Before there were tales (alleged or otherwise) of presidential infidelity involving the likes of Marilyn Monroe or Monica Lewinsky, there were rumors that Warren Harding, the married 29th President of the United States, had an affair and sired a daughter with his mistress.
Now, according to BBC News and New York Times reports, those rumors have now been proven true, thanks to a genetic test that has essentially confirmed Elizabeth Ann Blaesing, child of Harding’s alleged mistress Nan Britton, shares DNA with the president’s living relatives.
The Britton family’s claims had long been disputed by the Harding family, but nearly a century after Elizabeth’s mother first went public with her claims, genealogists have conducted genetic tests that for the first time confirmed that Harding was the child’s biological father after all.
The former president’s grand-nephew, Dr. Peter Harding, helped lead the effort to have the tests conducted and told the BBC that he was “totally jubilant” to know the truth about Blaesing. He said, “This has been a family mystery since I became aware of it [and] there was no way to really resolve it. Back in the 1920s, there was only whether someone looked like someone else.”
Experts call results conclusive, but some Hardings remain skeptical
The results of the test have been confirmed by Ancestry.com, which provided the test with their AncestryDNA service. Stephen Baloglu, an executive at the company, told BBC News that their results showed that “the family connection is definitive.” He also said it “amazing to imagine the power DNA can have in tracing one’s family story and in this case rewriting history.”
Dr. Harding, his cousin Abigail Harding, and Britton’s grandson James Blaesing were the people who had pursued the testing, hoping to finally put the issue to rest one way or another. The DNA test revealed that James Blaesing was a second cousin to Peter and Abigail Harding, meaning his mother Elizabeth Ann had to be President Harding’s daughter, the New York Times said.
“We’re looking at the genetic scene to see if Warren Harding and Nan Britton had a baby together and all these signs are pointing to yes,” Baloglu told the newspaper. “The technology that we’re using is at a level of specificity that there’s no need to do more DNA testing. This is the definitive answer.”
Abigail Harding told the Times that she had “no doubts left… When he’s related to me, he’s related to Peter, he’s related to a third cousin – there’s too many nails in the coffin, so to speak. I’m completely convinced.” However, Harding’s grandnephew Richard remained skeptical. “In my mind still to be proven,” he said, adding that he would welcome the new family members if the tests are conclusively proved to be valid.
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Feature Image: “Wharding” by Edmund Hodgson Smart. (Credit: WhiteHouseResearch.org/Wikimedia Commons)
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