrie ever get their own series. So this was 0:21:07.045 --> 0:21:13.565 in nineteen ten Christmas Eve, and he wrote this, there 0:21:13.605 --> 0:21:16.245 are no words at my command sufficient to say the 0:21:16.285 --> 0:21:19.365 full extent of my love for you, A mad. 0:21:19.445 --> 0:21:22.525 Tender, devoted, ardent, eager. 0:21:22.605 --> 0:21:29.645 Passion, wild, jealous, reverent, wistful, hungry, happy, love, unspeakably encompassing, 0:21:29.965 --> 0:21:37.285 immeasurably absorbing, unendingly, worshiping, unceasingly, exalting, unwillingly, exacting, involuntarily, excluding, 0:21:37.645 --> 0:21:47.645 everlastingly compensating, Damn Warren Harding. And that used every single 0:21:47.725 --> 0:21:48.805 vocabulary word. 0:21:49.445 --> 0:21:51.325 That's how you write a love letter, my dude. 0:21:52.045 --> 0:21:54.485 Me personally, I would be scared if I ever received 0:21:54.485 --> 0:21:55.125 such a letter. 0:21:55.525 --> 0:21:58.285 But good on Carrie. I'm sure she felt good about herself. 0:21:59.525 --> 0:22:01.885 And in every episode of American Felt, we learn a lesson, 0:22:02.085 --> 0:22:04.885 and that lesson for today is don't send smuddy letters 0:22:04.965 --> 0:22:06.245 unless you want be blackmailed. 0:22:07.485 --> 0:22:08.325 Cue the Gradus. 0:22:08.725 --> 0:22:10.765 American Filth is a production of School of Humans and 0:22:10.805 --> 0:22:11.565 iHeart Podcast. 0:22:11.645 --> 0:22:14.325 This episode was written and hosted by Me Gabby Watts. 0:22:14.525 --> 0:22:16.845 The theme song is by me and Jesse Niswanger. 0:22:17.005 --> 0:22:19.725 Our senior producer is Amelia Brock, and our executive producers 0:22:19.725 --> 0:22:21.405 are Virginia PRIs Scott, Elsie. 0:22:21.085 --> 0:22:23.965 Crowley, and Brandon Barr. You can follow along with the. 0:22:23.925 --> 0:22:26.925 Show on Instagram at American Filth Pod and please leave 0:22:26.965 --> 0:22:31.205 a review some stars and also don't forget June twenty ninth, 0:22:31.325 --> 0:22:33.405